After a low key first five months of 2017, UFC will attempt to get some interest going for the summer with a big media event scheduled for Friday at 5:30 PM EST in Dallas, TX, streamed live here.
Jon Anik will host the event where it’s expected that some new fights will be announced like Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier II and perhaps Michael Bisping vs. Yoel Romero. Officially scheduled to be there today:
– UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt and T.J. Dillashaw who fight at UFC 213 on July 8th in Las Vegas
– Claudia Gadelha and Karolina Kowalkiewicz who fight at UFC 212 on June 3rd in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
– Holly Holm and Bethe Correia who fight at UFC Fight Night 111 on June 17th in Singapore
– Michael Chiesa and Kevin Lee who fight at UFC Fight Night 112 on June 25 in Oklahoma City, OK
The event will be held before the ceremonial UFC 211 weigh-ins.
Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of UFC Fight Night 100: Bader vs. Nogueira 2, eminating from Ginasio do Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The second of two UFC events today is headlined by a five-round bout in the light heavyweight division as fourth-ranked Ryan Bader takes on ninth-ranked Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Bader stepped in as a replacement for Alexander Gustafsson, who pulled out due to a back injury. This is the second time Bader and Nogueira will fight, after having previously fought at UFC 119 in September 2010. Bader won that fight by unanimous decision, and he looks to repeat that result here.
In the co-main event, bantamweight prospect Thomas Almeida looks to rebound from the first loss of his career as he takes on unbeaten Albert Morales, in a big test for his second UFC bout. Also on the main card is Claudia Gadelha, who looks to get back into strawweight title contention following her July loss to champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, as she takes on Cortney Casey, winner of two straight fights.
Follow along with our live coverage of the event beginning at 6 PM eastern time with preliminary action all the way thru the main card.
Darren Stewart (8-0) beat Francimar Barroso by TKO at 1:34
Stewart hit an accidental headbutt that the ref missed and may have had his jaw broken. Stewart finished him with ground and pound.
Can’t really tell much about Stewart but he did win his UFC debut. He’s a pretty small light heavyweight and will probably drop a weight class for his next fight.
Stewart apologized “if it was a headbutt”, saying he’s not that kind of fighter. Crowd not happy with him. He tried to play up to the crowd but that only made them boo him more.
Theme for tonight is Brazil vs The World so right now we’re at – WORLD 1 BRAZIL 0
Pedro Munhoz (13-2) submitted Justin Scoggins at 1:55 of the 2nd round
This was crazy. Scoggins was making his bantamweight debut at the #11 flyweight contender and pretty much dominated the first round that was all standup. In the second, he was on his way to doing the same and he slipped after throwing a kick. Munhoz pounced on him and slapped on a guillotine out of nowhere and it was tight and Scoggins tapped quickly.
That was his second straight come from behind win. The crowd was crazy for him and reacted huge for every strike he landed. He’s a Sao Paulo guy and for the 2nd match on a 12 fight card, it’s rare you’ll hear reactions like this.
Score now – BRAZIL 1 WORLD 1
FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS | 7 PM ET/4 PM PT
Luis Henrique (10-2) submitted Cristian Colombo (8-2-1) at 2:12 of the third round
Henrique completely dominated Colombo for the whole fight. In round 1 it was pretty even until Henrique took him down and did a lot of damage with ground and pound. Round 2, he took him down at will and opened up a huge cut, which caused a break.
On the restart, the ref let it continue but didn’t put the guys back into position. It didn’t matter as Henrique took him right down again. I had it 20-18 after 2 but you could make a case for a 10-8 2nd. In the third, it was more of the same before Henrique slapped on a mounted guillotine.
This was Henrique’s 2nd straight submission win after losing in his UFC debut. He’s just 23 and could be a real prospect the relatively weak UFC heavyweight division.
We are now at BRAZIL 2 WORLD 1
Johnny Eduardo (28-10) beat Manny Gamburyan (15-10) by TKO at 46 seconds of the 2nd round
First round was really close, like as close to a 10-10 as you’ll see. I gave it to Eduardo as I thought his leg kicks were more effective than Gamburyan’s punching. Early in the second, Eduardo dropped him with a short punch that almost looked like a slip from Gamburyan and then he destroyed him on the ground before ref Mario Yamasaki stopped it.
Eduardo has won 3 of 4 in the bantamweight division since losing his UFC debut. His only loss in that span has been to the very tough Aljamain Sterling. He’s a solid top-10 guy and good to have on these Brazilian shows. Speaking of which…..
BRAZIL 3 WORLD 1
Eduardo was very happy in his post-fight promo, asking for more fights, as he’s only fought 5 times in the last 5 years. Manny Gamburyan basically retired “probably” after the fight. He said it’s been a long road, this is getting really hard. He loves UFC and would like to stick around and help others but he’s done.
Gadzhimurad Antigulov (19-4) submitted Marcos Rogerio de Lima (14-4-1) in 1:07
Very impressive showing by the debuting Russian light heavyweight. He got a quick takedown and then after posturing up to improve position, he ate an upkick but went back into de Lima’s guard. He secured a guillotine and got the quick tap.
That’s 13 wins in a row for Antigulov and he couldn’t have looked better. The crowd, which had been hot all night went quiet so quick, it was like someone had a switch and turned them off. de Lima is not just Brazillian, he’s from Sao Paulo.
