In what will likely wind up being the final season of The Ultimate Fighter, the 28th edition of the show has found their coaches.
UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and middleweight contender Kelvin Gastelum will serve as the coaches for the fall season, leading to a championship fight following the conclusion of the show, likely in December. The official announcement was made during tonight’s broadcast of The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale in Las Vegas.
The Ultimate Fighter 28 will feature the heavyweight and women’s featherweight divisions. Filming is scheduled to begin shortly with the season set to debut in September on FS1.
While not formally announced, Whittaker and Gastelum are expected to meet at UFC 231 on December 8, which will take place at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, which was also announced on Friday night during an appearance by Dana White on TSN’s Sportcentre.
Whittaker and Gastelum are both former TUF winners, marking the first time two former winners of the show will coach against each other. Whittaker won an international edition of the show, winning TUF: The Smashes in 2012, while Gastelum was the winner of the 17th season of the show in April 2013. Both have had great success at 185 after mixed results at 170 pounds. Whittaker has gone on to become the middleweight champion and is undefeated at the weight class. Gastelum has won two straight and earned this opportunity after scoring a win over Jacare Souza at UFC 224 in May.
Whittaker is coming off a Fight Of The Year candidate in a narrow split decision win over Yoel Romero at UFC 225 in June, which ended up being a non-title fight after Romero missed weight. Should both men make weight when they fight, Whittaker’s first official title defense will come against Gastelum.
Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale: Johnson vs. Gaethje, emanating from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The first fight card of International Fight Week in Las Vegas sees an explosive lightweight five-round main event as Michael Johnson takes on Justin Gaethje, who will be making his UFC debut.
While Johnson has been hanging on to his top-five status, he has struggled recently in the Octagon, losing three of his last four fights. Meanwhile, Gaethje enters the UFC undefeated in his career, with 17 wins, and he is one of the most explosive and exciting fighters at 155 pounds, with 14 wins by knockout.
The co-main event is the finals of this season of The Ultimate Fighter, which featured a “Redemption” theme with former TUF competitors. The finals pits Dhiego Lima, marking the second time he has been a TUF finalist, against Jesse Taylor, who had a prolific turn of events on season seven of TUF, with the winner receiving a $250,000 prize.
Follow along with our live coverage of the event beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET with preliminary action all the way through the main card.
BREAKING: A scheduled women’s bantamweight bout between Jessica Eye and Aspen Ladd was pulled from the event about an hour before the event was scheduled to start. Ladd was forced to the hospital due to an illness, and was subsequently pulled from the bout. It is unclear if the bout will be rescheduled for a later date. The event will now begin at 6:30 p.m. eastern time.
Maynard got a quick takedown and pushed Ishihara against the fence. Ishihara briefly got to his feet before Maynard got him down again. Maynard held him down for a bit before Ishihara got up. Ishihara flew a flying knee but Maynard countered into another takedown. Maynard held him down for a bit before they got back to their feet. Ishihara landed a nice body kick. Maynard got another takedown with 30 seconds to go in the round and landed some late punches. 10-9 Maynard.
Maynard got another early takedown and was working to take the back. He moved to the back but it allowed Ishihara to get up but Maynard took him right back down. Maynard was landing punches and holding Ishihara on the mat with relative ease. Ishihara got to his feet and landed a knee but Maynard took him right back down. Maynard score one more takedown at the end of the round. 10-9 Maynard, 20-18 Maynard.
Maynard got yet another takedown right at the start of the round. Ishihara needs to get up and get a finish here. Maynard grabbed an arm and was working for a kimura but let go. Ishihara landed an upkick. Maynard got a guillotine choke locked in but Ishihara was next to the fence which helped him escape. Ishihara landed an illegal upkick and we had a timeout. Back to action and Maynard held Ishihara down for a bit, Ishihara got up but was taken back down. Story of the fight. Dominant showing by Maynard. There may be some 10-8 scores in there. 10-9 Maynard, 30-27 Maynard.
Official Result- Gray Maynard def. Teruto Ishihara by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
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> Tecia Torres (#5, 8-1, 4-1 UFC) vs. Juliana Lima (9-3, 3-2 UFC) Women’s Strawweights
Lima caught a kick and got an early takedown. Torres got to her feet and grabbed the neck of Lima and almost got a takedown. They were battling for underhooks against the fence. Torres almost got a takedown but Lima grabbed the fence to stop it and got a warning for it. They are broken up by the referee for no action and Torres landed some strikes before clinching and getting a brief takedown. Torres worked for the takedown but ran out of time. Uneventful round. 10-9 Torres.
Torres landed some punches and then got to the back of Lima in a scramble and had a rear-naked choke locked in. Lima tapped out! Submission win for Torres and it is her first career stoppage win. She is also the first to ever defeat Lima by stoppage. Torres called for a fight with Michelle Waterson in her post-fight interview.
