UFC's The Ultimate Fighter 5
Episode 4
April 26, 2007
Aired on Spike TV (taped Jan/Feb 2007)

-The show opens with a recap of last week's preliminary bout between Nate Diaz and Rob Emerson. Brandon Melendez and Brian Geraghty describe the match. Diaz broke Emerson down, submitting him with 15 seconds left in the match. Andy Wang says while Emerson got beat, he wasn't beaten.

-In the locker room, Team Pulver congratulates Nate Diaz. Jens Pulver is happy to be 3-0 and in control of the fight match-ups.

-We go to the Training Session for Team Pulver. Jens Pulver says Wayne Weems has fallen behind his teammates in training. Pulver is shown yelling at Weems and pushing him to work harder. To the cameras, Weems says he'll never give up. He's pretty optimistic, while others seem worried.

-We go to the Training Session for Team Penn. Gabe Ruediger tells BJ Penn that he'd like to fight Wayne Weems. To the cameras, Ruediger says Weems would be the obvious choice if you wanted the easiest fight in the first round. Penn asks Ruediger if he is trying to get the easiest fight. Ruediger says "someone's got to do it." Rob Emerson is shown listening. To the cameras, Penn laughs about the exchange and can only shake his head at the rascally Ruediger at this point.

-At the Ultimate Fighter House, Rob Emerson confronts Gabe Ruediger. He says Ruediger should have talked to the team about who he wanted to fight. Emerson thinks Ruediger is being cowardly. Ruediger feels he’s being smart.

-We go the Training Session for Team Pulver. Brandon Melendez wants to fight next, but he has a sore foot and isn't training. Pulver says Melendez can't fight if he can't train like everyone else. Pulver has laid down the law. Pulver believes Melendez doesn't want to train, because he’s fatigued from losing weight. Melendez still weights 168. He needs to get down to 156. Pulver tells Corey Hill to be ready to fight, because if Melendez is more than 5 pounds over at the fight announcement, he isn't fighting.

[Commercial Break]

-Brandon Melendez says he is a natural 170. He is shown sweating something fierce in the sauna. Melendez is sick from all the weight cutting.

-In the Ultimate Fighter House, Marlon Sims says his nickname is "Mr. Indestructible." How did he get the nickname? Well, he claims to have been in a "couple hundred streetfights." Sims says people would come up to him in a bar, ask him his name, and then starting throwing down with him. Sims says he often fought multiple people at the same time. Gabe Ruediger thinks Sims is full of it. Sims physical reenacts his elaborately choreographed fights, with silly music playing in the background. No one seems to believe him, but with no TV, Sims is the closest thing to a kung fu film in the house. To the cameras, several fighters say Sims is full of bologna. Noah Thomas says nobody fights five guys at once. Ruediger calls "shenanigans" on Sims. Sims is willing to wager $1000 that he’s telling the truth. To the cameras, Ruediger sarcastically says, "He fights thirty guys at a time with his eyes closed. He drinks the blood of his opponents. This man is a walking nightmare." Sims insists he tells no lies.

-At the Fight Announcement, Jens Pulver says Dana White has business to attend to, so he's not there. Pulver congratulates Nate Diaz on his win. Everybody claps. We look at the Burger King standings. Allen Berube, Noah Thomas and Rob Emerson have been eliminated. Cole Miller, Manny Gamburyan and Nate Diaz have advanced. Pulver tells Brandon Melendez to step forward. Melendez goes over to Andy Wang. Wang is happy to have been picked by Melendez, because he respects Melendez.

[Commercial Break]

-Gabe Ruediger is talking to BJ Penn. Ruediger tells Penn that even though Andy Wang has a black belt in jiu-jitsu, he will choose to brawl no matter what Penn says. Penn laughs. Ruediger says Wang's biggest weakness is his reckless abandon. Ruediger says he cornered for Wang in his last fight, and he kept telling Wang to take his opponent to the ground for the entire fight, but Wang kept the fight standing instead. Penn tells Wang that he wants him to try to take Brandon Melendez down at least three times in the first minute of the fight. Wang says he realizes that he needs to avoid the brawling. Wang assures Penn that he'll listen and shakes his hand on it. Penn should have made him pinky swear. To the cameras, Ruediger says if Wang takes Melendez to the ground, he'll easily win. Ruediger says Wang is also fighting for the team -- i.e. if Wang wins, Ruediger gets Wayne Weems.

-Assistant Coach Tony DeSouza is shown drilling takedowns with Andy Wang. Wang says his grandfather taught him Thai Chi when he was young, so he fights to honor his grandfather. Penn says there is no reason for a jiu-jitsu expert to have a boxing match. Wang says he'll be fighting for respect in the octagon.

-We go to the Weigh-In. Brandon Melendez is wearing a thong. He weighs in at 155.5. Everyone celebrates. Wang weighs in at 155. Less celebration.

Dana White says Brandon Melendez has great stand-up, but Andy Wang will be better on the ground.

-We go to the Ultimate Fighter House. Brandon Melendez is shown eating. He says he'll be back up to 170 by fight time.

-At the Training Session for Team Pulver, the fighters come into the building to find Matt Hughes scrubbing the mats. Geez, Hughes has fallen pretty far after losing to GSP.

[Commercial Break]

-Turns out Matt Hughes is not employed as a UFC janitor now, but he's been brought in by Jens Pulver to be the Guest Coach. Phew. Pulver says he and Hughes go waaay back, to the beginning stages of the current American MMA scene. Pulver says Hughes is like a big brother to him. Pulver says his team is tired of looking at him. Hughes says the team is tired of listening to him talk. Matt Hughes is shown coaching. Hughes teaches Melendez takedown and submission defenses.