Scoreboard now BRAZIL 3 WORLD 2
Cezar Ferreira (11-5) submitted Jack Hermansson (14-3) at 2:11 of the 2nd round
Really close first round that could’ve gone either way. I almost scored it 10-10 but gave it to Ferreira based on more output. Second round Hermansson was looking better on his feet and Ferreira took him down. Hermansson had a weak guillotine attempt that Ferreira easily escaped. He then secured a head and arm choke and Hermansson fought it off for a long time before finally tapping.
BRAZIL 4 WORLD 2
FOX SPORTS 1 MAIN CARD | 9 PM ET/6 PM PT
Sergio Moraes (11-2-1) won a split decision over Zak Ottow (14-4) on scores of 28-29 and 30-27 x 2
I had it 29-28 Moraes. First round, Moraes got a takedown about 2:00 and stayed on top the rest of the round, doing almost no damage. 2nd round was all on the feet and rather close but Ottow was landing the harder shots. Didn’t really think there was much of a question Ottow won the round. 3rd was very close. Moraes got a takedown about a minute in and didn’t do any damage. Ottow made it to his feet and they were fairly even standing.
Moraes claims that he didn’t understand how one judge could’ve thought he lost the fight and promised to never let a fight go to the judges again.
BRAZIL 5 WORLD 2
Kamaru Usman (9-1) won a unanimous decision over Warlley Alves (10-2) on scores of 29-27, 30-26 and 29-28
I scored it 30-26. First round was fairly close and was entirely on the feet. Usman seemed to do more damage. 2nd round was also on the feet and Usman did even more damage. At some point in the round, he may have broken Alves’ nose.
Third round was almost all Usman. He managed to finally get a takedown and dominated on the ground. Alves briefly gained control with a guillotine but after Usman popped out, he did a ton of damage with ground and pound and nearly finished him with an arm triangle.
After the fight, Usman did a great promo, partially in Portugese. He called out Demian Maia, said that with all the BS in this division, he’d fight anyone, even bringing up Conor McGregor.
BRAZIL 5 WORLD 3
They aired a promo for the Rousey/Nunes show on December 30th. Didn’t even mention any other fights and barely mentioned Nunes, the champion.
Krzysztof Jotko (19-1) won a unanimous decision over Thales Leites on scores of 29-27 and 30-27 x 2
I had it 29-28 Jotko but it wasn’t nearly as close as that sounds. First round could’ve gone either way. Leites got a takedown halfway through the round. Jotko reversed and ended up on top. Second round, Jotko started to take over. He got a takedown 2:00 in and pretty much held Leites down for the rest of the round, doing a lot of damage.
In the third, Leites had almost nothing for him. Jotko took him down a few times and did damage. It was never close to being stopped but by the end of the round, Leites was exhausted and his face was a blood mess.
That was the 4th straight win for Jotko, who may move into the top 10 after this. A matchup with someone the level of Uriah Hall would probably be the way to go for him.
BRAZIL 5 WORLD 4
Claudia Gadelha (14-2) won a unanimous decision over Cortney Casey (6-4) on scores of 30-27 x 3
I had the same score and it was pretty obvious. Gadelha dominated the first two rounds, scoring several takedowns. She didn’t do a lot of damage on the ground and completely controlled Casey.
There was some controversy in the third. After scoring a takedown, Gadelha stood up and while Casey was making her way to her feet, Gadelha appeared to kick her with what was clearly an illegal kick. The ref gave Casey time to recover but didn’t deduct a point. The replays showed that the kick at best grazed Casey’s ponytail but may not have even connected.
Gadelha was disappointed after the fight. She wanted a ranked appointment. She thought she should have finished the fight. She promised to be back soon.
BRAZIL 6 WORLD 4
Thomas Almeida (22-1) scores a TKO over Albert Morales (6-1-1) at 1:37 of the 2nd round
Almeida looked great in rebounding from his loss to Cody Garbrandt in May. The first round was crazy with both guys hurting the other. Morales was working for a standing rear naked choke in his best moment of the fight but Almeida shook him off.
In the second, Almeida took over. He clearly had him finished as Morales just stopped fighting back but the ref didn’t stop it so Almeida landed about 20 unnecessary strikes before Morales just crumpled to the ground and the ref finally stepped in. This was a young ref and he had done a bad job in his earlier fights as well.
Almeida put over Morales as a tough guy who can take a lot of punishment. He wouldn’t call anyone out in specific but said he’d like a top 10 opponent next.
BRAZIL 7 WORLD 4, so Brazil will take the night, no matter what happens in the main event.
Ryan Bader (22-4) won by TKO over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (22-8) at 3:51 of the third round
This was as dominant as you’ll ever see in a UFC main event, just a one-sided beatdown. Little Nog hurt Bader a bit early in the first but Bader took him down and kept him there for the rest of the round, doing a ton of damage. No idea how Nogueira survived and he wasn’t even really cut but it was a clear 10-8.
Second round was almost as dominant, I had it 10-8 as well but it was the same thing. Early takedown and extended ground and pound from Bader. Almost no offence at all from Little Nog. Third round was exactly the same and finally Nogueira just stopped fighting back and the ref quickly stepped in to stop it.
Great performance from Bader. They acknowledged that it was the last fight on his contract but he seemed to indicate he’ll re-sign with the promotion and hopes to work his way back into title contention.
Nogueira took a lot of punishment and at 40 years old, he just can’t keep doing this.
After 12 straight hours of UFC action, I’m not the least bit tired of it and I think I’m gonna watch the last two Bellator fights and then Takeover. Thanks for joining me tonight!