Official Result- Tecia Torres def. Juliana Lima by submission (rear-naked choke) at :53 of Round 2
> Ed Herman (23-12 1 NC, 10-8 1 NC UFC) vs. CB Dollaway (15-8, 9-8 UFC) Light Heavyweights
Herman landed a big right hand to start off that rocked Dollaway. Dollaway recovered and scored a takedown. Dollaway got into the full guard and was landing some punches and elbows. Herman got up for a moment but Dollaway took him right back down. Herman got to his feet. Dollaway got another takedown and was landing punches from the back. Dollaway looked for a kimura but Herman got out. Dollaway landed from the top at the end. 10-9 Dollaway.
Herman dropped Dollaway with a right hand but Dollaway was able to get back up. They both landed big right hands. Herman knocked Dollaway again with a right hand. Herman went to the mat and Dollaway almost had a heel hook locked in but Herman was able to scramble out to the top. Herman was landing punches and elbows from the top. Dollaway scrambled to the top but didn’t have time to do much. 10-9 Herman, 19-19.
Dollaway landed a slow but big right hand and then got a takedown. Kimura attempt from Herman on the bottom but Dollaway escaped and then started going for a kimura himself. Dollaway let go and went into the guard and was landing punches. Dollaway started to land elbows and was in control from the top. They scrambled and Herman was going for a kneebar but it didn’t work and Dollaway landed punches to end the fight. 10-9 Dollaway, 29-28 Dollaway.
Official Result- CB Dollway def. Ed Herman by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
> James Krause (23-7, 4-3 UFC) vs. Tom Gallicchio (19-9, 0-0 UFC) Welterweights
Krause landed a front kick and Gallicchio grabbed it and took Krause to the mat. Krause got up but gave up his back and Gallicchio looked for the choke. They got to their feet and separated. Krause landed a head kick. Krause landed a couple of punches. Krause is landing at will as Gallicchio has shown no head movement. Krause defended a takedown attempt. Krause landed another head kick. Krause landed two more right hands at the end. 10-9 Krause.
Krause landed another right hand. Gallicchio landed a right hand and was starting to use head movement. They were trading and Krause landed the better punches. Both landed left hooks. Krause with some right hands. Gallicchio is throwing but missing. Krause landed a left hand late. Not much to the round. 10-9 Krause, 20-18 Krause.
Gallicchio was throwing but missing. Krause was landing everytime Gallicchio was coming in. Gallicchio landed a leg kick. Krause keeping him at distance with the jab. They were trading. Krause stuffed a takedown attempt from Gallicchio. Gallicchio did land a right hand. Krause landed a head kick that rocked Gallicchio. Gallicchio went for a takedown but it was stuffed and Krause was landing punches. Krause with a big knee at the end. 10-9 Krause, 30-27 Krause.
Official Result- James Krause def. Tom Gallicchio by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
> Angela Hill (6-3, 1-3 UFC) vs. Ashley Yoder (5-2, 0-1 UFC) Women’s Strawweights
Yoder landed a high kick. Hill lands a right hand and Yoder gets a takedown. Hill got to her feet and they were clinched against the fence. Hill landed a kick. Hill with a right hand but Yoder came back with a body kick. Hill lands a couple of leg kicks. Hill landed a couple of nice combinations. Hill lands some more and then lands a head kick. Hill landed more at the end. 10-9 Hill.
Yoder got a takedown right at the start of the round and was landing some from the top. Yoder remained on top as Hill was having trouble getting from the bottom. Yoder stood up and Hill got up quickly. Yoder jumped right on the back but Hill was able to wiggle into the guard of Yoder. They got back to their feet. Yoder landed a left hand but Hill landed a head kick. Hill with a right hand. Close round. 10-9 Yoder, 19-19.
Hill landed a big right hand and Yoder scored a takedown. Hill was able to scramble to the back of Yoder but spun back. Yoder got another takedown. They got back to their feet. Hill got a takedown and was working in the guard of Yoder. They got to their feet. Hill with some leg kicks and lands some solid punches at the end. 10-9 Hill, 29-28 Hill.
Official Result- Angela Hill def. Ashley Yoder by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
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> Jordan Johnson (7-0, 1-0 UFC) vs. Marcel Fortuna (9-1, 1-0 UFC) Light Heavyweights
Johnson with a quick takedown and he lands some big right hands before Fortuna gets back to his feet. Not much was happening until Johnson grabbed the body lock. Johnson picked Fortuna up to slam him but Fortuna grabbed the top of the fence to block the takedown. That really should be a point deduction. Fortuna landed a solid uppercut. They traded at the end. 10-9 Johnson.
They came out trading and Fortuna landed a big right hand that stunned Johnson, but he recovered. Fortuna landed a couple of left hooks that stunned Johnson. Johnson faked a takedown and landed a right hand. Fortuna with a head kick and then an uppercut. Fortuna with a leg kick. Johnson went for a takedown but there was another fence grab by Fortuna. Johnson got it anyways but Fortuna got back up and landed some punches at the end. 10-9 Fortuna, 19-19.
They came out throwing. Fortuna looked to have more power in his punches. They were both throwing sloppy punches and missing on takedowns. Neither man has been busy this round but Johnson has been working more this round and controlling the Octagon. Fortuna with a couple of body kicks late. Johnson landed a right hand to the body. 10-9 Johnson, 29-28 Johnson.
