Roy Nelson (13-4) vs. Justin Wren (6-1)
Jon Madsen (1-0) vs. Brendan Schaub (4-0)
James McSweeney (3-4) vs. Matt Mitrione (0-0)
Marcus Jones (4-1) vs. Darrill Schoonover (10-0)
The TUF 10 quarter-finals will be counted as exhibition bouts and will not be reflected in official win-loss records. The records are listed here for perspective on the match-ups.
Roy 'Big Country' Nelson with his bloated belly and even-more-bloated ego will take on Justin 'the Viking' Wren in a battle of the workmen fighters. These tactical bigmen will likely provide the most technical of the four fights, which could result in the most plodding quarter-final fight.
Former Buffalo Bills practice squad fullback Brendan 'the Hybrid' Schaub is a bigger, better athlete than Jon Madsen, who may be slightly more cunning, but Schaub is no meathead, despite his size, and should be able to match wits with Madsen while delivering a more lethal barrage of strikes than the undersized heavyweight Madsen will be able to match.
Matt Mitrione, on the other hand, represents the oversized meathead lug stereotype well. Like Schaub, he is also a former NFL player. Mitrione played 9 games for the New York Giants in 2002 as a defensive lineman/linebacker substitute. He amassed 4 tackles in his short NFL career that also included a non-playing stint with the Minnesota Vikings in 2005. Mitrione will fight former kickboxer and Team Rashad top pick James 'the Machine' McSweeney. McSweeney has been vocal about his dislike of Mitrione on the show. Mitrione's bizarre antics have made him an outcast in the Ultimate Fighter House, and the revelation of fight match-ups that were supposed to be secret to the other team made him the black sheep of Team Rashad after he goofily was unable to provide a reason why he had ratted out his teammates' plans. McSweeney will be looking to take out some of Team Rashad's frustration with Mitrione's antics via a swift kick upside the former NFLer's dimbulb head.
Unlike Schaub and Mitrione, Marcus 'the Darkness' Jones had a significant NFL playing career. Jones was a 1996 first-round draft pick, 22nd overall, and played 6 seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, starting 31 games in his final two seasons. Jones racked up 124 tackles and an impressive 24 sacks in his NFL career. Darrill Schoonover is undefeated in MMA action with a perfect 10-0 record, including a TKO win over heavyweight stand-out Rex Richards in his last fight before entering the Ultimate Fighter House. Schoonover has been affectionately/maniacally nicknamed 'Titties' by Quinton Jackson. After Rampage copped a feel on the last episode, Schoonover was literally nose-to-nose with him ready to throw down. Jackson's sexual harassment has seriously gotten under Schoonover's skin, and with just cause as Jackson's obsession with Schoonover's man tits, while funny at first, has gotten downright creepy on the show. No doubt Schoonover will be seeing Rampage's ugly mug on Jones' behemoth body when he looks across the octagon in their quarter-final fight.
The MMAmadman predicts we'll be seeing Roy Nelson, Brendan Schaub, James McSweeney and Darrill Schoonover in the semi-finals.
Complete TUF 10 Opening Round Results After the Break
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER 10 OPENING ROUND
Jon Madsen won by UD over Abe Wagner after R2.
James McSweeney won by MD over Wes Shivers after R2.
Roy Nelson won by TKO over Kimbo Slice in R2.
Brendan Schaub won by SUB over Demico Rogers in R1.
Justin Wren won by SUB over Wes Sims in R1.
Darrill Schoonover won by SUB over Zak Jensen in R1.
Matt Mitrione won by MD over Scott Junk after R2.
Marcus Jones won by SUB over Mike Wessel in R1.
UD = Unanimous Decision | MD = Majority Decision | SUB = Submission | R = Round