If you prefer the play by play style of recap, check me out over at MMADraws.com
Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale: Jedrzejczyk vs. Gadelha 2 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is the second of three straight nights of UFC action as International Fight Week continues in Las Vegas.
This event is headlined by a rematch between UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk taking on Claudia Gadelha, this time with Jedrzejczyk’s title on the line. In addition, there will be the crowning of two new winners of The Ultimate Fighter as the finals take place. Follow along with our live coverage of the event beginning at 7 PM eastern time with preliminary action all the way thru the main card.
WELTERWEIGHTS LI JINGLIANG (10-4, 2-2 UFC) VS. ANTON ZAFIR (7-2, 0-1 UFC)
ROUND 1- Zafir with a leg kick and then lands a right hand. They trade punches. Zafir scores a takedown and is in the full guard of Jingliang. He passes to half-guard. They get back to their feet and Zafir gets another takedown. Jingliang reverses and knocks Zafir right out with a series of right hands. That came out of nowhere and Jingliang gets the big knockout win.
Official Result- Li Jingliang def. Anton Zafir by knockout (punches) at 2:46 of Round 1
LIGHTWEIGHTS JAKE MATTHEWS (10-1, 4-1 UFC) VS. KEVIN LEE (12-2, 5-2 UFC)
First round: Lee picked him up and slammed him down. Lee landing punches from the top. Matthews back to his feet. They traded kknees. Matthew sin with punches and landed a high kick. Lee acted like it was nothing. Lee landed a big shot knocking out his mouthpiece. Lee with another takedown and got his back. He’s got the hooks in and is landing punches. Lee landed a lot of punches and it was stopped. Matthews didn’t seem hurt and was blocking most of the punches. 4:06
Lee made the most use of his interview time, he directly challenged Al Iaquinta for November in Madison Square Garden. Iaquinta is logical for that show as a New Yorker.
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT)
MIDDLEWEIGHTS CEZAR FERREIRA (9-5, 5-3 UFC) VS. ANTHONY SMITH (25-11, 1-1 UFC)
First round: Body kick by Ferreira. Body kick by Smith. Smith threw a kick and Ferreira took him down. Ref Chris Tognoni ordered a stand-up. Body kicks by Ferreira. Smith landed a punch and Ferreira took him down. Ferreira landed a few elbows from the top at the end of the round. 10-9 Ferreira
Second round: Smith with a body kick. Ferreira with a takedown. Smith rocked him with a punch and landed a spin kick to the body. Smith landed a left. Ferreira got a takedown with 2:12 left in the round. Ferreira did nothing from the top and a standup was ordered. Smith landed hard elbows and a punch. Smith’s round so 19-19 after two.
Third round: Both trading punches. Ferreira with a takedown. Smith is bleeding. Another standup was ordered and I have no idea why. Ferreria shot for another takedown but Smith has him in a guillotine. Ferreria is out of trouble. Ferreira landing weak strikes from the top but he’s busy. Ferreira 29-28. Not too exciting of a fight.
First round: Hendricks with a body kick. Stansbury hurt him with a wild punch. Hendricks with a body kick. Another body kick by Hendricks. Both swinging and missing. Stansbury went for a takedown but Hendricks threw some elbows. Stansbury is bleeding from the left side of the head. Body kick and punches by Hendricks. Spinning backfist by Stansbury. Hard right by Stansbusy and Hendricks back. Close round. Hendricks 10-9
Second round: Stansbury tried a takedown but it was blocked. Hendricks tried a takedown, but Stansbury blocked it and landed on top. A standup was ordered. Body kick by Hendericks. Stansbury with a right. Body kick by Hendricks. Both are in a clinch as the round came to an end. Another close round. Stansbury so 19-19.
Third round: Stansbury took him down into side control. He’s keeping position but doing little in the way of damage. Noting happened at all this round but Stansbury kept his position. He threw a few punches here and there. Stansbury’s round for sure, but first two could go either way 29-28 Stansbury.
Scores: 29-27 Stansbury 29-27 Stansbury 28-28 draw. All the judges must have given a 10-8 third. It was one-sided but not enough damage for me to score it that way.
FLYWEIGHTS (#6) JOHN MORAGA (16-4, 5-3 UFC) VS. MATHEUS NICOLAU (11-1-1, 1-0 UFC)
First round: Nothing much happened. Finally they traded punches. Nice right by Nicolau. Uppercut by Moraga. Very little happened. Nicolau 10-9.
Second round: Nicolau landed a nice right. Moraga landed a left. Low kick by Moraga. Right by Nicolau. They traded body kicks. Left by Nicoalu sent Moraga backwards. Nicolau’s round 20-18.
Third round: Low kick by Nicolau. The crowd is finally booing these guys. It’s really been a non-fight so far. Spinning backfist by Nicolau. Right by Nicolau. I don’t know what’s going on in Moraga’s head because he’ s not trying to win this fight. The crowd is booing again. Nicolau with a takedown. Nicolau has his back. Nicolau 30-27. Crowd booed heavily when the fight ended.