Official Result- Jordan Johnson def. Marcel Fortuna by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
> Brad Tavares (14-4, 9-4 UFC) vs. Elias Theodorou (13-1, 5-1 UFC) Middleweights
They went to the mat early and Tavares took the back but they scrambled back to their feet. Theodorou with a front kick and then a leg kick. They clinched and Theodorou landed some body punches. Tavares landed a right hand. Tavares with a combo and a head kick. Theodorou with a high kick. Tavares lands a nice right hand at the end. Close round. 10-9 Tavares.
Theodorou quickly clinched up and Tavares reversed and scored a quick takedown. Theodorou landed a knee in the clinch and just barely landed an uppercut. They traded right hands in the clinch and Tavares had more power behind his. They clinched and Theodorou landed some knees but Tavares landed a combo on the break. Tavares landed a knee in close as Theodorou shot for a takedown. Tavares with a head kick. Close round. 10-9 Theodorou, 19-19.
Theodorou got a big takedown in the first thirty seconds of the round. Tavares was able to hit a switch and get to his feet but Theodorou had Tavares pressed against the fence. Theodorou got another brief takedown but they got up and Tavares took the body lock. They were both working to get each other on the mat. Tavares got the back and was looking for the choke. Tavares got top but Theodorou switched and then Tavares switched back to the top before they scrambled to their feet. Tavares with a head kick. Close fight, good fight. 10-9 Tavares, 29-28 Tavares.
Official Result- Brad Tavares def. Elias Theodorou by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
> Jared Cannonier (9-2, 2-2 UFC) vs. Nick Roehrick (7-0, 0-0 UFC) Light Heavyweights
Roehrick took this fight on three days’ notice. He came out throwing hands as Cannonier was coming forward. Cannonier landed a right hand. Roehrick landed a right hand. Cannonier landed some big punches that Roehrick ate. Cannonier with a huge head kick. Cannonier landed a combo against the fence but Roehrick landed a right hand of his own in return. Cannonier landed a right hand and an uppercut. Roehrick looked for a takedown but couldn’t get it. 10-9 Cannonier.
They were still trading with both men landing some solid punches. Cannonier landed a big right hand and then took Roehrick down and was landing some big punches. Cannonier was close to finishing it but Roehrick got up and scrambled away after eating more big punches. Roehrick landed some nice right hands but was bleeding pretty good. Cannonier with a body kick late. 10-9 Cannonier, 20-18 Cannonier.
Cannonier looks to have slowed at the start of the third. Roehrick was landing the jab and landing more of his punches early on. Cannonier landed a left hook. Cannonier landed a body kick and then a left hand and a knee and Cannonier took the fight to the mat and was landing massive elbows and the fight was stopped by John McCarthy. A big beatdown by Jared Cannonier. Roehrick looked tough but that was a beating he took.
Official Result- Jared Cannonier def. Nick Roehrick by TKO (elbows) at 2:08 of Round 3
> Marc Diakiese (12-0, 3-0 UFC) vs. Drakkar Klose (7-0-1, 1-0 UFC) Lightweights
Klose starts off with some leg kicks. Klose ducked under a punch and got a takedown against the fence. Klose with some foot stomps against the fence. Diakiese got a takedown. They got up and Diakiese with another takedown but they got back to their feet. Diakiese with a slam but they scrambled back to their feet. Diakiese was landing some punches and then Klose dropped Diakiese with a leg kick and Klose started pounding away from the top. Diakiese went for a heel hook but ended up scrambling to the guard. Fun round. 10-9 Klose.
Diakiese was looking to land a big punch and landed some but they clinched for a bit before breaking. Klose with a leg kick and then another. Diakiese went for a spin kick but Klose was able to turn it into a takedown but they got back up. They clinched and Diakiese landed a low knee and we have a timeout. They clinched and Klose landed a body kick on the break. Diakiese with a knee. Diakiese slipped on a spin kick and Klose took advantage and stayed busy. Klose dropped Diakiese with another leg kick and Klose ended the round on top. 10-9 Klose, 20-18 Klose.
Diakiese with a jumping switch kick that landed right in the jaw. Diakiese with a body kick. Klose fires back a combo. Klose gets a takedown but Diakiese is able to reverse and they get up. Klose with some back elbows as Diakiese has his back. Diakiese working for a takedown and lands a high kick on the break. Diakiese with a spinning kick to the body. Klose with a leg kick and he goes for a takedown but Diakiese grabs the neck and goes for a guillotine. Klose landed a right hand late. 10-9 Diakiese, 29-28 Klose.
Official Result- Drakkar Klose def. Marc Diakiese by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
> Dhiego Lima (12-5, 1-3 UFC) vs. Jesse Taylor (30-15, 0-1 UFC) The Ultimate Fighter 25 Welterweight Finals
Taylor got a takedown right away and took the back as Lima was scrambling to his feet. Taylor got another takedown even though Lima tried to grab the fence. Taylor is in the full guard. Taylor with more punches from the top and then moves to the back and was looking for the choke but Lima had some good defense and escaped. Taylor looking for the back again and has it and is under the chin but Lima rotated out of it. Taylor with elbows and still working for the choke. Taylor with more punches from the top and he nearly finished it at the end. Complete domination by Taylor. 10-8 Taylor.
