Going into last night’s episode, both sides were tied with one victory apiece and team Ortiz was in the enviable position of deciding which fighter from Shamrock’s squad they wanted to face next. The show began with two very different approaches as to how the coaches decided to handle the outcome of the last fight. In an attempt to build on their first win of the season, Ortiz brought his team to the Hard Rock hotel to do cardio training by running the stairs. Meanwhile, obviously still feeling the effects of Jesse Forbes loss, Shamrock gave his guys the night off and took them to a driving range to hit golf balls, so they could work on hand-eye coordination?

The next day when Shamrock resumed his training session he was very critical about the ground game of two fighters, Soloman Hutcherson and Ross Pointon. Shamrock was more concerned about Pointon because he felt the British fighter couldn’t stop takedowns. Pointon comes across as a very stubborn fighter, so Shamrock’s advice was probably lost on the fighter.

The producers are making Ed Herman out to be the biggest complainer since Rob MacDonald was in the house and told everyone about his sore shoulder last season. Training with Team Quest, Herman was arguably the most well known fighter coming into the show, but he just can’t seem to accept the fact Ortiz did not pick him. For his part, Ortiz now admits he made a mistake by not picking Herman, as he pointed out during the team evaluations that Herman didn’t push himself and therefore did not stand out. Ortiz also acknowledges his team will not pick Herman as an opponent until the very end, but that doesn’t mean Tito won’t play mind games with him along the way.

During the official fight announcement Ortiz selected Kendall Grove from his side and called out Ross Pointon from team Shamrock. At 6-6, Grove has a significant size and reach advantage over the 5-8 Pointon, and he appears to have more tools as his disposal compared to Pointon who is pretty much just a brawler. The night before the weigh-in’s it appears Pointon might have a difficult time making the weight limit (185 lbs) for the fight, as he tipped the scales at 199 lbs. However, the next morning he miraculously woke up and weighed 191 lbs, he must have slept with the window open and that magic Nevada air shaved off 8 pounds. Unlike a contestant early in season 2, Ross had no problem going into the sauna and dropping the remaining pounds to make weight.

Behind closed doors, Grove formed an alliance with Soloman on team Shamrock, and in preparation for his fight he inquired about what Pointon likes to do in training. Grove was told his opponent likes to begin his fights by throwing leg kicks, which probably doesn’t come as too much of a surprise since Pointon’s style is all about standing and banging.   

As the two fighters were walking into the cage, Grove’s entrance resembled something you would expect from “Mayhem” Miller, as his mouth was covered with a red bandana. When the action began, Pointon did exactly what Grove was expecting, threw a couple of legs kicks but Grove appeared to be somewhat tentative until he got the first takedown. Once Pointon was taken down, he was able to stand back up but Grove kept taking him down again. Also, Grove was able to control his opponent along the cage, used his elbows from within close and eventfully captured Pointon’s back and locked on a rear naked choke that submitted Ross in the 1st round. The fight played out exactly how most thought it would, Shamrock’s early prediction was correct that Ross couldn’t defend the takedown and the other fighters in the house thought Pointon would get submitted. Heading into the fourth episode, team Ortiz is leading 2-1 and still in control as to who their next opponent will be.