The Ultimate Fighter Season 2 Recap: Team Hughes vs. Team Franklin

Brief Synopsis:

The Ultimate Fighter 2 was the second season of the mixed martial arts reality television series The Ultimate Fighter. The season featured a heavyweight and a welterweight division, with 9 fighters initially in each division. The UFC coaches for this season were welterweight and middleweight champions Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin. Season 1 coach and former UFC champion Randy Couture hosted and designed the team challenge segments, which if won would allow the winning team to pair a fighter from their team against another in elimination matches. The finale aired on November 5, 2005, and it set a ratings record for the UFC with a 2.0 overall rating. Although released on DVD in 2005, it was re-released on September 18, 2007.

Coaches and Trainers:

Matt Hughes, Team Hughes coach
Rich Franklin, Team Franklin coach

Fighters (as originally assigned):

Welterweights
A. Team Hughes: Joe Stevenson, Luke Cummo, Josh Burkman, Sammy Morgan
B. Team Franklin: Marcus Davis, Jorge Gurgel, Anthony Torres, Melvin Guillard
C. Unassigned: Kenny Stevens

Heavyweights
A. Team Hughes: Mike Whitehead, Dan Christison, Rob MacDonald, Tom Murphy
B. Team Franklin: Keith Jardine, Seth Petruzelli, Rashad Evans, Brad Imes
C. Unassigned: Kerry Schall, Eli Joslin

Others:

Dana White, Randy Couture (Hosts)
Mike Rowe (Narrator)

Episodes:

Episode 1: A New Crop (Original Air Date: August 22, 2005)

  • Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin are introduced as the new coaches.
  • Heavyweight Kerry Schall is eliminated due to a knee injury.
  • Eli Joslin chooses to leave the show, citing his reasons as not being able to handle the camera environment at the house.
  • Kenny Stevens is chosen as the weakest Welterweight and calls out Sammy Morgan to fight.
  • Stevens forfeits his match saying he will not be able to make weight for the fight.

Episode 2: The Teams Are Picked (Original Air Date: August 29, 2005)

  • Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin choose their teams.
  • Team Hughes wins the Welterweight challenge.
  • Josh Burkman defeats Melvin Guillard by unanimous decision after three rounds.

Episode 3: No Pain, No Grain (Original Air Date: September 5, 2005)

  • Josh Burkman is forced to leave the competition after breaking his arm in the match with Melvin Guillard.
  • Jason Von Flue joins the show to replace Burkman.
  • Team Hughes wins the Heavyweight challenge.
  • Brad Imes defeats Rob MacDonald with a submission by triangle choke at 4:07 of the first round.

Episode 4: Strategy (Original Air Date: September 12, 2005)

  • Team Franklin wins the Welterweight challenge.
  • Joe Stevenson defeats Marcus Davis when Marcus taps out from elbow strikes at 4:10 of the first round.

Episode 5: Leave It in the Octagon (Original Air Date: September 19, 2005)

  • Team Hughes wins the Heavyweight challenge.
  • Rashad Evans defeats Tom Murphy by unanimous decision after three rounds; Rashad causes controversy by “showboating” (dancing around in the octagon) at various stages of the fight, much to the chagrin of opposing coach Matt Hughes.
  • Dana White states that this was one of the more boring fights he has seen.

Episode 6: Slugfest (Original Air Date: September 26, 2005)

  • Matt Hughes expresses disgust at Rashad’s actions in the octagon during the previous episode.
  • Team Hughes wins the Welterweight scarecrow challenge after Team Franklin forfeits to save their fighters.
  • Jason Von Flue defeats Jorge Gurgel by unanimous decision after three rounds.

Episode 7: No Respect (Original Air Date: October 3, 2005)

  • Team Franklin wins the Heavyweight mud wrestling challenge.
  • Hughes sends Von Flue over to team Franklin for rebalancing.
  • Seth Petruzelli wins a unanimous decision over Dan Christison.

Episode 8: Knees and Elbows (Original Air Date: October 10, 2005)

  • Team Hughes wins the Welterweight “Randy Says” challenge after Von Flue and
  • Anthony Torres fails to obey Randy Couture’s directions.
  • Franklin sends Imes to team Hughes for rebalancing.
  • Luke Cummo wins a unanimous decision over Anthony Torres.

Episode 9: Mental Game (Original Air Date: October 17, 2005)

  • Team Hughes wins the Heavyweight challenge resoundingly.
  • Brad Imes is passed over for a fight due to a cut over his eye received in training; Mike Whitehead is chosen to fight instead.
  • Rashad Evans defeats Mike Whitehead by unanimous decision after three rounds.

Episode 10: Killer Instinct (Original Air Date: October 24, 2005)

  • Jason Von Flue sustains a cut between the eyes in practice; Marcus Davis is brought back as an alternate in the case of Jason being unable to fight.
  • The rest of the matches are set up by Dana White, Rich Franklin, and Matt Hughes with input from fighters; the matches are: Luke Cummo v. Sammy Morgan, Joe Stevenson v. Jason Von Flue, Seth Petruzelli v. Brad Imes, and Rashad Evans v. Keith Jardine.
  • Luke Cummo defeats Sammy Morgan at 2:05 of the second round by knockout with a knee.

Episode 11: Heavyweight Semi-Final (Original Air Date: October 31, 2005)

  • Rashad Evans defeats Keith Jardine by unanimous decision after three rounds.

Episode 12: Semi-Finals Countdown (Original Air Date: November 1, 2005)

  • Jason Von Flue is cleared by the doctors to fight.
  • Joe Stevenson defeats Jason Von Flue at 4:46 of Round 1 with an armbar submission. Luke Cummo and Joe Stevenson will face each other in the final for the UFC contract.
  • In the second Heavyweight semi-final, Brad Imes defeats Seth Petruzelli by split decision after three rounds; Petruzelli suffers extensive damage to his right ear.

Episode 13: The Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale (Original Air Date: November 5, 2005)

  • Welterweight fight: Joe Stevenson vs. Luke Cummo. Stevenson wins by unanimous decision, winning the TUF championship in the Welterweight division.
  • Heavyweight fight: Rashad Evans vs. Brad Imes. Evans wins by a split decision and wins a six figure contract, winning the TUF championship in the Heavyweight division.

Disclaimer: All season recaps of The Ultimate Fighter are re-formatted copies of content from Wikipedia.

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