Veteran or no veteran; some fighters belong in the UFC, some don't. You either have the mind of a fighter or you do not. This week's middleweight elimination bout showed the difference.
It all began with this image: middleweight Charles McCarthy slumped over an exercise bicycle because he was bummed out over Mikey Burnett's loss against Din Thomas in the previous week's welterweight elimination bout. And when Charles tried to explain his emotional behavior, Matt Serra tagged him with, "Easy Drama Queen." And that set the tone for the episode. Charles, dubbed Captain Miserable by his housemates, was the poster boy for a sucky attitude. His mantra: "It doesn't matter. It doesn't make a difference."
How does a fighter win a fight with that kind of an attitude?
Back at the house, Charles was upset, again, because someone had written some witty remarks on his grocery list. He immediately went after Pete Sell. Pete denied the deed. But the grocery list vandal soon confessed. "I did it. I did it. I did it. Get over it. Mellow out. It's just a joke," the vandal declared. Who was it? None other than our favorite prankster house guest, Shonie Carter. It was his only act of mischievousness for the entire show. Pretty good for Shonie.
Contrast Charles moroseness with Pete's edginess. "Man, I'm ready to fight. I feel like a caged animal. I'm pissed off. I want to fight already man."
Would Charles and Pete fight? Nobody was telling. And the pressure of not knowing who would fight was getting to Charles and Jorge Rivera, the Team No Love middleweights.
Randy Couture broke the tension with the announcement that Jorge's expecting girlfriend had given birth to a baby girl.
The next day at the fight announcement the teams saw the addition of Rich Franklin as a coach and the middleweight match-up announced between Charles and Pete. The tension in the house between Charles and Pete would get resolved in the Octagon.
Charles' only fight in the UFC was against David Loiseau at UFC 53. The outcome? As Dana White put it, Charles became a "human highlight reel" for a crushing spinning back kick to the body from David Loiseau. The referee stopped the fight moments later.
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