Scores: 29-28 Nicolau 29-28 Moraga 29-28 Nicolau
FEATHERWEIGHTS GRAY MAYNARD (11-5-1 1 NC, 9-5-1 1 NC UFC) VS. FERNANDO BRUNO (15-3, 0-1 UFC)
First round: Both swinging wildly. This is a crazy fight. Both swinging wildly. Bruno took Maynard down and Maynard reversed to the top. Bruno knocked Maynard down with a left. Bruno landed a hard left. Both swinging big punches again. Head kick by Bruno. Maynard knocked him to a knee with a punch. Knee by Maynard. Maynand is bleeding. Bruno trying for a takedown and got him down. Maynard back up. Bruno working for another takedown but Maynard blocked it. Bruno 10-9
Second round: Bruno swinging and missing. Bruno landed a number of punches. Maynard back with a right. Maynard with a left. Bruno took him down. Maynard reversed to the top. Maynard working for a guillotine. He gave it up. Bruno landing several punches. Maynard got another takedown and has his back. Maynard took him down again. Maynard’s round so 19-19 after two.
Third round: Maynard got another takedown. Bruno has a guillotine. But Mayanrd escaped. Both look tired. Bruno missed punches, and then slipped and Maynard controlled him on the ground. Maynard’s round so he should win 29-28. Can’t say he resembled the old Maynard.
Scores: All three had it 30-27 for Maynard
MAIN CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 10 PM ET/7 PM PT)
LIGHTWEIGHTS JOAQUIM SILVA (8-0, 1-0 UFC) VS. ANDREW HOLBROOK (11-0, 1-0 UFC)
First round: Holbrook threw a kick, Silva grabbed his foot and took him down and landed several punches on the ground and it was over. Silva was bouncing his head on the ground with five hard punches. :34
FEATHERWEIGHTS DOO HO CHOI (14-1, 2-0 UFC) VS. THIAGO TAVARES (20-6-1, 10-6-1 UFC)
First round: Choi with a knee. Tavares then took him down. Tavares took him down again. Choi back up. Choi landing punches and knocked him out on the third shot, a right cross. Choi has some amazing firepower in that right. 2:42
Choi issued a challenge to Cub Swanson next, but said that if Tatsuya Kawajiri beats Swanson, he wants him.
LIGHTWEIGHTS ROSS PEARSON (19-10 1 NC, 11-7 1 NC UFC) VS. WILL BROOKS (18-1, 0-0 UFC)
First round: Trading low kicks. Knee by Brooks. Body kick by Pearson. Knee by Brooks. Pearson bleeding from the forehead. They traded body kicks. They’re in a clinch. Brooks with a punch, Pearson with knees. Very close round, Brooks 10-9.
Second round: Body kick and knee by Brooks. Both trading. Brooks with a knee. Brooks with a takedown. Brooks has his back. Knee by Brooks. Brooks with an elbow. Brooks with a body shot Front kick by Brooks. Brooks lost his balance and Pearson ended up on top as the round ended. Brooks 20-18.
Third round: Trading body kicks. Brooks tried a takedown and didn’t get it. Knee by Brooks and he pushed Pearson into the cage. Pearson landed some punches and a knee. Pearson starting to land. Hard body kick by Pearson. Brooks landed a right. Pearson landing a lot of punches now., especially to the body. Best offense of the fight. Pearson with punches and an elbow and a low kick. Pearson continues to work the body. Knee by Brooks . They area trading knees and Brooks took him down. Pearson up and they are trading knees again. Brooks with an elbow. Pearon with a knee. Pearson landed punches at the end. Pearson won the third round, so it’ll come down to the first round, I’ve got 29-28 Brooks
Scores: All three had it 29-28 Brooks. A lot of booing the decision. But it was a fair decision. Brooks challenged Eddie Alvarez, he talked about Alvarez running from him “in another organization.” He put over how talented Pearson is.
TUF 23 WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT FINALS TATIANA SUAREZ (3-0, 0-0 UFC) VS. AMANDA COOPER (1-1, 0-0 UFC)
First round: Suarez is the crowd favorite. Suarez took her right down. Suarez ground and pounding her. Cooper went for an armbar form the bottom. Suarez out and on top. Suarez with punches and Cooper reversed to the top. Suarez up. Suarez with a takedown. Suarez landing punches. She’s working for a D’arce choke and it’s over. The crowd is going crazy. Pretty clear a lot of people watched this season in the crowd and liked her.
Suarez said she got a D’arce onher in practice and talked about beating cancer. The crowd likes her a lot. She came across like a star. Jon Anik talked about her mic skills.
TUF 23 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT FINALS ANDREW SANCHEZ (7-2, 0-0 UFC) VS. KHALIL ROUNTREE (4-0, 0-0 UFC)
First round: Sanchez took him down. Another takedown by Sanchez. Sanchez with some punches on the ground but mostly just controlling him. Rountree back up. Crowd popped when Rountree broke free. Sanchez took him right down. 10-9 Sanchez.
Second round: They traded punches. Sanchez is fighting for a takedown but Rountree i s defending well. Sanchez finally got him down. The crowd is booing as Sanchez has his back and keeping him there. Rountree is from Las Vegas so he’s the crowd favorite but he’s not getting any offense. Sanchez is throwing punches from back position. Sanchez 20-18.
Third round: Rountree blocked a takedown. Rounhtree landed a punch. Sanchez is going for a takedown but doesn’t have it Sanchez got him down again. Sanchez has his back and is working for a choke. Sanchez is keeping the position and the crowd is booing. Sanchez keeps landing punches from that position. The crowd is booing heavily. Sanchez 30-27, the crowd is heavily booing.
Scores: 30-25, 30-25 and 30-26. Crowd booed this pretty heavily.