Lima dropped Taylor with a counter left hook at the start but Taylor was quick to reverse to the back. Taylor had the hooks locked in and had the rear-naked choke locked in and Lima tapped. What a comeback and redemption for Jesse Taylor after all of these years.
Official Result- Jesse Taylor def. Dhiego Lima by submission (rear-naked choke) at :43 of Round 2
> Michael Johnson (#5, 17-11, 9-7 UFC) vs. Justin Gaethje (17-0, 0-0 UFC) Lightweights
Johnson rocked Gaethje quick with a left hand. Gaethje looked recovered. Gaethje then landed a big right hand followed by a knee. They are brawling early. Gaethje landing some leg kicks. He has Johnson’s back against the fence as Johnson circles around. Johnson lands a left hand. Gaethje with more leg kicks. Gaethje landing more punches now but Johnson is landing as well. Gaethje lands a big right hand. They are throwing punch after punch and knee after knee. Johnson rocked Gaethje big time with a right hand and got a takedown. Johnson is firing away and close to a finish but Gaethje makes it to the end of the round. Fantastic round. 10-9 Johnson.
They are firing back-and-forth once again. Gaethje landing the leg kicks and Johnson isn’t doing anything to check them. Johnson rocks Gaethje with a right hand and he’s in a lot of trouble again. Gaethje with some elbows and a knee and he might be recovered. Johnson with a combo to the body. Both men looking tired already. Gaethje with a right hand. Both men landing punches. Gaethje rocks Johnson with an uppercut and now he is looking for a finish as Johnson is stumbling around. Big elbows from Gaethje and Johnson crashes to the mat and John McCarthy tells Johnson to get up. Gaethje with a leg kick and he’s having trouble staying on his feet. Gaethje with a flying knee and he finishes Johnson! What an incredible fight! Gaethje from the brink of defeat to finish Johnson.
Official Result- Justin Gaethje def. Michael Johnson by TKO (strikes) at 4:48 of Round 2
Tonight are the final semis before the TUF 23 Finale. Josh Stansbury faces Khalil Rountree in an all Team Jedrzejczyk bout, and Kate Jackson faces Tatiana Suarez in an all Team Gadelha bout. These winners are headed to International Fight Week in Las Vegas.
The winner of the all-Gadelha fight gets to face Amanda Cooper, and the winner of the all-Jedrzejczyk gets to face Andrew Sanchez.
The two coaches can barely tolerate standing next to each other at the weigh-ins for Jackson vs. Suarez. Jackson is 115.5. Suarez is 115.
Suarez says nobody in the house has put in more time than her and that she’s been working for this goal since she was three years old. She says she skipped her own prom to compete.
Jackson says she never imagined a UFC contract was possible at the start but now it’s within her reach.
Kate Jackson (Team Gadelha) vs. Tatiana Suarez (Team Gadelha)
Jackson is in the red trucks and Suarez is in the dark trunks. Herb Dean is the ref for this fight.
Suarez charges forward immediately and is firing off jabs with her right hand. She gets a takedown to side control 25 seconds in but it’s in an awkward position against the fence. She switches to the other side and is looking for an opportunity to pass.
I know Jackson is pale as hell, but it’s still amazing how bright and splotchy the bruises are from the strikes that have already landed. Suarez goes for the neck as Jackson tries to get back to her feet. Once Suarez gets her to the ground though – it’s a wrap. Jackson taps at 2:53.
So in our TUF 23 Finale for the women, it’s Amanda Cooper vs. Tatiana Suarez.
Stansbury talks about how he’s facing a replacement fighter in Rountree, who also happens to be his best friend in the house. They play ping-pong together as they discuss how weird the situation is, but Rountree says he definitely won’t make the same mistakes he did last time now that he has a second chance.
Stansbury says Rountree might be the best striker in the house but his cardio and ground game could be an issue. Rountree says if he gets taken down it could be trouble.
Weigh-in time. Stansbury is 204.5 and Rountree is 205.5. Fight’s on!
Josh Stansbury (Team Jedrzejczyk) vs. Khalil Rountree (Team Jedrzejczyk)
Stansbury is in the red trunks. Rountree is in the black. Jason Herzog is our ref.
Rountree stuffs the first takedown and Stansbury flops to his back before getting back up. Stansbury momentarily gets knocked down but Rountree is being patient. He’s backing Stansbury up with kicks and power shots.
Stansbury occasionally tries to connect with the overhand right but he’s getting tagged a lot. Rountree is even having success with the head kick as Stansbury isn’t getting his arms up to block it. The left side of his head is bright red. The danger for Rountree is he’s spending so much energy he could be blown up any second.
Stansbury grabs a clinch and gets off a few good blows before Rountree breaks away. Rountree looks like he’s breathing hard. He tags Stansbury with a big left and pours it on on the ground – TKO at 4:14.
Khalil Rountree is advancing to the finals to face Andrew Sanchez.
Last week, Andrew Sanchez beat his teammate Eric Spicely in just 47 seconds to advance to the finals. This week, teammates fight each other again as Amanda Cooper goes against Lanchana Green. Claudia Gadelha has brought in Miesha Tate to be a guest coach on this week’s episode. Not surprisingly, she’s showing them her takedown techniques. Cooper and Green are both thrilled, with the latter noting that wrestling isn’t something she does a lot of back home in England.
