THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER 11: ROAD TO THE ULTIMATE FINALE REVIEW

“The Ultimate Finale 11: Road to the Finale” is a recap episode for the entire season. It contains a few extended and additional scenes cut out from the rest of the episodes. None of these scenes are really very significant, however, and aren’t really very impressive by themselves. They’re just some added bits of drama that possibly only absolute completionists of “The Ultimate Fighter” will want to see.

It’s a very effective transition to the live finale if you’ve missed most of the episodes, however. It summarizes the entire season pretty clearly so that you get pretty much all the important details.

HER'S A LIST OF THE ADDITIONAL SCENES:

1. Tito scolds Clayton McKinney right after he loses his fight against Kyle Noke. Tito says that the reason he lost was because he worried too much about his shoulder and didn’t put in enough effort during training.

2. Rich Attonito shows his swelled up, broken hand, after he wins against Kyacey Uscola via disqualification.

3. Team Liddell assistant coach Howard Davis gives the team a talk about how disappointed he was about Charlie Blanchard’s poor performance against Jamie Yager, and about the importance of focusing on winning matches no matter what.

4. More scenes of James Hammortree confronting Yager about stealing his shirt.

5. Joe Henle complaining in the house after Dana White gives James Hammortree the chance to fight again.

6. Seth Baczynski, in tears, apologizes to Dana White, Chuck Liddell, Brad Tavares and the rest of Team Liddell for his soccer kick to the face, totally insistent that it was an accident and that he absolutely is not a dirty fighter.

7. After Brad Tavares loses in the semifinals against teammate Court McGee, he is comforted by his good friend, Kris McCray.


That’s it. Among the additional scenes, the best one by far is the Seth Baczynski apology, because of the extreme outpouring of emotion involved.

So, what did I think of this season? I was honestly blown away. Sure, I’ve had less than positive reviews for some of the episodes, especially the early ones, but most of the episodes were absolutely fantastic.

I also had some terrible doubts about the coaches for this season, as both had already been on the show and had fought twice in the Octagon. I wanted to see two entirely new coaches, who hadn’t fought yet. However, my doubts were soon erased, primarily because of the hype and intrigue surrounding Tito Ortiz throughout the season. I believe that it really added an extra element to the show that fueled the overall drama perfectly. It’s sad that this had to befall Tito, since he’s still a legitimately great fighter, but it at least benefited the season very well. This was also the first time a coach, and not a fighter, was removed from the show, which was very interesting, to say the least.

I also love the fact that the season focused more on the fighters’ lives inside the gym and their fights in the TUF Octagon rather than their antics in the house. The wild card slot was pretty intriguing as well, which, I believe, will be used in the next season as well.

Ah, the next season! Team Koscheck vs. Team GSP! “The Ultimate Fighter 12” features two of my favorite fighters in the organization, Josh Koscheck and current Welterweight champion George St-Pierre, with a title fight after the finale! The season will feature lightweights and will begin airing on September 15, 2010.

Final thoughts? Again, I was blown away with “The Ultimate Fighter Season 11: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz” since it featured awesome fights and intriguing drama. I have high hopes for the next season and expect even greater fights and more surprises to come. Even after 11 whole seasons, “The Ultimate Fighter” shows absolutely no signs of slowing down!