-At the Ultimate Fighter House, Andy Wang is shown reflecting on a picture of his late grandfather. Wang says he fights not for wins and losses, but for honor. Brandon Melendez has a squeezable toy that he has named after his son Malachi. Children of the Corn makes that name way too creepy for me to name my child. To the cameras, Brandon Melendez says he has a wife and a family. He says he will do everything he can to fight for them.

-Andy Wang says his goal is to show warrior spirit. "Live like a man, die like a man, and then you become a man," he says. Brandon Melendez says he respects Wang, but will punch him in the face nevertheless. He says he’s going to put Wang to sleep. Pulver tells Melendez he needs to "pop pop bang" or "bang pop pop" and then "boom."

[Commercial Break]

-We go to the fourth Preliminary Fight of TUF 5.

Andy Wang is 29 years old, 5'6" with a 63" reach, and an 8-6 record.

Brandon Melendez is 23 years old, 5'10" with a 72" reach, and an 11-5 record.

4 - BRANDON MELENDEZ vs. ANDY WANG

ROUND ONE: The fighters touch gloves to start. Andy Wang lands the first strike with a middle kick, but Brandon Melendez responds with a straight right hand that floors Wang. Wang stands back up and eats a few more punches. Melendez catches Wang with several jabs. Melendez continues to jab, while Wang counters with an overhand right. Wang catches Melendez with an overhand, but Melendez is winning the war, by circling and continually landing jabs. Wang keeps trying kicks, but none are landing. BJ Penn is screaming for Wang to set up a shot. The round is halfway over, and Wang has not attempted a takedown. Wang takes a hard kick to the body. Penn is pleading for Wang to take Melendez down. Wang is losing the round and would be better served to score some points. Wang just keeps trying to counterpunch with an overhand right. Melendez clearly wins the round.

[Commercial Break]

ROUND TWO: In the corner, Penn gets Wang to promise that he'll go for a takedown. Another glove touch to start the round. A minute in, and mostly the fighters have missed with strikes. At least one landed, though, as Wang is bleeding from below his eye. Wang lands a punch straight to the face of Melendez. Melendez stumbles. Penn screams for Wang to pounce. Wang pushes Melendez up against the cage, but releases him. There was a second there where Melendez was highly vulnerable, but Wang didn't take advantage. Wang pushes Melendez up against the cage again. Penn screams for Wang to grab a leg. Two minutes left. Wang seems unfazed by the need for urgency and continues to casual stalk Melendez, counterpunching. One minute left in the fight and Wang hasn’t scored one takedown, but he’s gotten jabbed plenty instead. Melendez scores with a low kick. Wang wildly swings for broke, but too little too late. Round ends. No question who won here.

FINISH: Brandon Melendez won by Unanimous Decision after Round 2.

STAR RATING: (*+) After an exciting fight last week, this one was back to lame. Andy Wang, a jiu-jitsu black belt, chose to stand the entire fight with a striker. The whole fight basically consisted of Wang getting jabbed in the face, and then throwing a wild overhand counterpunch that mostly missed the mark. He did manage to catch Brandon Melendez a few times, but failed to capitalize on the one real opportunity he had to gain an advantage in the fight. Melendez was stunned, but Wang didn't increase his pace at all. Melendez had the bulk of the offense for the fight, but mostly it was him hitting Wang with a few jabs, backing up, and then repeating. The one-star gets a plus, because even though it was frustration, this fight elicited an emotional response from me. Like BJ Penn, I just wanted Wang to take Melendez down to the ground and at least make the fight competitive. Wang, unfortunately, had tunnel vision and apparently only wanted a KO, making this a really frustrating fight.

RAMIFICATIONS: Brandon Melendez moves on to the quarterfinals of the TUF 5 tournament with Cole Miller, Manny Gamburyan and Nate Diaz. Despite all of his incredible skills, Andy Wang's stubbornness is just too strong for his own good.

-After the Fight Recap, Andy Wang explains. He says after he got punched hard early in the fight, his mentality became wanting to pay Brandon Melendez back for the punch. He says after getting hit, he only wanted a knockout. BJ Penn tells the cameras how frustrating it was to plead with Wang to listen to no avail. Wang says he heard the corner, but he was too stubborn. To the cameras, Melendez says he doesn't understand why Wang didn't shoot in on him.

Andy Wang is shown crying in the octagon, and I mean crying, after his fight. Wang says he felt sorry because he let his team down. Penn says Wang decided to fight the way he did, so there is nothing to be sad about. Penn mocks Wang's weeping. Penn says to the cameras, "He thought he was going to go out there, brawl, and everybody was going to hold him up and say he's the greatest thing since Bruce Lee. Nope. It's done. Your chances are over. Everybody likes a winner. Nobody likes a loser. It's done. I don't care how you did."

To the cameras, Andy Wang says he is disappointed, but he doesn’t feel like a loser. He talks about how people are going to look at him like he's a warrior, as the producers show him literally bawling like a baby in the dressing room after his fight.

In the preview for next week's show, it’s revealed that we will get Gabe Ruediger vs. Corey Hill next week. The only problem -- Ruediger needs to lose 22 pounds! Ruediger is shown half-dead, crawling out of a sauna. Hopefully, he makes weight, because that's going to be a great fight.

Thanks for reading. Have a nice day!