Green is freaking out at the house because she usually fights at 125, and even though she made the weight for her first fight, her body rebounded and gained weight after. “I’ve got a week so I think I can get it done.” Coincidentally at the next training session, Gadelha admits Cooper is both stronger and heavier. “I can’t prepare my fighters for this fight. I’m too close to them.”
Green wins an impromptu bowling tournament in the house using UFC water bottles as the bowling pins. The focus goes from there to her training at the gym. She says that no matter how good of friends she has been with Cooper, when the fight comes, she’ll have to turn on her “mean face.” She says she started out in muay thai, didn’t make much money, then realized once UFC had a strawweight division, she could make it.
Team Jedrzejczyk fighters Khalil Rountree and Josh Stansbury are preparing for their semifinal fight since Rountree got back in as an injury alternate which Dana White notes guarantees at least one Jedrzejczyk fighter will be in the finals. Meanwhile, Cooper has gotten her weight down to 120.2 so she’s almost there, but she’s worried about cutting the final four pounds successfully in the morning. She’s 119.6 after she wakes up and she’s in a hurry to get to the gym and finish the cut.
Cooper literally sweats it in the sauna until the bitter end, gets on the scale for the weigh-in, and she’s 117.5. She gets an additional hour to get down to the one pound allowance of 116. White: “If she doesn’t make it she’s out of the competition. And I can tell you when you get that far down that last pound and a half isn’t easy.” Green is 115.0 on the dot.
After an extra hour of sweating and water shedding and wearing nothing but what she was born with, she finally makes 116 even on the scale. I’m happy she made it but I’m concerned that she’s going to be super drawn out and dehydrated for that fight – and White notes that he’s thinking the exact same thing.
* Amanda Cooper (Team Gadelha) vs. Lanchana Green (Team Gadelha)
John McCarthy is our ref. Cooper is in the red trunks and Green is in the black. We’re starting the fight with under ten minutes left so this isn’t going even a full round. Cooper is being aggressive early and forcing Green to backpedal. It’s deceptive though because Green already had a black eye from training before the fight began. Cooper shoots for a single and gets it. Green kicks her away but she jumps back on in side control. Cooper is drilling her with hard lefts. Green tries to scramble but Cooper gets right back on top in full. Nasty right elbows from guard. Green tries to scramble and gives up position again allowing Cooper to take her back and sink in the RNC with under a minute left. Green taps at 4:25.
Cooper advances to the finals. Next week’s show is the season finale featuring Rountree vs. Stansbury and Tatiana Suarez vs. Kate Jackson.
Last week, Team Gadelha finished the first round 7-1 with Kate Jackson’s victory over Ashley Yoder. The quarterfinals: Andrew Sanchez vs. Eric Spicely, Amanda Cooper vs. Lanchana Green, Tatiana Suarez vs. Kate Jackson, and Josh Stansbury vs. Cory Hendricks. Unfortunately, Hendricks’ injury has proven to be too much for him so he’s pulling out of the tournament and someone gets to come back to replace him.
Dana White sets up a Skype call with the coaches live from his location in London (presumably for the Bisping vs. Silva fight). He’s bringing back Khalil Rountree to face Josh Stansbury, so Sanchez and Spicely are still fighting each other as previously planned, and if Hendricks is healed up, he gets a shot on the TUF Finale in July. Gadelha is “very happy” with the decision.
Rountree is frustrated that he’s having to fight a friend for the second time on the show, and Jedrzejczyk tries to encourage him to cheer up, but in his interview, he says he has to deal with it the way he needs to. “I’m in a situation where I have to put myself first and that’s not something that I’m used to.” Neither team is thrilled about fighting friends in their matchups.
It’s time for the annual COACHES CHALLENGE.
Two giant glass tanks have been filled up with ice water and there are platforms to stand over the top of them. The coaches have to stand up there and shoot air rifles at targets with 5, 10, and 20 point circles. The 20 is the bullseye and also says “DUNK.” For every 20 points, they go in the water, which Gadelha is already very unhappy about, but after winning the coin toss, she gets to shoot first.
Gadelha scores 10. Jedrzejczyk misses. Gadelha scores 20 and Jedrzejczyk gets dunked. Jedrzejczyk scores 20 and Gadelha gets dunked. Gadelha scores 20 for another dunk. Jedrzejczyk scores 5. 10, 10. 20 and Jedrzejczyk is dunked again. Jedrzejczyk with a 20 and Gadelha is dunked. It’s 80 to 55. Gadelha hits the bullseye again and that’s game over – Jedrzejczyk gets dunked one last time. Gadelha gets $10,000 and her team gets $1,500 each. Jedrzejczyk vows to win even more money when they fight in July.
Now, White goes up to the platform! She gets three shots to dunk him and if she succeeds. Gadelha gets another $15,000 and $500 more to each member of the team. Gadelha hits the bullseye on her very first try.
