The quarterfinal fight between Jon Madsen and Brendan Schaub on last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter broadcast on Spike was a showcase of contests between one-dimensional fighters.

Madsen is an excellent wrestler, and Schaub is a very good striker. During the first round, Schaub displayed his almost complete lack of takedown defense. After starting out tentative and circling around in the cage for a minute, Madsen took Schaub down and proceeded to lie on him for a while. When the referee got bored of looking at them, he stood them back up. After pressing Schaub against the cage for a while, Madsen was able to take him back down and lie on him some more.

During commentary, UFC President Dana White said he was impressed with Schaub’s ability to fend off damage while on his back on the ground, but I think the credit should go to Madsen’s inability to inflict damage, rather than Schaub’s ability to fend it off. Madsen didn’t make any meaningful attempt at ground and pound or submissions, and he was content to simply lay and pray.

It must be noted, however, that his two takedowns in the first round were absolutely beautiful. They were probably the most impressive takedowns yet displayed in the show this season. Madsen lifted Schaub’s six-foot-four, 240-pound frame high up in the air twice and slammed him down to the canvas. Twice. As far as wrestlers go, Madsen is clearly a class act. Unfortunately for him, he hasn’t really developed any other parts of his game.

When the second round started, Madsen was visibly tired. He was moving more slowly and standing straight. The fighters clinched, but Madsen was unable to get the takedown, which Schaub managed to land some nice knee strikes to Schaub’s belly. Once they separated and got back out in the middle of the ring, Madsen was clearly winded. Schaub took advantage and caught him with a pair of straight right punch to the mouth that put him to sleep.

Madsen is another overweight heavyweight on this show. At six feet tall, he could easily shed forty pounds and fight as a light heavyweight. If he hadn’t been so nice and plump, I bet he wouldn’t have been so tired in the second round, and he may have had enough energy to get some more takedowns and win the fight. As it is, Schaub moves on and will fight in the semifinals. I don’t give him much of a chance against a more well-rounded fighter who also has wrestling skills. He’s just way too easy to take down.

Other items of interest on the show included the continuing saga of resident weasel Matt Mitrione who continues to seek attention by saying that he was suffering from swelling of the brain. He’s really proving himself to be pretty tiresome, and I look forward to not seeing him anymore after the show is over.

Also tiresome are the continued attempts to hype Kimbo Slice and his possible return to the cage, but those attempts were dealt a setback during this show when it was revealed that he sustained an injury to a knee that was already missing some cartilage. Kimbo is another one-dimensional fighter who will be in trouble against any fighter wit a good ground game. It’ll be interesting to see what finally does happen with him as the season winds down.

Related posts on 30ninjas.com:

• Big Belly Becomes The Ultimate Heavyweight Fighter
• Climactic Ultimate Fighter Brawls Send Big Plumper Nelson, Former Pro Football Player Schaub to Title Bout
• Rampage Defeats Door, Fighters Gas Out Comically on The Ultimate Fighter
• The Ultimate Fighter: How Can a Pro Fighter, Exercising Several Hours a Day, Be As Fat As Roy “Big Country” Nelson?
• WEC Features Fine Fighters: Varner, Henderson, Brown, Faber
• Not The Safest Sport: The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale Results In Medical Suspensions