First round: Gadelha got a big reaction. Joanna got very light boos, mostly cheers, also a big reaction. Great staredown. The crowd is really psyched for this. Gadelha dropped her right away with a punch and then took her down. JJ back up Both trading punches. Gadelha pushed her into the cage. Another takedown by Gadelha. Gadlelha landing punches from the top. She’s now landing elbows to the body. JJ back up. Big trade of punches. Body kick by JJ. Big trade. Gadelha hurt her left knee. Shje’s not moving well and JJ kicking at the knee. Gadelha 10-9
Second round: Gadelha pushed her into the fence but can’t take her down. Gadelha with some punches and got the takedown. Gadelha with punches on the ground. JJ back up. Knee by JJ. Gadelha trying for a takedown. JJ blocked it. She tried it and JJ blocked and on top but Gadelha back up. Gadelha 20-18.
Third round: JJ starting to land now. Gadelha landing back and took her down once again. JJ back up. Trading elbows as JJ is back up. JJ going after the left knee. Body kick and punches by JJ. JJ landing while Gadelha has slowed down. JJ landed a flurry of punches. Gadelha back with punches. Gadelha took her down again. JJ reversed and punched her on the ground, then backed off and told Gadelha to get up. Both trading. JJ is landing a lot and Gadelha threw a hard right that hurt JJ. This is a great fight. JJ with hard elbows and Gadelha aback with an elbow. Elbow by JJ and punches back by Gadelha. The whole place is standing after that round. JJ’s round so 29-28 for Gadelha after three.
Fourth round: JJ landing a lot of punches. She’s also kicking the bad leg. Hard right by JJ. Gadelha is really tired. Gadelha back with punches. Front kick by JJ. JJ landing lefts and low kicks. JJ continuing to land. JJ landed a head kick and punches and is just taking her apart now. Gadelha’s in trouble. Elbow by JJ. JJ with punches and kicks. 10-8 for JJ so I’ve got JJ ahead 38-37 after four.
Fifth round: JJ taking her apart now. JJ landing hard shots. Gadelha rushed in. She’s fighting for a takedown. JJ escaped and landed punches a a high kick. JJ continuing to jab. Front kick by JJ. JJ landing punches. Gadelha tried a takedown but JJ on top and threw a few punches. She told Gadelha to get up. JJ landing al kinds of punches as has Gadelha hurt now. JJ’s round, could be another 10-8, but I’ll go 10-9 and have JJ winning 48-46.
This season, both the women’s strawweight division and the men’s light heavyweight division will be competing. At the end of the season Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha fight on the TUF 23 Finale with Joanna Champion defending her strawweight title. Last week Claudia Gadelha’s team won again and took a 4-0 lead. She picked Eric Spicely vs. Elias Urbina IV for this week’s fight. Here we go!
*****
We open with Dana White talking about Gadelha’s lead and Abdel Medjedoub’s personal problem. On last week’s show, his wife threatened to divorce him if he didn’t quit UFC. After talking to Medjedoub, he agrees to allow another phone call. He tries to explain to her that if he leaves the show, he’ll never do anything in MMA again, but she’s not having it. She basically gives him an ultimatum – come home or we’re done.
White makes Medjedoub a very unique offer – leave the show for a few days but if he comes back before the next fight, Sunday he can stay on the show. White’s position is he doesn’t want Medjedoub to have to choose between his career and marriage. Medjedoub takes him up on the offer and backs his bag to fly to Montreal and try to straighten things out.
Finally we get to see some actual training with Elias Urbina IV. He admits he’s the baby of the show and talks about how growing up his family was intent on keeping him and his siblings in the sport of wrestling. If they had one dollar left that dollar went to wrestling shoes. Urbina says he doesn’t fear anything and that he feels relaxed in the cage whether it’s on the feet or on the ground.
Meanwhile, Team Jedrzejczyk is game-planning for what they’ll do if Medjedoub can’t return. While they believe Khalil Rountree would get a second shot, he’s having so much pain in his knees training Jedrzejczyk advises him to take time off and heal up.
Eric Spicely talks about his girlfriend dying in a camping accident when her canoe flipped under a bridge and she smashed her head into a pillar – she drowned while she was unconscious. He talks about how she never had any vices or issues – all she cared about was family, sports and school. He vows to continue to win in her memory.
Pranking has infected the house. The guys put baby powder in the blow dryers. The girls respond by pouring baby powder on them while they’re in the hot tub. Khalil pranks Myron by jumping out of the shower when he goes to use the bathroom. Etc.
Weigh-in. Urbina is 203.5 and Spicely is 205.5.
Medjedoub flies back and is welcomed by Team Gadelha with hugs and smiles all around. Whatever he did it has been resolved. He refuses to talk about it on the camera, only saying he admits 1000% all the fault was his, and it will remain between him and her.
* Eric Spicely (Team Gadelha) vs. Elias Urbina IV (Team Jedrzejczyk)
Spicely nearly catches Urbina in an armbar, and Urbina does something I’ve never seen before – he picks up his opponent and SWINGS HIM into the fence trying to shake him off. Spicely rolls for a leg and Urbina ends up dropping hard elbows on his ribs, but Spicely just won’t let go. He makes a transition to the back and get one hook in at the point Urbina nearly had top mount. Urbina keeps his chin tucked and concentrates on controlling Spicely’s arms. Spicely tries to soften Urbina up with rights to the head. The rest of R1 is Urbina defending.
