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The One With The Ultimate Fighting Champion

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"The One With The Ultimate Fighting Champion" is the twenty-fourth episode of the third season of Friends, which aired on May 8, 1997. In it, Pete joins an UFC match and Monica doesn't approve, Phoebe sets Ross up on a blind date, and Chandler is uncomfortable with how his boss shows appreciation.

Plot[]

The episode begins with a scene at the coffee shop. Monica is about to tell her five friends a story regarding her current relationship with Pete when she is interrupted by two gentlemen named Thomas and Tim, who ask the friends to make some room on the sofa because all the other seats in the shop have been taken. After moving seats, Monica tries to tell her story again, but is distracted by Thomas and Tim's heated conversation, during which Tim confesses to sleeping with Thomas' wife, leaving Thomas in tears, and ending with them both storming out of the room. After taking some time to order their coffee, Monica remembers what she had planned to say and announces Pete's decision to become the Ultimate Fighting Champion. The guys are shocked by this, since they don't think Pete is UFC material, and that the competition may be too tough for him. Nevertheless, Ross goes with Monica to watch Pete's first fight- or rather, Pete's torture at the hands of Tank Abbott, who ends up standing on Pete's neck until he passes out. Monica tells Pete how she's proud of him and that he can now look back on his attempt to compete in the tournament. Pete is puzzled by her remark about "looking back", as he's decided he's not quitting the tournament in question until he becomes the Ultimate Fighting Champion. The second fighter takes even less time to knock out Pete. Monica visits Pete, who is in a body cast and neck brace, after the fight and begs him to quit the whole thing. When he refuses, she realizes that she loves him too much to be able to endure watching him suffer this way, so she breaks up with him.

Chandler's new boss, Doug, has an unusual symbolic method of congratulating him for all his good work-by slapping him on the buttocks. Chandler is uncomfortable with this, but his colleagues are all jealous of him because the fact that Doug only ever slaps Chandler's backside shows them that Doug isn't really noticing their good work, only Chandler's. Eventually, Chandler tells Doug how it's making him uncomfortable and all the other guys jealous, and Doug stops slapping Chandler and starts slapping his other co-workers, who find it flattering.

Phoebe asks Rachel if it's OK for her to set Ross up with Bonnie, a friend of hers. When Rachel asks for info about Bonnie, Phoebe tells her that Bonnie was bald, to which Rachel consents. When Rachel meets Bonnie at the coffee house, however, she finds out that Bonnie has grown her hair back and is beautiful. She's angry with Phoebe for lying to her about Bonnie, but Phoebe corrects her by saying that Bonnie was bald, and that she's not any more. Rachel realizes that she's sad because she didn't expect Ross to be dating other women so soon after their break-up.

The episode ends with the gang, except Monica, watching another of Pete's fights on TV, during which Ross remarks the irony in how her previous boyfriend Richard didn't want kids, and after this match Pete probably can't even have them.

Cast and Crew[]

Main Cast[]

Jennifer Aniston - Rachel Greene
Courteney Cox - Monica Geller
Lisa Kudrow - Phoebe Buffay
Matt LeBlanc - Joey Tribbiani
Matthew Perry - Chandler Bing
David Schwimmer - Ross Geller

Supporting Cast[]

Jon Favreau - Pete Becker
James Hong - Hoshi
Christine Taylor - Bonnie
Sam McMurray - Doug
Steve Park - Phil
Joe O'Connor - Stevens
John McCarthy - Himself
Bruce Buffer - Himself
David "Tank" Abbott - Himself
Billy Crystal - Tim
Robin Williams - Thomas

Crew[]

Directed By:
Robby Benson

Written By:
Pang-Ni Landrum, Mark J. Kunerth, Shana Goldberg-Meehan & Scott Silveri

Quotes[]

Thomas: [upset] I have a feeling... I... my wife is sleeping with her gynecologist.
Tim: How do you know?
Thomas: Well, you know, he's got access.

