‘TUF 23′ Recap: Episode 2

Episode 2 begins with the teams finally getting into the house after highlights of the season premiere from last week. Per the norm, the fighters are awestruck and excited as they race around, checking out the environment, picking rooms and beds. Some of the fighters gawk at the enormity of the “TUF” palace, citing their humble beginnings, but it doesn’t take long before some minor drama unfolds.Abdel Medjedoub is the last guy into the house and he is upset because he is also the last one to get a bed. Because of this unfortunate circumstance, he is basically forced to sleep in a room with some of the girls and he’s very uncomfortable because of his marriage and his religion. Surprisingly, everybody understands his dilemma and doesn’t give him a hard time, and the mood is lightened when Cory Hendricks decides to move into the girls’ room in his place. It’s a kind gesture on his part because one can never tell how a wife sitting at home would take the news of her handsome hubby shacking up in a room full of women. When Cory drags his belongings into his new bedroom, the girls are excited but they playfully warn him about the imminent girl talk and giggling every night. The next morning, Hendricks is at a bone and joint specialist because of a contusion on his left foot from his elimination fight. His hoof looks nasty and after Dr. Steven Sanders shows him X-rays, thankfully there aren’t acute fractures. Stevens wants him to not strike with that foot for a few days but Cory tells him that he has to fight in six days, which elicits a sigh of despair from the good doctor. Because of this, there is concern and worry because Hendricks tells the camera that he mostly likes to kick. Once the scene is over, the gears shift to the first day of training. Team Claudia is the first to get into the gym to train and after the Brazilian informs her new pupils that her coaches will split up to teach the girls and guys separately, it’s petal to the metal. Claudia Gadelha explains to the TV audience that there are going to be two teams in one, basically, because of the sheer size difference between the guys and girls and that it’s dangerous for them to train hard together. After a few shots of the teams working hard, Gadelha is super excited and instantly falls in love with everybody. Team Joanna is next up in the gym, but before the first squad of combatants can leave, the two rival coaches are face to face against the door, squawking about respect. Joanna Jedrzejczyk appears to have instigated the verbal scrum and she tells her nemesis to, “Go back to the jungle …

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