After a quick recap of last week’s controversial fight between Dustin Neace and Akira Corassani, the trash talk from Coach Bisping continues even after exiting the Octagon which clearly gets under the skin of Team Miller assistant coach Ryan Parsons.
“Your the most hated fighter in the UFC,” Parsons said. “I get it now– I didn’t get it before– I get it now.”
During his confessional, Bisping is clearly not bothered by Ryan’s reaction, adding that he need not worry about getting spit on, but should instead be concerned about getting knocked out.
As Akira celebrates in the next room, Dustin is still adamant that the tap did happen and that it should be him celebrating instead of mourning a loss. Coach Miller explains that you always have to fight until the referee stops the fight, and that the win was within his grasp.
The topic quickly moves to the first fight of the night between Team Miller’s Steven Siler and Team Bisping’s Diego Brandao.
“I don’t know exactly why Steve wants to fight Diego, but I feel likes it’s a respect thing,” Miller said. “Steve thinks that people don’t believe his skills– Man I’m a believer.”
Siler agrees, admitting that Diego is probably the biggest competition in the house, but believes that his skills can overcome and that he will prevail.
Diego who is usually pretty amped up at any given time, appears very relaxed leading up to his training session. Once the cage door closes however, the aggressive version of Diego immediately comes out.
Coach Miller believes that Siler’s cardio will make the difference in the fight, and Coach Bisping partially agrees that it could play a factor in the outcome.
“Siler is tougher than what he looks, and Diego kind of gets a little tired,” Bisping said. “I’ve noticed that his cardio isn’t the best.”
After both guys weigh-in and are cleared for competition, Steven Siler admits that missing his girlfriend has been one of the toughest things about being away and taking part in the competition.
Diego Brandao talks about his tough come-up, from selling drugs to finally deciding to become a fighter, crediting his deceased father as his main motivation for changing his life.
Featherweight Bout – Team Miller’s Steven Siler vs. Team Bisping’s Diego Brandao
Round 1 – Diego comes out with a flying knee like he was shot out of his corner from a canon. After an exchange of kicks, Steve steps in and lands, and Diego counters with a wild uppercut. Diego then lands a flush, looping overhand right that backs Steve up. Steve retreats but looks like he’s ok. Diego comes flying back in range again with another knee, then throws a right hand just before uncorking a huge left hook that drops Steve. He follows up with another right hand as the referee steps in and stops the fight.
Just like that, Diego Brandao advances with the first-round TKO victory.
After his second consecutive team victory, Bisping continues with the trash talk, but Coach Miller responds simply by encouraging Steve after his loss.
Team Bisping now has a decision to make as they attempt to determine what the next match up will be. The discussion involves T.J. Dillashaw and John Albert, and is centered around which of the two will face Rolande Delorme who is considered to be the easier fight.
Delorme may not get the opportunity to even compete after he shows up at the training center with a swollen foot. He claims that he didn’t kick or bang it against anything, which leads “Mayhem” to believe that it way be a staph infection. Delorme is immediately sent to the emergency room for an evalutation.
Before Coach Bisping can bring himself to announce the next fight, he takes the opportunity to unleash a long-winded speech about the merits of sportsmanship, clearly irritating Coach Miller. Finally, he announces that it will in fact be John Albert that will face John Dodson from Team Miller.
Despite being teammates, Akira and Josh believe that T.J. took the easy was to advancing in the competition by throwing John Albert into the mix to fight John Dodson from Team Miller instead of Delorme.
Albert believes that despite getting the tougher fight by facing Dodson, that he possesses the skills to win and advance.
“I don’t think he’s going to be able to deal with my power,” Albert said. “I’m going to hit him once and he’s going want to keep running. There’s no way you can win a fight backing up, so I’m going to keep pressuring him.”
John Dodson knows that he’s on thin ice with his team, but insists that he feels no guilt when it comes to his past deeds.
“If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying,” Dodson said, before offering up a hug to his team.
“Mayhem” admits that it’s hard to hold a grudge against Dodson and believes that he has all of the skills to win the show– if he can overcome his laziness.
“He does like some Ninja-Matrix moves that I can’t really explain,” Miller said. “But, he’s lazy… He’s talented, but lazy.”
Dodson explains that it’s not laziness, only a lack of seriousness in training, and promises that once it’s fight-time, everybody will see how serious he can be.
Bantamweight bout – Team Miller’s John Dodson vs. Team Bisping’s John Albert
Round 1 – After a touch of gloves, Albert goes high for a head kick that is blocked by Dodson. Dodson immediately breaks out in a smile. Dodson throws one of his own that just misses. Dodson gets inside and a nice exchange ensues. Albert puts a nice punch-kick combo together and shows that he’s ready to mix it up. Dodson comes back with a very nice body shot, then follows up with a left hook that lands. Dodson is having some issues with his reach but is still flashing his jab nicely. Dodson then lands a very nice kick to the body, then closes with a flurry of punches and a big knee that lands on the jaw. Albert survives and takes it to the mat, but quickly gets reversed and finds himself under the ball of evergy that is John Dodson. He throws his legs up for a sub but Dodson recognizes it and postures out of trouble. Albert uses the space to get back to his feet, then lands a nice left hand that snaps the head of Dodson back. Dodson has some very nice leg kicks. He’s punishing the body also. Big knee to the midsection by Dodson. Albert is breathing pretty hard from the pace, and Dodson again responds with a big smile. Dodson steps in but walks into a push kick. Jab-kick combo from Albert. Dodson goes to the body again, then gets taken down but he bounces right back to his feet, and ends the round diving back on top of Albert. Round 1 goes to Dodson.
Round 2 – Dodson scores first with a couple of kicks. Dodson flashes in for a kick and loses his balance as Albert kicks his leg out, sending Dodson to the mat. He pops right back up, and backs Albert up with a quick combo. Back to the body again from Dodson just like his corner called for. Bisping is calling for Albert to fire off his 1-2 combo but he’s not listening so far. He throws a jab but it’s one and done… he’s not following up. Dodson goes back upstairs with a glancing kick. Dodson is throwing multiple punches which is winning him the round. Dodson goes back to the body then circles out. More jabs from Albert, then he lands a thudding kick to the body. Albert closes and jumps on the back of Dodson trying to get the fight to the mat. He ends up on bottom again before scrambling back to his feet. Albert is breathing very heavily out of his mouth now. Dodson closes and works Albert to the mat and then tries to land some punches over the top before getting kicked off. Back to the feet now. 1-2 combo from Dodson lands. One minute to go. After an exchange, Albert appears to be hurt from a body shot as he doubles over for a second before resuming his fighting stance. Dodson shoots late and gets a take down just before the bell. Round 2 goes to Dodson also.
The scores are in, and it’s John Dodson that is moving on in the competition with a unanimous decision victory over John Albert.
With the win, Team Miller takes a 5-2 lead in the overall competition.