Whatever happens now, this fight’s not going three rounds given the TV time left.
Urbina is attacking with kicks. Spicely shoots in for a single and misses. He shoots for the double and Urbina keeps his footing until 56 seconds. He nearly gets to his knees and pops up but Spicely drags him down to the ground and gets both hooks in. Chris Tognoni warns Spicely about shots to the back of the head. Urbina keeps defending and blocking as best he can but that’s all he can do. Dana is pissed off.
Spicely 20-18 X3. Team Gadelha is 5-0. Gadelha predicts a clean sweep and picks Amanda Cooper to fight Jamie Moyle next week. See you then!
This season both the women’s strawweight division and the men’s light heavyweight division will be competing. At the end of the season Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha fight on the TUF 23 Finale with Joanna Champion defending her strawweight title. Last week, Gadelha’s team won again and took a 3-0 lead. She picked Lanchana Green (Gadelha) vs. Helen Harper (Jedrzejczyk) for this week’s bout.
**********
Green opens up the show talking about her roots in England, how getting beat up as a girl inspired her to be a fighter, and how nobody’s beaten her up ever since. “We’ve been working on takedown defense. I’m not giving Helen a chance to even get close to me.” Dana White says she’s the single best striker on Claudia’s team.
Jedrzejczyk brings in Carla Esparza to talk to her fighters and hopefully give the team some inspiration. She takes Helen Harper and the rest of the fighters through catching kicks and throwing opponents to the mat. Jedrzejczyk says Harper is a “little tornado” and will show everybody how tough she is. Harper: “I’m kind of a rhino. I have the refuse to lose attitude. I want it more.”
Harper talks about how being in an abusive relationship made her want to learn self-defense even though she was in denial and still tried to stay with her tormentor. “It was just a bully, a nasty person, trying to get into my life and ruin it day by day.”
Abdel Medjedoub called the house and even though fighters are supposed to be isolated and not take outside calls, she tells the producers it was an emergency and gets them to take it. They try to tell her if they take the call it’s being recorded and she starts cussing them out. Then she threatens to divorce Medjedoub if he doesn’t leave the show and come back to Montreal immediately. It sounds like he’s going to quit.
* Lanchana Green (Team Gadelha) vs. Helen Harper (Team Jedrzejczyk)
Green is in the black trunks, Harper is in the red. You can hear Jedrzejczyk barking out to Harper not to wait and to be aggressive. The ref warns them to watch their fingers. Harper closes the distance but eats some hooks and knees in the process. Harper nearly has a takedown at 1:30 but Green keeps her balance. They break at 1:59. Harper charges at her and gets her on the fence again at 2:15. Green’s height and strength are making the takedowns difficult and she’s punishing Harper with big knees to the body. Harper tries so hard to get a takedown she actually lets Green on top pounding her in the face. She’s only had one strategy all round and it doesn’t work.
Green is winning the striking war for the first minute of R2, but Harper gets her on the fence again and digs hard for a single leg. She can’t get it. Green is teeing off with the right hook repeatedly. Harper finally body locks Green and drags her to the ground at 2:01. She’s quickly warned to stay busy on top. She slowly inches her way to a full mount but gets another warning with 90 seconds left. Once she clears her foot from between Green’s hips she really starts to hammer on Green’s face, who tries and fails repeatedly to buck her off. This one’s going to a third round.
As you’d expect Harper is looking for a takedown in the opening minute of R3 but can’t get it. She closes the distance again at 1:30 and manages to get Green’s back and throw her to the ground at 2:05 but can’t keep her down. Green bloodies up her face once she gets loose. Harper finally drags her to the ground at3:53 but that may be too little too late – and Green gets back up at 4:08 anyway. Harper goes for one last leg trip late to no avail. I’ve got Green two rounds to one.
Green gets a unanimous decision and Team Gadelha goes up 4-0. Jedrzejczyk is insulted that Gadelha didn’t shake her hand after the fight. Harper is emotionally broken but she should be happy she had her team’s best fight this season.
Next week’s fight chosen by coach Claudia Gadelha is Eric Spicely (Team Gadelha) vs. Elias Urbina IV (Team Jedrzejczyk). We will see you then!
This season, both the women’s strawweight division and the men’s light heavyweight division will be competing. At the end of the season, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha fight on the TUF 23 Finale with Joanna Champion defending her strawweight title.
Last week, Gadelha’s team won and picked Tatiana Suarez to face JJ Aldrich, putting the two #1 seeds on a collision course in only the show’s third week!
This Week:
Jedrzejczyk is helping Aldrich work on the “small things” to get better. Helen Harper gets injured as they’re working on submissions. Jedrzejczyk gives her a pep talk but Harper is still feeling bummed and “a bit rubbish” even when she gets to the house. Rountree tells her he’s out and can’t even come back but she’s still in the hunt.
We switch to team Gadelha and Suarez talks about how she had to overcome a cancer diagnosis just to be where she is today. “I don’t really talk about it much with people because it’s something very very personal, but I believe if you continue to persevere you can get through anything.”
Cory Hendricks and Khalil Rountree are having a donut eating contest, and the loser has to get makeup done by the girls in the house, while the winner gets a sparkling golden donut. Joshua Stansbury is the emcee/announcer for the battle. Rountree finishes his pile of donuts first and is declared the winner – not shocking he was able to do it given he’s already out of competition and doesn’t have to worry about making weight. Or does he? You never know if me might come back as an alternate.
