The single elimination tournament is over and now it is time to pick Team Rampage and Team Forrest.

Fighters who have a spot in the house:

“It’s going to be a tough season. I have watched pretty much everybody fight and there’s some studs this year, man. It’s going to be a great season.” says Brandon Sene.

After the fighters get settled into the house, they are driven to the TUF gym so that Forrest Griffin and Rampage Jackson can select their respective teams. Dana White has some words of inspiration for the fighters:

“I’m seriously so impressed with the fights yesterday. All that I ask of you guys is that you continue to fight the way that you fought yesterday and not only will this be the best season ever, but I guarantee that every guy here has the potential to win this thing and have an amazing career in the UFC. Now it’s all about what team you end up on. I know what kind of fighters both these guys are, but I don’t know what kind of coaches they are. That remains to be seen.”

Rampage wins the coin toss and opts to pick the first fighter. This means that Forrest will get to pick the first fight. After teams are selected, Dana tells everyone that the first fight will be in 2 days, and Team Forrest will select that fight.

Rampage introduces his assistant coaches. Juanito Ibarra will be his assistant coach. Juanito is normally Rampage’s head coach in training, so it makes sense that Quinton would bring him aboard. Juanito Ibarra is a boxing trainer who has worked with champion boxer Oscar de la Hoya . He currently focuses his efforts mostly on Quinton Jackson, whom he also manages. He also works with mixed martial artists like Cheick Kongo and Michael Bisping. Zach Light will be Rampage’s wrestling and conditioning coach.

Forrest Griffin’s coaches include Jiu-Jitsu expert Cameron Diffley. Diffley is a training partner to MMA competitors Brian Shepard, Forrest Griffin, Rick Davis, Marcus Sursa, Heath Herring, Frank Mir and Alex Schoenauer. Mark Beacher will be the Muay Thai and striking coach. Gray Maynard will be the wrestling coach of Forrest’s team. Maynard is a former TUF contestant himself and is coming off of a huge win over lightweight sensation Frankie Edgar.

There is some controversy on Rampage’s team because one of his fighters has a skin infection that is highly contagious. This will prove to be a death blow for the contestant, as it is later revealed that he will have to leave the house. Dana does not want to remove the fighters from the house, but he says he cannot risk spreading the infection to the other contestants and coaches.

“I’ve never felt so bad about telling someone they have to go. Because ususally, when someone has got to go, they [expletive] up, or they did something wrong. You didn’t do a [expletive] thing wrong. I’ve kicked guys off the show for a million different things. My girlfriend I miss her I love her (*cough Joe Scarola *cough) . You name it, I’ve kicked a guy off the show for it. This is definitely a new one. I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

I won’t reveal the name of the fighter, watch tonight so you can see for yourself. Since a fighter had to go, a fighter gets to come back. Rampage selects a new fighter for his team and we move on to the pre-fight training session.

Forrest Griffin selects the first fight and we get some insight from both fighters about the upcoming match. The bout isn’t the most exciting, but we have a decisive winner. Someone is eliminated from the tournament and someone will move on to the next round. The winner of the fight will receive $5,000.00 courtesy of Burger King. As always, the winner will also receive a $5,000.00 bonus for submitting or knocking out an opponent. I believe this is the first season that the fighters will receive a purse for winning a tournament fight.

The Ultimate Fighter 7 airs 10PM ET on Spike TV. For local listings, go to www.spiketv.com.