Tim: Thomas, this is gonna be hard, but I wanted it to come from me, and nobody else.
Thomas: What is it, Tim?
Tim: It's me, I've been sleeping with your wife.
Joey: So you're the gynecologist?
Tim: Hey, I'm trying to have a private conversation right now!
Thomas: [Breaks down] Oh... Can I have a napkin, please? Could you please hand me a napkin? [Rachel tries to grab one, but is too slow for his tastes.] Would you--Give me this thing?! [grabs the napkin holder from her.] All right! Enough! [to Tim] And you are no longer my friend! We are finished! [gets up to leave] Nada! No more! You are a bastard for doing this! Get away from me!
Tim: Thomas, come back here!
[They both leave, the gang are all stunned.]
Phoebe: So, Monica, what were you gonna tell us?
Monica: [pause] I have no idea.

[after Chandler has slapped Ross on the butt]
Ross: Dude, what are you doing?
Chandler: Thank you! Today, my boss kept slapping my butt and he was acting like it was no big deal.
Phoebe: Yeesh, what’d you do about it?
Chandler: Well, I didn’t do anything. I didn’t want to be the guy who has a problem with his boss slapping his bottom.
Monica: I gotta tell ya, I think it’s okay to be that guy.
Joey: Yeah, maybe it’s like, you know, that jock thing. You know, how football players pat each other after touchdowns.
[Joey pats Ross on the butt. Ross throws his hands out in a "What are you doing?" gesture.]
Rachel: You know, I don’t, I don’t understand guys, I mean, I-I would never congratulate Monica on a great stew by, you know, grabbin’ her boob.
Chandler: Yeah, I know, for a really great stew, you just, you know, stick your head in between ‘em.
Monica: Okay, can we please go eat?
Joey: Yeah. What are we getting?
Monica: [to Chandler] Anything but stew.

Pete: [wearing a full upper-body cast] It's okay, it's not as bad as it looks. It's a precaution. Ah, I'm not supposed to move my spine.
Monica: Please tell me you're stopping now.
Pete: I'm fine! I'd fight tonight if they'd let me. See this circle I'm marking off here? This is my zone of terror.

Pete: [about becoming the Ultimate Fighting Champion] The day will come when children will argue over who will win in a fight: me or Superman. Now, I'm not saying I could beat Superman, but you know, kids are stupid.
Monica: Sit down. All right, please, just listen to me. You are terrible at this. Okay? You are the worst ultimate fighter ever. Ever.
Pete: You know, I have a torn rotator cuff, a hairline fracture on my right forearm and a severely bruised Adam's apple, but that really hurt.
Monica: Well, then, you know what? I care about you too much to watch you hurt yourself like this. So if you have to do this, then you're gonna have to do it without me.
Pete: Well, if you're asking me to quit, then you're asking me to be someone I'm not. I've got to do this.
Monica: Then I've gotta go.

Ross: [Watching the fight on TV where Pete gets injured and talking to Monica] Well, this is ironic. Of your last two boyfriends, Richard didn't want to have kids, and from the looks of it, now Pete can't!

Trivia[]

General[]

