Finally, Ed Herman made his much-awaited TUF debut and fortunately for team Shamrock he was able to stop their winless streak in the process. Herman has been a less charismatic version of Chris Leben this season, initially whining about not being selected by Ortiz, and then making sure everyone in the Nation’s aware he is the best fighter in the house, not just the best looking. However, as far as his opponent last night, Danny Abaddi, he was the weakest link on team Ortiz, and surprisingly Herman did not display all the abilities he’s been boasting about.

At the beginning of the episode, Shamrock takes his team out to the Hard Rock in an attempt to change things up, so they can hang out and do a little bowling. Yet, much to Ken’s surprise, it’s also his birthday and his family shows up with a cake and gets to meet the team. It appears a few of the fighters on Ken’s team see him in a different light after getting to hang out with him on this level.

As mentioned last week, Danny would be facing Ed and by all accounts everyone expects Herman to make short work of his opponent. Danny is relatively a new comer to MMA as he’s only got 3 professional fights under his belt, compared to Herman who trains with one of the best camps in the business (Team Quest) and sports a record of 14-2. Danny is supposedly a good striker but has a weak ground game, and Herman is a very strong wrestler.

During a training session Danny revealed his back was bothering him, he was taken to a sports clinic where he was advised a nerve in his back was irritated which was causing the pain. Later, Tito questioned Danny’s commitment to training, as he implies that Danny only seems to push himself to a certain point and then complains his back is hurting (reminiscent of Rob MacDonald – Season 2). Furthermore, it seems Danny hasn’t really been embraced by his teammates either, as many of them find him annoying in his attempts to be funny and think he’s very immature.

In preparation for his fight, Saul Soliz works with Danny in the cage and has him concentrate on getting back to his feet as soon as possible when he’s pushed down towards the cage. In addition, Matt Hamill teaches Danny a number of Greco wrestling moves, which are quite valuable considering Ed trains with Team Quest, and they’re all about clinch control.

When the fight begins, Danny connects with a nice right hand very early which definitely gets Ed’s attention, as Herman goes right for the clinch afterwards. After wrestling in the clinch, Ed is able to take Danny down and secures top position where he proceeds to land a number of short shots. Ed is then able to transition to side control and attempts a submission, but instead he decides to focus on getting a more dominant position, as he gains the full mount. In an attempt to push up from the ground, Danny leaves one of his arms out in the open and Ed quickly capitalizes on it by locking in a fight ending arm-bar. Even though Ed was in control throughout the fight, he didn’t look dominant as he appeared somewhat sluggish. To no one’s surprise, Ed moves onto the semi-finals but he now looks very ordinary compared to the reputation that had preceded him. 

Next Week: Matt Hamill (Ortiz) vs. Mike Nickels (Shamrock)

Fighters remaining in the Competition

Lightheavyweights

Team Shamrock
Jesse Forbes (Advanced to Semi Finals)
Mike Nickels (To fight Matt Hamill in Episode 9)

Team Ortiz
Matt Hamill (To fight Mike Nickels in Episode 9)
Mike Bisping (Advanced to Semi Finals)
Josh Haynes (Advanced to Semi Finals)

Middleweights

Team Shamrock
Kalib Starnes (Advanced to Semi Finals)
Ed Herman (Advanced to Semi Finals)

Team Ortiz
Rory Singer (Advanced to Semi Finals)
Kendall Groves (Advanced to Semi Finals)