* Eric Spicely (204.5, Team Gadelha) vs. Andrew Sanchez (201 pounds, Team Gadelha)
Spicely is in the red trunks, Sanchez is in the navy blue trunks. Sanchez is hurting him early and hurting him often and the fight is over by KO in just 47 seconds! An overhand right set it up and a head kick really shook Spicely up, and it was only a matter of time until the stoppage after that. Sanchez isn’t happy about it because he had to fight a friend.
“It’s very bittersweet. It’s strange and unexpected,” he said.
This season, both the women’s strawweight division and the men’s light heavyweight division will be competing, and 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, Team Jedrzejczyk finally got their first win when “The Sandman” Josh Stansbury was able to knock off Abdel Medjedoub via majority decision. That was the good news. The bad news is that Team Gadelha member Cory Hendricks has a pinched nerve or bulging disc in his neck, and it’s so serious he might be medically DQ’d.
**********
The final fight of the first round is Ashley Yoder from Team Jedrzejczyk vs. Kate Jackson from Team Gadelha. The interesting twist on this whole thing is that Jackson has actually fought Jedrzejczyk before — losing a fight by TKO back in 2013. She hails from Cornwall, England, but you could guess that just from her accent.
Gadelha is very impressed by watching Jackson spar, saying she has incredible body strength, and the Brazilian coaches describe her as having “a beast” in her body. Watching her throw knee strikes it’s hard to disagree.
Dr. Jeffrey Davidson, M.D. is back with news for Hendricks: he doesn’t have a herniated disc, just a protrusion. With physical therapy, ice and ibuprofen his prospects for recover are good – the doctor says we’ll know for sure in 4-5 days.
The focus switches for a bit to Gadelha going to Xtreme Couture to train for her own fight, because she’s working hard to prepare for her rematch with Jedrzejczyk at the TUF 23 Finale in Vegas. “I beat her the first time and I’m gonna beat her again.” She can say that all she wants but Jedrzejczyk gave her the only loss of her career.
We see Jedrzejczyk preparing in her own way, enjoying a post workout dinner with her coaches and her team, and then she heads to Drysdale Jiu-Jitsu to get her work in. She vows that she’s going to finish Gadelha. “It’s going to be striker vs. grappler but I’m going to prove strikers are the best in UFC. I want to fight her five rounds and beat her badly, second by second.”
At weigh-ins, Yoder is 115.5 and Jackson is 115. Yoder vows to win the fight in the memory of her deceased brother. Jackson vows to show people what she’s capable of and move on to be a UFC pro.
– Ashley Yoder (Team Jedrzejczyk) vs. Kate Jackson (Team Gadelha)
Yoder is 4-1, Jackson is 7-2-1. Yoder is in the red and Jackson the black. Jackson has a takedown 15 seconds into R1 but Yoder is trying to throw her legs up around Jackson’s neck. She finally breaks free and lands a few hammerfists. A stand-up is threatened for inactivity at 1:28. Jackson responds with hammer but eats a few upkicks, and Yoder is warned by John McCarthy to target them carefully. Yoder is going for a submission again. Jackson’s arm could be in danger but McCarthy wants to see more. Jackson just can’t get free this time. You can see blood leaking out of her mouth on the back of Yoder’s leg. A strange first round but Jackson survived it.
Jackson goes for a single leg in the first minute of R2 that’s stuffed. Jackson goes for a takedown but Yoder nearly takes her back in the process, and she’s already hunting for another submission attempt. Jackson gets her left arm free for a few shots to the face while McCarthy calls for more work. McCarthy stands them up at 2:47. Jackson shoots right away. They break at 3:32. Yoder may have been hurt by a head kick but she’s not down and out. Jackson is tagging her with lefts repeatedly. Another takedown is stuffed. This goes to the judges.
20-18 X3 FOR KATE JACKSON. Team Gadelha finishes the first round 7-1.
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 now holds a commanding 5-0 lead. She picked Amanda Cooper to fight Jamie Moyle in her quest to run the TUF table!
*****
Dana White opens the show by reminding us that there’s never been a clean sweep in TUF history, and that Jedrzejczyk is now playing “the mental game” and trying to get in the head of Gadelha’s team by saying that Amanda Cooper is “an easy fight.”
We go to Jedrzejczyk’s training session, and she’s brought in TJ Dillashaw to help her team train. He runs them through footwork and posture drills to start, and reminds everyone that “feints win fights” when you fake out your opponent. Moyle says she hasn’t seen any of Cooper’s fights and won’t plan like she did – she just wants to focus on improving overall and getting better at what she does best.
Khalil Rountree talks about staying positive and motivated even though he’s been eliminated. Dana reminds us that there’s always opportunities for someone to come back who was eliminated. We see Rountree breaking down outside because today is his father’s birthday, and he talks about how he used to manage bands like Another Bad Creation and Boyz II Men. His father was killed in an attempted robbery after a show.
Amanda Cooper gives Moyle props at the Team Gadelha training session, saying she wanted to test herself against the toughest possible opponent, and that she plans on doing a lot of striking. “I just want to put on a show and make it interesting. On the feet is the best way to do it.” She says she fought three fights on a torn ACL so nobody’s seen just how good of a striker she can really be.
