Patrick Cote: Confident walk. Bam, bam.
Pete Sell: Crazy talk. No fighter's that good a friend.
Edwin DeWees: Walky talky. He senses his destiny.
Travis Lutter: Walk. I don't stop for anybody.
With these mindsets, the fighters waited for Dana and the panel to choose the opponents they would have to beat to secure a place in the finals.
There was one last encounter between Matt and Georges when the TUF group went out for a sushi lunch. Sitting on the other side of the room from Georges, Matt suggested he would train with a different group than Georges. And while Georges did not completely avert Matt's jibing, the result was the same: a smiling Matt and a sullen Georges. Can nice guys ever win? We'll have to wait for UFC 65 to see.
At the fight announcement, Dana White explained that, in addition to the $100,000 cash prize and title shot the TUF 4 finale winners are guaranteed, they also get a $100,000, one-year sponsorship from Xyience. Not a bad little bonus. The stakes keep getting higher.
Here's how the match-ups were drawn.
The middleweight match-ups: Pete Sell vs. Travis Lutter, and Patrick Cote vs. Edwin DeWees.
The welterweight match-ups: Din Thomas vs. Chris Lytle, and Shonie Carter vs. Matt Serra.
This week's semi-final bout, scheduled to go three rounds, saw Din Thomas and Chris Lytle face off against each other.
The fight went the full three rounds, with a little extra time in the first, as the timekeeper mistakenly let the opening round go six minutes instead of the standard five minutes.
The fighters were evenly matched. It was a tight fight that mostly ended up on the ground where Chris, while never achieving full or even side mount, maintained the dominant position.
And though both put up a good fight, I think the result echoed their comments to Dana and the panel. Din, trying to sell his desire to fight, and Chris, quietly preparing for a showdown with anyone the panel put in front of him.
Was that spurs I heard at the end of the fight? The salesman's still talking, but Chris Lytle is walking into the TUF 4 finale.
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1 - Joan Hunt
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