First there were 32, but only 16 made it onto the main show. Now there are 8, as the quarterfinals get underway. 6 Team Forrest fighters and 2 Team Rampage fighters square off over the next two weeks in the pursuit of becoming the next “The Ultimate Fighter”.

GYM

The show opens with Dana White asking Coach Forrest to decide which two of his fighters he wants to corner. Since all four participants this week are Team Forrest members, Coach Rampage will have to help the other side.

Forrest looks like a man who is torn between children. Dana pushes him to make a choice between his fighters, Dante Rivera, Jesse Taylor, Matt Brown, and Amir Sadollah. Forrest chooses to leave it up to fate and let the coin decide.

The result is Forrest will coach his # 2 and # 3 fighters, kickboxer Amir Sadollah and wrestler Jesse Taylor. Rampage gets to corner Forrest’s #4 “Madman” Matt Brown, and
His # 6 Jiu-Jitsu specialist Dante Rivera.

Jesse Taylor vs Dante Rivera will be the first fight
Matt Brown vs Amir Sadollah will follow.

TUF HOUSE

There’s nothing like some freshly cooked veggies and lean sirloin for a fighter in training, unless of course your name is Jesse Taylor. The camera cuts to and fro--- pans of broccoli, bok choy, fresh steak, yummy! I thought I was watching an episode of “Top Chef” for a second, until I saw Jesse Taylor.

Taylor tells the camera how much he likes fresh vegetables, but sometimes he just can’t help himself. The camera cuts to Jesse munching on microwave cheeseburgers, his favorite, unless you have some thick Ranch dressing to go with it, that’s even better.

Teammates Luke Zachrich and Tim Credeur marvel at Jesse’s ability to stay in shape while eating the best fast food had to offer. Credeur thinks Jesse is made from another species,

“He must have some extra chromosomes than other fighters.”

TEAM RAMPAGE TRAINING SESSION

Dante Rivera hits the gloves of Rampage’s personal coach Juanito Ibarra. Ibarra talks about treating all the fighters he trains the same no matter what team they were on. Thank god Dante had Ibarra caring about his training, because the best advice Coach Rampage can give him is a SNORE, like in sleeping. At least Dante’s grunting doesn’t wake the Light Heavyweight champ up, that’d be bad!

While we watch Dante train, Spike cuts back and forth to him talking about his upcoming battle. Dante sincerely likes his teammate Taylor, but thinks that his experience will be too much for the cheeseburger-loving wrestler. Whether it’s a subconscious sign of his nerves or not, Dante also displays a twitching tick above both eyes, that at least this reporter never noticed before.