Cooper reads letters written to her by her family and friends before she left for the show, which leads to a discussion about her dad getting her into boxing at a very young age. “I have a dream and that’s all I want right now is to accomplish it.” This transitions to a night on the town for everybody on the show courtesy of Dana White, complete with a party bus that has alcohol and a stripper pole. Partying ensues!
Amanda Cooper gets dressed up for the weigh-ins. “I look like Jane but I fight like Tarzan.” Moyle gets on the scale and she’s 115.5. Cooper is 115 even. Fight’s on!
* Amanda Cooper (Team Gadelha) vs. Jamie Moyle (Team Jedrzejczyk)
Cooper is in all black and Moyle is in all red for this fight. Moyle is landing some good shots in the exchanges early. Gadelha has to remind Cooper to keep her hands up. Moyle pushes her into the fence looking for a takedown and eats a few knees. Cooper is keeping her balance well and breaks free at 1:33. Cooper is warned to watch her fingers.
Moyle keeps her backpedaling the whole time but Cooper’s striking is getting better as the round draws on, using her natural height and reach advantages. Moyle shoots for a single leg and gets it at 3:27. Moyle stands to drop some bigger shots and nearly gets swept. Jedrzejczyk keeps yelling “STAY HEAVY” but the ref tells her to improve her position. 10-9 Moyle.
Moyle gets another takedown a half minute into R2. Moyle is trying to pull her legs through to improve her position and eventually gets side control at 1:50, but she loses it and has to avoid upkicks. Cooper goes for a single leg but Moyle keeps her balance. Cooper gets a clinch and goes for some knees and elbows over the top. Moyle goes for a takedown and Cooper lands on top. She’s busted Moyle up with the elbows – there’s blood everywhere.
Cooper gets side control and starts raining down big hammerfists and rights that have the ref threatening to stop the it. Moyle goes for a triangle but Cooper slips out. Cooper and Gadelha celebrate like they’ve won before the scores are even announced.
Cooper wins by MAJORITY decision, but the scores aren’t read. Gadelha is 6-0!
Next week’s fight is Abdel Medjedoub (Gadelha) vs. Joshua Stansbury (Jedrzejczyk). 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 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 again to take a 2-0 lead. She picked Andrew Sanchez to face Myron Dennis on this week’s show – her #1 pick from the men against Joanna’s #3 pick. Here we go!
**********
Jedrzejczyk is not happy with not having won a single fight so far and is being hard on her team as a result. “They are training like little girls in the primary schools. They train like pussies – I must say this. I must be honest with them. No more nice Joanna.”
After Jedrzejczyk gives her speech in the locker room, Myron Dennis calls a team meeting of his own at the house. They all get in a football huddle and he promises to get the win for them to give them motivation. Sanchez isn’t happy about it and says they could have done the same thing at the gym.
Gadelha and all her coaches come over to the house to cook Brazilian barbecue for all the fighters. “We are with them to the end of this.” Back at the gym, she’s working him very hard, but when he steps on the scale, he’s just 200 pounds. He says being smaller and faster is an advantage compared to the other guys.
More drama at the gym as Jedrzejczyk is pissed that Gadelha’s team hasn’t finished cleaning up or left and starts throwing their equipment at them. Gadelha says they are being disrespectful. Jedrzejczyk says not cleaning up after yourself is disrespectful. This just keeps escalating.
Weigh-in: Dennis is 204.5, Sanchez is 200.
* Andrew Sanchez (Team Gadelha) vs. Myron Dennis (Team Jedrzejczyk)
Dennis is in the red trunks and Sanchez the blue. “Big” John McCarthy is our referee. Sanchez gets an early takedown and decks Dennis with a right hand on the ground. Sanchez is landing some nice ground and pound until he jumps up at 1:47 looking to pass – and ends up right back where he was before in guard. Dennis kicks him away at 2:27 but Sanchez jumps to half guard. Dennis moves him back to full but eats some hard rights doing so. Dennis finally scrambles to his feet at 3:18. Sanchez takes him down again with 75 seconds left. Sanchez is given two warnings to work. Despite that, Sanchez owned this round.
Surprise surprise: Sanchez goes for a takedown right away in R2 but Dennis avoids it and they reset at 25 seconds. Dennis is grinning like a maniac. McCarthy warns the fighters to watch their fingers. Sanchez shoots for a single leg and gets it at 1:44. Dennis kicks him away briefly at 3:30 but Sanchez jumps back on. They get up with 70 seconds left after multiple warnings by McCarthy to work. Sanchez shoots for a single again and has it at 4:20. That’s a wrap. He’s taking a unanimous decision.
Dana White buries Dennis’ performance in the fight and with good reason. SANCHEZ ADVANCES AND TEAM GADELHA GOES UP 3-0.
This was a very forgettable episode. Next week’s fight choice is Lanchana Green (Gadelha) vs. Helen Harper (Jedrzejczyk). 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.