Back on team Jedrzejczyk we see Aldrich talk about how nobody who meets her believes she’s a fighter, but (cliche coming) getting in the cage “flips a switch.” She says to beat Suarez she’s going to have all the takedowns and light her up with strikes.
Time for the weigh-in! Aldrich is 115, Suarez is 115.5. Fight’s on! Dana White says that five years ago Suarez was the #1 wrestler in the U.S., but that you can’t count Aldrich out because she trains with Rose Namajunas, so he expects a classic fight.
It’s makeup time for Cory Hendricks. He also has to put on a Reebok sports bra. He says he’s not afraid to do it, but that it’s his own fault for underestimating Rountree’s eating abilities. Lanchana Green is impressed that he went all out. Hendricks says that he can’t figure out whether the guys are attracted or upset.
* Tatiana Suarez (Team Gadelha) vs. JJ Aldrich (Team Jedrzejczyk)
Aldrich is in the red and Suarez is in the black. Suarez shoots for the double, Aldrich sprawls at first, but Suarez gets her with the leg trip. She tries to scoot back to the fence to get up, gives up her head in the process, but ultimately gets to her feet. Suarez single legs her back down at 1:45after a warning not to grab the cage and quickly moves to her back looking for hooks. She goes for a choke with only one in and Aldrich escapes and stands back up. Aldrich tries to widen her stance but is taken down again at 2:58. You can see why Suarez comes so highly touted for her wrestling, and she’s bull strong too, able to just drag Aldrich to the ground when the obvious takedown technique isn’t there. She’s going for a standing guillotine with a minute left but Aldrich escapes and survives to R2.
Suarez got “a tiny little cut” in the first round which was so tiny I didn’t even see it in HD, and Gadelha tells her not to worry. Suarez has another takedown at 40 seconds. She’s quickly moving to side looking for the arm triangle. Aldrich escapes at 1:26 but Suarez is all over her from behind. Aldrich stands at 1:55 but is thrown down head first. Suarez gets the left hook and hammers away looking for the RNC.
She gets the second hook in and at 3:14 of R2 Aldrich taps – TEAM GADELHA WINS AGAIN.
Jedrzejczyk is disappointed that Aldrich didn’t scrap harder. Suarez is happy but knows she has two more fights to go. Jedrzejczyk tells all of her team to fight to the end no matter what. Claudia picks Andrew Sanchez to face Myron Dennis. See you next week!
This season, both the women’s strawweight division and the men’s light heavyweight division will be competing. At the end of the season if both Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha, they’ll be fighting on the TUF 23 Finale LIVE with Joanna Champion defending her strawweight title. First up though are the qualifying fights for the teams on TUF 23. Let’s do this!
115 pounds: Mellony Geugjes (0-1) vs. Amanda Cooper (1-1)
Geugjes is in the red trunks and Cooper the black. Geugjes claimed in her pre-fight interview that she got into MMA because people refused to fight her any more in kickboxing. Cooper certainly didn’t refuse. Geugjes jumps into her guard after tripping her 23 seconds in and it was a big mistake – Cooper quickly trapped an arm and rolled and tapped Geugjes at the one minute mark.
GEUGJES ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA SUBMISSION.
205 pounds: Eric Spicely (8-0) vs. Kenneth Bergh (3-0)
Spicely is in the red trunks and Bergh the black. Other than his face there doesn’t seem to be an inch of Bergh’s body from the knees up that isn’t tattooed. Spicely quickly double legs him to the ground and takes his back – tapping Bergh out to a rear naked choke in 33 seconds.
SPICELY ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA SUBMISSION.
115 pounds: Ashley Cummins (3-3) vs. Lanchana Green (2-1)
Cummins is in the red and is an Invicta veteran. Green is in the black and runs her own gym with her boyfriend in England. Cummins secures a takedown to side control and Green tries and fails to back her off, eating elbows to the face as they spin. Green tries to grab a leg and sweep but ends up eating left hands to the head. Cummins takes the back with hooks in at2:47 then winds up on top again in half guard. Green keeps surviving but she’s eating lots of rights and elbows. Cummins gets a full mount at 4:18 then takes the back again. Green survives the RNC because the horn saves her.
Green survives two takedown attempts and suddenly Cummins starts getting creamed with knees when she doesn’t break away cleanly from the fence. The ref warns her multiple times to fight back and finally steps in to save Cummins. It’s pretty much the story of Cummins career in a fight that doesn’t even officially count on her record. She always looks good until she makes a mistake – and then “Smashley” gets smashed.
GREEN ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA TKO.
205 pounds: Khalil Rountree (4-0) vs. Muhammed Dereese (5-0)
Rountree has white trunks and Dereese is in the black. Dereese credits his Islamic background for why he’s a fighter instead of in jail. Rountree says MMA is what gave him direction and got him in shape. Dereese gets a takedown 12 seconds in and Rountree gets a warning for shots to the back of the head. Dereese hits a leg trip, takes the back, gets the back and Rountree escapes the submission. Dereese goes for the takedown again and Rountree is lighting him up. Wild action in round one.
Rountree lands a nasty head kick and pours it on with kicks to the body on the ground until the referee steps in and saves Dereese.
ROUNTREE ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA TKO.
115 pounds: Alyssa Krahn (3-1) vs. Jamie Moyle (3-1)
Moyle is the second straight Team Syndicate fighter competing on the show (Rountree was the first). Krahn wants to represent women’s MMA in Canada. Krahn is in the red trunks, Moyle the black. Krahn outwrestles her early on but gives up her back late and gets taped out to a rear naked choke at 4:10.
