The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir is the eighth installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter, which went into production in late May 2008 and premiered on September 17, 2008 on Spike TV. This season features Light Heavyweight fighters (186–205 lb) and Lightweight fighters (146–155 lb).
UFC interim Heavyweight champion Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and the #1 Heavyweight contender and former UFC Heavyweight champion Frank Mir served as coaches for the two teams. After the completion of the series, the two met for the UFC Interim Heavyweight title at UFC 92 in December.
Cast
Coaches Team Nogueira Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, head coach Alex "Pitmonster" Alves, assistant coach Daniel Valverde, jiu jitsu coach Al Stankiewicz, striking coach Team Mir Frank Mir, head coach Ken Hahn, striking coach Robert Drysdale, jiu jitsu coach Demian Maia, jiu jitsu coach
Fighters Team Mir Light Heavyweights: Krzysztof Soszynski, Vinny Magalhães, Eliot Marshall*, Tom Lawlor. Lightweights: Junie Browning, Shane Nelson, Dave Kaplan, George Roop. Team Nogueira Light Heavyweights: Ryan Bader, Shane Primm, Kyle Kingsbury*, Jules Bruchez. Lightweights: Phillipe Nover, Efraín Escudero, John Polakowski, Rolando Delgado*. Eliminated in Entry Round: Lightweights: Jose Aguilar, Fernando Bernstein, Charles Diaz, Joe Duarte, Brandon Garner, Wesley Murch, Ido Pariente. Light Heavyweights: Lance Evans, Jason Guida (did not make weight), Ryan Jimmo, Ryan Lopez, Eric Magee, Sean O'Connell, Mike Stewart. Unassigned *: Antwain Britt, Karn Grigoryan, Brian McLaughlin.
*Britt was replaced by Marshall on episode 2 due to injury. On episode 3, both McLaughlin and Grigoryan were injured and then replaced by Delgado and Kingsbury respectively.
Others Host: Dana White Narrator: Mike Rowe
Episodes Episode 1 – Ready to Fight Before the introduction of the show has started, Phillipe Nover fainted due to heat exhaustion. Dana White introduces Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir as the coaches to the fighters and announces that the fighters will have to fight their way into the house. Preliminary round matches are two rounds for five minutes each. Jason Guida is unable to make weight for the preliminary round and is replaced by Mike Stewart. Krzysztof Soszynski defeats Mike Stewart by TKO (strikes) at :17 in the first round. Dave Kaplan defeats Fernando Bernstein by submission (rear naked choke) at 2:20 in the first round. Phillipe Nover defeats Joe Duarte by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:33 in the second round. Jules Bruchez defeats Eric Magee by submission (rear naked choke) at 1:43 in the first round. Vinny Magalhães defeats Lance Evans by TKO (rib injury) at :34 in the first round. Antwain Britt defeats Ryan Jimmo by majority decision after two rounds. Brian McLaughlin defeats Brandon Garner by no contest. This match is ruled a no contest after Garner lands a knee to a downed McLaughlin's head. White then rules that McLaughlin will move on to the house. Junie Browning defeats Jose Aguilar by TKO (forfeit) at the end of the first round.
Episode 2 – Down to Business Elimination round matches continue. John Polakowski defeats Wesley Murch by TKO (referee stoppage) at :15 in the second round. Shane Primm defeats Sean O'Connell by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:40 in the first round. Efrain Escudero defeats Ido Pariente by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:37 in the first round. Tom Lawlor defeats Ryan Lopez by submission (rear naked choke) at :42 in the first round. George Roop defeats Rolando Delgado by decision after two rounds. Ryan Bader defeats Kyle Kingsbury by submission (arm triangle choke) at 1:33 in the second round. Shane Nelson defeats Charles Diaz by decision after two rounds. Karn Grigoryan defeats Eliot Marshall by split decision after three rounds. White announces that Antwain Britt broke his hand and would be unable to fight for about six to eight weeks. Therefore, he would not be able to compete and move into the house. Marshall is selected to replace Britt.
Episode 3 – Demons Brian McLaughlin and Karn Grigoryan were discovered to have fractured noses after their preliminary matches. White announces that the Nevada State Athletic Commission has suspended them for 180 days as a result and that they have to go home. Kyle Kingsbury is brought in to replace Grigoryan and McLaughlin's replacement is initially a mystery. A coin is flipped (red for Nogueira, blue for Mir) and Mir wins. He elects to choose the first fighter, meaning that Nogueira gets to pick the first fight. Light Heavyweight selection: Coach1st Pick2nd Pick3rd Pick4th PickMirKrzysztof SoszynskiVinny MagalhãesEliot MarshallTom LawlorNogueiraRyan BaderShane PrimmKyle KingsburyJules Bruchez
Lightweight selection: Coach1st Pick2nd Pick3rd Pick4th PickMirJunie BrowningShane NelsonDavid KaplanGeorge RoopNogueiraPhillipe NoverEfrain EscuderoJohn Polakowski The fighters comment on Browning's bipolar tendencies, as he switches easily from happy to crying to agitated to showing affection. The day after the picks, Rolando Delgado is announced as McLaughlin's replacement. Nogueira announces the first match of his first pick Bader against Lawlor. Team Mir pranks the red team by taking all of the Team Nogueira members' underwear and socks and Saran wrapping them to Bader's bed. Ryan Bader defeats Tom Lawlor by KO (punch) at 3:41 of the first round.
