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‘The Ultimate Fighter’: Season 12, Episode 3: Tyson for tea

Alex “Bruce Leeroy” Caceres is giddy after beating Jeff Lentz. He veers between complimenting Lentz on a good fight and pointing out all the ways he was vastly superior. Among the dubious claims: Lentz’s kicks just grazed his afro.

Spencer Paige, to the camera: “I gotta give props to Jeff for not stabbing Bruce in the eye.”

Then someone tells Caceres: “Are you still talking? I stopped listening 10 minutes ago.” (I thought it was Paige again, but MMA Junkie says this was Kyle Watson, and since he’s blogging for them, I’ll defer.)

GSP brings in former wrestling world champion Gia Sissaouri to work with his guys. It’s humbling for fighters to get taken down over and over, but it seems productive and fun.

Koscheck’s team has considerably less fun, straining to keep up with the pace of the workout and getting a lecture about their attitudes.

The fight announcement comes early. GSP picks Michael Johnson, the coveted top pick, against Aaron Wilkinson, the Englishman who has a better ground game than most Wolfslair products but clearly isn’t one of the highly touted guys. Koscheck says Wilkinson is a “sleeper.” That’s not high praise.

In the first ad break, we get a plug for Spike’s “Brocktoberfest.” No word on whether Lesnar will be digitally inserted into Star Wars films.

After a fairly dull segment in which we learn that Johnson really wants to get into the UFC, Koscheck pulls his first prank on GSP, as he and another coach park their cars right up against his, supposedly making it impossible for him to get in. This is supposed to get under GSP’s skin. GSP, though, manages to squeeze into the car and laugh about it.

Koscheck’s session with Wilkinson, though, seems productive. Wilkinson is supposed to keep his feet moving and circle away from the fence if pressed there. Wilkinson says he’d feel comfortable taking Johnson down against the cage, a message made clearer by the producers’ decision to subtitle Wilkinson’s words. Apparently, we only understand American, not English.

We see both fighters make weight. Then comes a change-up — GSP asks Dana White to bring Mike Tyson to talk to his team. White obliges. GSP and Tyson then try to out-polite each other, passing compliments back and forth like neighbors talking about their gardens.

Wilkinson’s from Manchester, England, so Koscheck counters by bringing Ryan Giggs to chat with his fighter. (No, he didn’t — trust me when I say White would have no idea who Ryan Giggs is.)

The fight starts at 10:35 ET. Three-rounder?

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