MOYLE ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA SUBMISSION.
205 pounds: Myron Dennis (12-4) vs. Jamelle Jones (6-2)
Dennis is in the red trunks and Jones the black. Dennis says he’s light-skinned dynamite. Jones says he was a three time collegiate All-American. Dennis lights Jones up standing until the ref stepped in to save him – which was the right call since Jones seemed uncertain where he was. Dennis tells Dana White to get his checkbook out because he’s not a cheap date!
DENNIS ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA TKO.
115 pounds: Ashley Yoder (4-1) vs. Jodie Esquibel (5-1)
Yoder is a Team Quest fighter with Dan Henderson who discovered fighting after her brother passed away in an accident. Esquibel has been friends with Holly Holm for 16 years and her fiancee is former UFC star Keith Jardine – she’s also another Invicta FC veteran. Yoder is in the red trunks and Esquibel the black. Esquibel is landing big kicks and right hands and you can see her striking skill, but Yoder is getting advice from Hendo who tells her to get a single leg – and she does. She’s unable to get the RNC before the horn. After an action packed second round Dana White believes it’s going to a third, but “Big” John McCarthy says it’s over.
YODER ADVANCES VIA SPLIT DECISION – DANA AND THE COACHES ARE APPALLED.
205 pounds: Norman Paraisy (13-4-2) vs. Elias Urbina IV (3-0)
Paraisy was a competitor on season 11 of TUF who quit between rounds of his fight with James Hammortree. He says that mistake made him a better man and now he’s back to prove he can do better. He’s in the white trunks. His brother Hector is in UFC with a record of 17-9-1 (1-1 in two UFC bouts). This fight is cut down to highlights. Dana scores the first round for Paraisy, says the second round both guys were gassed, but Urbina did enough to get it to the third – and ultimately to the judges.
URBINA ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA DECISION.
115 pounds: JJ Aldrich (2-1) vs. Kristi Lopez (2-0)
This is cut down to highlights of Aldrich (who is a training partner of Rose Namajunas) beating the snot out of Lopez over the course of two rounds.
ALDRICH ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA DECISION.
205 pounds: Abdel Medjedoub (3-0) vs. John Paul Elias (3-0)
Elias’ wife is Carly Lauren – Miss October 2013 in Playboy. This one is also cut down to highlights. Dana White says Medjedoub took Elias down and smothered him for the entire fight. The judges agree.
MEDJEDOUB ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA DECISION.
115 pounds: Tatiana Suarez (3-0) vs. Chel-C Bailey (2-0)
Suarez is a cancer survivor. She’s in the red trunks. Bailey is friends with Bryan Caraway and Miesha Tate, who are there to offer her advice and support for the fight. Bailey has black trunks. Grappling is the story of round one, allowing Suarez to control position and attack effectively. Even Tate seems pretty clear Bailey didn’t win the first round. Suarez is relentless with the takedowns in R2, and she’s got a full mount with some nasty strikes in the last ten seconds. The winner seems clear.
SUAREZ ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA DECISION.
205 pounds: Phillip Hawes (3-0) vs. Andrew Sanchez (7-2)
Hawes is a training partner for Jon Jones. Sanchez was a four time All-American and apparently can play ukelele judging by the pre-fight clip. Even though the hype was on Hawes, Sanchez was able to outwork him over two rounds.
SANCHEZ ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA DECISION.
115 pounds: Irene Cabello Rivera (6-2) vs. Kate Jackson (7-2-1)
JACKSON ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA TKO.
206 pounds: Cory Hendricks (3-0) vs. Marcel Fortuna (8-1)
Hendricks is a WSOF veteran in the red trunks. Fortuna is the only Brazilian among the men and he’s in the black trunks. Hendricks stuffed almost all of the takedowns in the first round and landed a lot of hard leg kicks. The judges decide Fortuna did enough with takedowns in the second round for there to be a third.
HENDRICKS ADVANCES VIA DECISION – THEY DON’T SAY IF IT WAS SPLIT OR NOT.
115 pounds: Amy Montenegro (7-2) vs. Helen Harper (4-1)
Montenegro is in the red trunks and Harper the black. Harper says she learned martial arts as a survivor of domestic abuse. She goes for Montenegro’s back and trips her to the ground. Montenegro gets back to her feet and delivers a nice elbow to the face, then goes for a single leg of her own. She loses it and Harper gets the back with both hooks in. She goes hard for a sub, Montenegro gets on top and tries to power bomb her way out of it but is ultimately forced to tap.
HARPER ADVANCES TO THE HOUSE VIA SUBMISSION.
205 pounds: Josh Stansbury (7-2) vs. Trever Carlson (10-2)
Stansbury has been here once before but lost a TUF 19 elimination fight when he broke his leg. He’s in the red trunks. Carlson is in the black and works in a gold mine. Stansbury ends up on top pounding the heck out of Carlson 40 seconds into the fight, Carlson tries to roll to save himself as Herb Dean warns him about shots to the back of the head, Stansbury moves to side control and traps the head, but Carlson keesps on surviving. Eventually though he sinks in the americana and Carlson taps.
First fight: Jedrzejczyk picks Rountree vs. Hendricks. Hendricks has a foot injury though and may not be able to compete. Interesting that the two Syndicate MMA guys have to face each other right off the bat next week.