Episode 4 – Punk The fighters are given the opportunity to watch UFC 84 on TV. Junie Browning and Shane Nelson begin drinking. This escalates to the two of them throwing things in the pool, as well as shoving some of the other fighters, attempting to pick fights. The next day, White shows up and talks to all of the fighters and particularly to Browning and Nelson about their behavior the previous night. He announces that he is giving both fighters a second chance and will not be kicking them out of the house. White tells Nelson that if he is interested in fighting already, he will be next in the first 155 lb fight. Nogueira announces the next match with Escudero against Nelson. Efrain Escudero defeats Shane Nelson by submission (triangle choke) at 4:32 into the second round. Following the match, Browning begins talking smack to Escudero who is still in the cage being looked at by the doctors and his coaches. Escudero simply smiles back at Browning's continuing taunts. Finally, the Kentuckian jumps over the fence and into the cage. Nogueira and other coaches hold him back and the episode ends.
Episode 5 – From Chill to Kill The episode starts with a recap of the previous fight. Then, Junie Browning jumping into the cage is shown again. The coaches calm down Browning and escort him out of the cage. White says that the head of the athletic commission was not at the match. If he were, White believes that Browning's fighter's license would have been revoked. Later, Browning apologizes to Mir and to White. UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva visits Team Nogueira at the gym and helps them train. Krzysztof Soszynski and other members of the blue team continue pulling pranks on Team Nogueira. This time, by freezing Efrain Escudero's wet underwear and putting itching powder in several beds. Nogueira matches Primm against Marshall. The red team returns the previous prank by rubbing fish oil on the walls and beds of Team Mir's rooms. Vinny Magalhães is angry over his bed being messed with, confronts Team Nogueira, and urinates on Escudero's bed. At the gym, Nogueira asks Mir to talk to his guys about stopping the pranks, but feels brushed off. Nogueira goes to the house and encourages his guys to stop with the pranks. Team Mir shows up and Nogueira continues talking to all the guys about stopping the pranks in the house. Soszynski states that he will pull another prank. Eliot Marshall defeats Shane Primm by submission (rear naked choke) at 2:36 in the first round. A preview of next week episode shows the match of Junie Browning vs. Rolando Delgado.
Episode 6 – Fight, Fight, Kill, Kill Mir visits the house and questions Rolando Delgado about how he earned his black belt in Jiu-Jitsu. At the UFC Training Center, Mir matches Browning against Delgado. Browning throws a "McDojo" black belt at Delgado and spits on it. Anderson Silva is still visiting Team Nogueira and after Browning's incident with the black belt, the champion off-camera is said to be upset by his antics. At the weigh-ins, Browning weighs in at 158 pounds and is given one hour to make weight. He continues cutting, and successfully weighs in with his second attempt. Junie Browning defeats Rolando Delgado by split decision after three rounds. After the match, Browning apologizes to Nogueira for spitting on the black belt at the fight announcement.
Episode 7 – Body Bag Mir gives Junie Browning a dressing down following his split decision win for a lackluster performance in the cage. Krzysztof Soszynski hurts his thumb during training and believes it is either broken or fractured. Magalhães comments to Mir that Nogueira's jiu jitsu is not of a high level. The red team bakes a cake for Nogueira's birthday and they all have dinner together at the TUF house. Mir announces the next fight match with his second pick Magalhães against Bruchez. The two Brazilians have an argument over Magalhães' comments on the level of Nogueira's jiu jitsu. Krzysztof Soszynski pranks Bruchez by placing a stuffed body bag and an R.I.P. headstone on his bed; Bruchez laughs it off. Vinny Magalhães defeats Jules Bruchez by submission (armbar) at 3:25 in the first round.
Episode 8 – Splushi Tom Lawlor orders a fruit platter to eat every day. However, when he gets home from the training center, he often finds it already eaten by Team Nogueira. To retaliate against them, Lawlor and several members of Team Mir urinate in his own fruit platter and place it in the refrigerator. Mir matches Kaplan against Nover. Team Nogueira arrives at the house and eats Lawlor's urinated fruit platter. Only after they finished, were they told what had been done to the fruit platter. Nover complains that someone in the house is eating his sushi. Kyle Kingsbury of Team Nogueira ejaculates on Nover's sushi and places it in the refrigerator. Kaplan eats a piece of Nover's sushi and is afterwards told what was done to it. He then threatens to get Team Nogueira back with fecal matter. Phillipe Nover defeats David Kaplan by submission (rear naked choke) at 1:27 in the first round.
Episode 9 – Hurts Like Hell Don House, a boxing trainer, examines Soszynski's hand and says that he did not break or fracture his hand. David Kaplan gets drunk and claims that he cannot be knocked out, asking Tom Lawlor to hit him who at first declines to do so. At Kaplan's insistence, Lawlor punches him in the jaw and he falls to the floor unconscious. Afterwards, Kaplan claims he was not knocked out. Nogueira matches Kingsbury against Soszynski. Team Nogueira decides to prank Soszynski by filling his bedroom up with anything in the house they could move. They then placed a sign on Soszynski's door that said, "UFC Storage Room." Dan Henderson visits Team Mir's training session. Henderson says that he has been training Soszynski for two years now. Soszynski comes home to find his bedroom all filled up and he congratulates Team Nogueira for a good prank. In the Coaches' Challenge, the two coaches compete head-to-head for a $10,000 prize and coach's winning team wins $1,000 each. This season, Nogueira and Mir will face off doing soccer penalty kicks. They alternate turns and the first person to score 10 goals wins. Nogueira beats Mir, 10–6. Soszynski pranks Team Nogueira back by moving all of the kitchen utensils, pots, pans, plates, etc. to the basketball court.