The Ultimate Fighter 10: Heavyweights - Episode 3 Recap & Review

Recap of Kimbo Slice vs Roy Nelson on TUF 10 Episode 3

After two very successful weeks of the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter, it’s finally time for the heavily promoted Kimbo vs. Roy “Big Country” Nelson bout. Although no setup needed, the “could-be” main event bout was chosen by Team Rashad, who easily won bout bouts to this point thus gaining control of matchmaking duties.

As the episode opens we are introduced to the spiritual side of Kimbo Slice, who already is feeling the effects of the TUF house, using much of his free time praying and figuring out the “inner me” sounds similar to “enemy.”

Members from both teams in the TUF house are eager to talk about how ‘Kimbo vs. Nelson’ could easily be a productive main event on a pay-per-view card, possibly netting both fighters incredible sums of money. As the cast continues to mull over the amount of cash the headliners are missing out on, they come to a conclusion that TUF 10 should bring much more in the way of financial gains, compared to one super-fight.

At the gym, all seems well at Team Rashad, as Roy, who was once chastised for clowning around and carrying the uncoachable moniker, is now simply described as independent. Evans also throws his opinion on why him and his assistant coaches didn’t hit it off real well with “Big Country,” believing that Roy has trouble trusting others. He did conclude under the impression that they now shared each others' trust in practice and in the Octagon.

After a quick cameo appearance by Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine at the training center, Rashad and Rampage were at it again. This time the verbal sparring was brought on by Evans bringing up the fact that Jardine hurting Rampage's jaw in their bout. Rampage was quick in accusing Rashad of “ducking” him, however as we all know by now, this fight will again not happen. Team Rashad’s James McSweeney also got in the action, trying to talk smack to Rampage, who questioned McSweeney on his “American” dialect.

Marcus Jones quickly becomes the center of attention after disappearing during a Team Rasmpage training session. The former Tampa Bay Buc was on the sidelines nursing an injured knee, but when a teammate was told that he could possibly be the next to fight, Marcus was on the defensive. Rampage met face to face with Marcus, who later seemed apologetic and sorry that the incident even happened.

Finally it’s time for the fight, as Kimbo weighing in at 230 and Nelson at 264 walk to the cage in anticipation of one of the biggest in the history of the show. The UFC big-shots were there front and center, Dana White, Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta each had a front row seat for Kimbo vs. Nelson. Rampage shows his support by shaving his head in typical Kimbo fashion.

Referee Herb Dean gets them started in round one. Each fighter takes their time in trying to “feel” the other out, Nelson lands the first punch, Kimbo surprises with the first low leg kick. By the end of the second minute of action, Kimbo is already showing improvement, changing levels and utilizing his jab. Nelson was also active with his jab, throwing more than Kimbo, although many were blocked. Kimbo finally caught his opponent with a well-timed combination that had him temporarily stunned. Nelson was bothered, quickly trying to get the fight to the ground with a double leg takedown attempt. When the initial attempt failed, Nelson remained in the clinch for roughly 30-45 seconds. Finally at the 1:32 mark of the 1st round, Nelson puts Kimbo on his back. On his back is where he stayed as the 264 pound Nelson pinned Kimbo’s arms back in a crucifix position, delivering countless unanswered shots to the head of Kimbo, who was saved only when the bell rang signaling the end of the round.

Both fighters looked tired to begin the second frame. Kimbo gets the action started by catching Nelson with an overhand right followed by a uppercut. Kimbo tagged Nelson a couple more times solidly, possibly dazing the former IFL champ, before Nelson ate a knee then fell on top of Kimbo again. The position was too hard for Kimbo to overcome, as Nelson reverted back to the crucifix position, where he finished it with punches at the 2:01 mark.

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The episode ends with White sharing how happy he was with Kimbo’s work ethic and effort inside the Octagon. He also advised Kimbo to take the rest of the time to “get better” in all areas of his game, because an injury could possibly put him back inside the cage. The final teaser for episode 4 shows that Team Rampage figher, Marcus Jones, was being attended to for an injury that will threaten his position with the show. Could it be a quick turnaround for Kimbo?

Check out next week's The Ultimate Fighter at the same 10 PM time slot on Spike TV.