Coyne on The Contender, Week 3

Ryan Coyne's got brass balls. Days after getting five stitches near his left eye, Coyne rolled into the Contender gym for episode three wearing a headband scrawled with the

Alas, coach John Bray basically called Coyne a snot and told him to ratchet up the humility. The blue team wouldn't let their wounded warrior near the ring.

Instead, Texan Erick Vega (blue) and Nigerian Akinyemi "A.K." Laleye (gold) duked it out pretty mercilessly over five long rounds. I'd say Vega's body-punching and Laleye's AK-47-speed combined to make this the season's best fight so far.

Just a few cheap shots, though at one point, Laleye pulled down Vega's pants, exposing his black spandex and red pelvic protector. Tony Danza got a kick out of that one.

By the end, both dudes were stumbling, and the Singaporeans were jumping out of their seats, screaming.

Laleye claimed the victory.

With gold thus back in business, next week we might finally see our St. Louis contender get down and dirty. 

-Kristen Hinman