  • Tank Abbott had been an actual UFC heavy weight fighter but he left to return to wrestling in 1999. He returned to UFC in 2003.
  • The appearance of Billy Crystal and Robin Williams wasn't in the original script. They were by coincidence in the same building, or the one across the street from where Friends is shot, and the writers asked if they wanted to make a guest appearance. Robin and Billy ad libbed the conversation their characters have in the coffee house which the six friends eavesdrop upon, and when Joey irritates Billy's character by interrupting their conversation at one point, this was apparently ad libbed by Matt LeBlanc. The annoyed reaction from Billy's character, who tells Joey to mind his own business, was likewise apparently ad libbed by Billy. The motion picture "Father's Day", starring Billy Crystal and Robin Williams opened in theaters the very next day on May 9, 1997.
    • Lisa Kudrow would later star alongside Crystal in the 1999 film Analyze This and its 2002 sequel Analyze That.
  • Since the episode aired the term "Ultimate Fighting" has been largely replaced by the term "Mixed Martial Arts" and there are unified rules that govern the sport far stricter than the ones mentioned in the episode. As of 2015 Bruce Buffer is still the ring announcer for the majority of UFC events, while "Big" John McCarthy still actively referees in the sport.
  • Pete mentions that UFC is banned in 49 states. At the time of this episode's airing New York was one of the only U.S. states to ban MMA fighting however the ban was lifted in 2016.
  • Bruce Buffer is the half-brother of fellow announcer Michael Buffer who voiced "Let's get ready to rumble!" in "The One With The Football".
  • Ross books a table at a restaurant using the name Winona Ryder who appears later in the series as Melissa Warburton in "The One With Rachel's Big Kiss". She also later acts alongside David Schwimmer in the 2012 movie The Iceman.
  • Phoebe knows two girls that shave their heads, in "The One With The Candy Hearts" (S1E14) she mentions Abby. Bonnie is the second one.
  • This is the last appearance of Jon Favreau as Pete Becker in the series.
  • Christine Taylor who plays Bonnie would go on to marry Ben Stiller who played Tommy a couple of episodes ago in "The One With The Screamer". (S3E22).
  • The shot of the stadium where the Ultimate Fighting event was taking place was of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, although the UFC event depicted in the episode is presumably meant to place in New York.
    • This was likely due to New York's ban on MMA events at the time.
  • The large cup Ross has at the fight is identical to that held by Ugly Naked Guy in "The One Where Everybody Finds Out" when he answers the door to Ross. It was explained in the commentary for that episode that the idea of the large coke came from a crew member bringing one to work every day.
  • Pete's first fight in the UFC ring is the only scene shot with a handheld camera in the entire series.
  • Pete wears a white belt during his fight. The white belt is the first level in most martial arts and dictates an inexperienced fighter, making it a very appropriate color for Pete.
  • This is the first appearance of Sam McMurray as Doug in the series. He would appear twice more, in "The One With Chandler's Work Laugh" and "The One With Ross' Step Forward", respectively.

Goofs[]

  • Ross buys an Ultimate Fighting Combo, a large pop and popcorn, at the fight. However, after Ross and Monica sit down, they are never seen again. In the HD version, he visibly puts it down in the long shot when the announcer comes on the ring. However, when Monica talks to Pete at the ring, you can see that the combo wasn't set on the floor.
  • In the scene where Phoebe and Rachel are outside the coffee house talking about Ross and Bonnie, a large piece of black fuzz is visible on Phoebe's shirt. When the camera cuts away to Rachel and then back to Phoebe, the piece of fuzz is gone.
  • When Phoebe asks Rachel if it's ok to set Ross up with Bonnie, Rachel's shoulder bag is over her left shoulder in the shots facing Phoebe but over Rachel's right shoulder when the shots are facing Rachel. In the final shot she clasps her bag in her left hand before putting the bag over her shoulder.
  • Ross mentions during Pete's third fight that "From the looks of it" Pete can't have children now. This would indicate that his opponent was attacking his groin area. However, groin attacks are illegal in UFC fights.
  • Bonnie could not have grown her hair from bald to as long as shown in only 2 years.
  • Phoebe is a vegetarian, but when they are grilling food while watching Pete's fight, she is seen getting a hamburger bun prepared and taking what is clearly a meat burger from Ross off the grill.
  • When Ross is on the balcony manning the grill, Chandler asks him which is his turkey burger. In the next season, Chandler is seen to dislike all Thanksgiving food, especially turkey, because that's when his parents split up.
  • After Rachel and Phoebe see Bonnie and Ross in Central Perk, Rachel is yelling at Phoebe that she needs to break them up. At first, Phoebe is holding her coat in her left hand and a purse in her right, but then she is holding them both in her left, with no time to have changed hands.

External links[]

Episode Navigation[]

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Preceded by
"The One With Ross' Thing" 		Series Three Episodes Followed by
"The One At The Beach"
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