The Ultimate Fighter – Season 11, Episode 5

When last we left our merry band of MMA fighters, Team Ortiz had taken control after Jamie Yager nearly crushed the skull of Charles Blanchard.

With a couple of the wildcard contenders down with post fight injuries, speculation is rampant in the house as to how the powers that be will choose the wildcards. Hammortree still seems like a lock to me at this point.

Now that Yager has finally fought, he moved into the background much more this week. It was a welcome change of place as his antics were getting tiresome. I’m sure he’ll be back once we head into the second round, but for now, the focus was on this week’s fighters.

Speaking of them, when it was fight time, Tito Ortiz chose Kris McCay (Team Ortiz) to take on Josh Bryant (Team Liddell).

Clayton McKinney‘s injury turned out to be much worse than the bruised bone he was diagnosed with in week 2.  Instead, he had a ripped labrum ligament that required 3 hours of surgery and a couple of screws to repair.  His 3-6 week recovery time effective removes him from any and all wildcard consideration.

Following the news, Tito Ortiz half-heartedly apologized to McKinney for doubting him before his fight.

Then it was fight time kids.

McCay bragged about how he had won his last 3 fights in under 1 minute.  Too bad for him he couldn’t pull off that feat tonight.  It would have served him well.

McCay came out fighting and clearly won the first round.  He dogged Bryant the entire round, seemingly proving the perception that Bryant was soft.

Things changed drastically in round 2.  McCay was gassed and just trying to hold on.  Bryant came out swinging and never let up.  By the end of the round he had McCay on the ground and was having his way with him.

That forced a third round.

This one was all Bryant.  McCay spent about a minute trying to neutralize Bryant, but it didn’t do any good.  Bryant broke loose and began to rain punches on McCay at will.  When the bell rang to end the round, McCay wasn’t able to get back to his feet.

Josh Bryant is your winner by Unanimous Decision after 3 rounds.

Control goes back to Team Liddell for week 6.