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This week: preamble free! Let’s get right to it.

The show opens by reminding us that Paul Bradley’s herpes have robbed him of his dream, that Patrick Schultz and his frosted tips have returned to the house, and that Team Forrest’s Jesse Taylor got the best of Mike Dolce last week, finishing him with what Forrest referred to last week as the Dan Severn choke. Fifteen men still vie! OK! You know what, I will “bear witness to the fitness of the modern warrior,” thanks!

What kinds of shenanigans will unfold inside the house? Jesse is drinking. You know where this is going. This is how it always starts, Ultimate Fighters. Ever drunkenly dismantle blinds? Oh man it is nuts to do that. Matthew Riddle, who I believe is the guy who has no driver’s license and lives with his mom, is giving Dante a hard time. Dante will hurt him! Guaranteed, bro!

Rampage is right: there’s always something open; I do know what he’s saying. Rampage is an enthusiastic coach, that’s for sure. His easy charm and charisma and affability come through in every session. Who can say, what with reality show editing and such, but he seems to be working his team reasonably hard, too.

Back at the house, Jesse “has a few questionable spots on his body,” we’re told. “This fungus is a part of me,” he insists. He listens to reason and allows himself to be sprayed down with Tinactin, which, as I understand it, is tough actin’. Is this a sponsorship situation?

Matthew Riddle gets some more camera time, and really, so far, he’s the biggest douche here. He’s getting so much attention so far, I’ve got to think he’s fighting this episode. Or have I been outwitted by reality TV editing yet again? No! Tim Credeur vs. Mathhew Riddle is this week’s match, as selected by Team Forrest.

Tim doesn’t think this kid is ready for him. He thinks this kid hasn’t been in the battles he’s been in. He’s going to beat the dream out of him. And so forth. Dante tries to convince Matthew Riddle to bet five hundred dollars on his own fight, but Riddle declines. But Dante insists! And Riddle declines.

Let’s meet Tim Credeur, 31 years old, from Louisiana. He’s “been on this fight quest a good portion of [his] life,” and he’s here to win. A fifteen fight veteran, he doesn’t care about being famous. He wants his “share of the battles,” his “share of the wars.” He feels the younger Riddle is approaching this whole experience as “neato mosquito,” whereas for Credeur, “this isn’t neato.” That was borderline chilling, actually.

Matthew Riddle, a mere 22, from Pennsylvania, is kind of dumb — he’s going to take him down and grind him out: “That’s what I think’s gonna happen. Actually, I know that’s going to happen, hopefully.” Wait, what? Rampage starts quoting DJ Khaled. He feels his team is the bessssssssssst. Whooooooooooo? Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! etc. They’re taking over.

Tim Credeur is serious as all hell at the weigh-in, staring Riddle down, telling him he won’t be smiling for long, etc. Back at the house, Riddle’s team makes light of not wanting to meet Credeur’s eyes because it sounds “kinda gay.” Riddle is the punk kid, Credeur the veteran in a now-or-never situation. They’ve done a really nice job building this fight in the twenty minutes they’ve had to do it. This is a storyline and build that would please Dave Meltzer, I think.

“LAISSEZ LES BON TEMPS ROULEZ~!!!” is Tim Credeur’s take on things as they head into the cage. Awesome.

Josh Rosenthal, who looks like a member of the Aryan gang in Oz, is our referee as round one opens with Riddle looking for the single leg immediately. Riddle switches to Credeur’s back, takes him down, and has his back from the bottom with a decent body triangle as Credeur looks to work Riddle’s legs apart. Riddle slips out and gets back to his feet. Credeur looks to have the advantage standing with some snappy kicks. Riddle stumbles but scores a nice little throw — Credeur’s takedown defense looks pretty poor so far. Back to their feet, clinch, and Credeur with a nice little trip. He works Riddle against the cage, passes to side control and takes the back, only to see Riddle slip out and once again take Credeur’s back. Credeur stars looking for the ankle lock, and ends up with Riddle inside his guard. A really good pace to this first round. Sweep Credeur, who passes to mount almost immediately. His punches and elbows from mount look pretty light, though (he’s no doubt tired at the end of a busy round). Round one to Credeur, who definitely did the most damage, even if he was at a positional disadvantage for most of the round (though he finished it in mount).

Riddle throws a high kick and then shoots for the takedown to start round two. The pace here is pretty great — it’s not the most technical groundwork you’re ever going to see, but great energy. Credeur on top now in Riddle’s guard, with Riddle once again up against the cage. Forrest is, to my ear, anyway, a really solid coach re: positioning on the ground. Credeur is working hard on top, and has Riddle bleeding from the nose pretty good. Riddle gets his feet, and the two stand and trade in the middle of the ring. Riddle takes him down, but Rampage wants them standing. This is really intense. I’m loving this fight. Riddle is sticking to the ground here, even though Rampage wants them up. Credeur with a triangle attempt, and he manages to use it to sweep, take the top, mount, and go for the armbar and get the submission. You could here Forrest yelling at him not to go for the armbar, not to give up position for the chance of a submission, but Credeur ignores him and gets the finish. Rampage is furious, because he was telling Riddle for at least one minute to stand back up. What fight — definitely one of the best TUF matches I can remember from recent years, anyway. Dynamic, lots of energy, lots of action, really nice finish.

Forrest says Tim had a subpar performance, but that he came out with the win and the submission, and so that’s a good day. You can’t argue with any of that. Rampage is not pleased with Riddle, but he’s explaining Riddle’s mistake very calmly and clearly. He’s not mad, he tells him, he’s disappointed, which, as we all know, is way worse. Really strong coaching so far, from both Rampage and Forrest.

OK, I have finally put my finger on something that’s been bothering me all episode: Matthew Riddle reminds me of Steve-O. That’s what it is. On Steve-O, though, it works.

Am I nuts to think that so far, this is one of the strongest seasons yet? Let’s hope this trend continues.