Coach Gadelha: Tatiana Suarez, Andrew Sanchez, Kate Jackson, Eric Spicely, Amanda Cooper, Abdel Medjedoub, Lanchana Green, Cory Hendricks
Coach Jedrzejczyk: JJ Aldrich, Joshua Stansbury, Jamie Moyle, Khalil Rountree, Ashley Yoder, Myron Dennis, Helen Harper, Elias Urbina IV
Jedrzejczyk picked Khalil Rountree vs. Cory Hendricks for the first fight but that’s later to come. First is the TUF fighters being brought to their palatial estate for the filming of the season. Both Rountree and Harper are super stoked. Medjedoub is the last to find a bed but the only room left with a bed has three women. Being that he’s married and of the Muslim faith Harper completely understands why he doesn’t want to do it. Hendricks offers to stay with the girls to help Medjedoub out.
This leads to Hendricks having both feet checked out at the doctor’s office, and they do look pretty swollen. The doctor says he has contusions but no fractures, and that he should avoid striking with kicks for a few days. From there we go to a Team Gadelha meeting, where she splits up the men and the women to train separately with her assistant coaches, with Gadelha there to oversee and give advice to everyone.
Before Jedrzejczyk’s team can even hit the gym for their session, Gadelha and Jedrzejczyk get into a shoving match — that’s our teaser before the commercial.
As you’d expect everybody gets between them to break it up before it can get physical. Gadelha says she’s not going to let herself be bullied and let Jedrzejczyk get in her head. Dana White: “These two have so much animosity between each other I don’t know how they’re going to make it through the season.”
Jedrzejczyk reveals her philosophy is completely different from Gadelha’s – she believes the women should train with the men. Jamie Moyle is completely down with it because she thinks training like the champ trains will take her to a whole new level. Jedrzejczyk: “I will try to help them as much as I can.”
Hendricks and Rountree are joking about the fact they are both from Syndicate MMA yet have to fight each other. Moyle is heartbroken (she’s from Syndicate too) about it but understands it has to happen. Gadelha and her assistants are trying hard to help Hendricks do alternate training and get the swelling down so he’s able to stand and fight.
Rountree talks about all the reasons fighting changed his life – having no father figure, not fitting into his peer group because he liked punk rock and skateboarding, being overweight – and training with his brother and other fighters gave him something to feel confident about. “I lost the weight of a complete man just to be in this position – just to be on the stage to show the world what I can do.”
Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha get into another smack talking session before their fighters can even weigh-in. Jedrzejczyk wears the title belt around her waist just to rub it in Gadelha’s face, then puts it over her shoulder and talks smack to her boxing coach, which pisses Gadelha off since she says he can’t even speak English. Gadelha claims Jedrzejczyk didn’t even beat her the first time (it was a split decision).
Rountree is 204. Hendricks is 204. Fight’s on!
Helen Harper was sick this whole episode but everybody looked in on her and took care of her – especially Rountree. Dana White is giving out four bonuses this season – two for best performance at $25,000 each and two fighters get $25,000 each for being in the fight of the season.
* Khalil Rountree (Team Jedrzejczyk) vs. Cory Hendricks (Team Gadelha)
Hendricks gets a takedown at 40 seconds but Rountree gets back up quickly. Rountree stuffs the next attempt and Herb Dean forces Hendricks to stand. Hendricks gets another takedown and gets Rountree’s back. He’s got a rear naked choke in. Rountree taps at 2:33 and TEAM GADELHA GETS THE FIRST WIN.
Next week: Tatiana Suarez (Gadelha) vs. JJ Aldrich (Jedrzejczyk). 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 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.
Due to the rousing success of TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) season one, specifically the TV ratings for the finale, which featured the famous Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar match, TUF season two was produced quickly and came on the air only a few months later. The finale for season two would set a ratings record doing a 2.0 (2 million viewers), edging out the season one finale, which did a 1.9 (1.9 million viewers). (You can read “Retrospective: TUF Season One” here)
Season two was basically the exact same as season one. Season two was also the only season (until recently) where all the house fights were considered professional bouts by the NSAC. Typically, the “in-house” fights are only considered “practice” and don’t effect a fighter’s record. These fights counted.
The Ultimate Fighter – Season TWO
Airdate: Spike TV, August 22, 2005 – November 5, 2005
Weight Classes: Heavyweight and Welterweight
Coaches: Matt Hughes (blue), Rich Franklin (green)
Team Hughes: Joe Stevenson (w), Josh Burkman* (w), Sammy Morgan (w), Luke Cummo (w), Mike Whitehead (h), Dan Christison (h), Rob MacDonald (h), Tom Murphy (h) *Burkman was replaced by Jason Von Flue due to injury on episode 2
Team Franklin: Jorge Gurgel (w), Marcus Davis (w), Anthony Torres (w), Melvin Guillard (w), Keith Jardine (h), Seth Petruzelli (h), Rashad Evans (h), Brad Imes (h)
The Finale:
Joe Stevenson beat Luke Cummo by unanimous decision in three rounds to become the TUF welterweight winner
Rashad Evans beat Brad Imes by split decision to become the TUF heavyweight winner
In the main event, Diego Sanchez beat Nick Diaz by unanimous decision
This season was pretty uneventful. It really became clear about half way through that Chris Leben should have been hired to be on every season, just to hang out, get drunk, and cause problems. These fighters seemed to get along much better. However, there were some interesting things that happened this season:
Heavyweight Kerry Schall was eliminated due to a knee injury
Eli Joslin chose to leave the show, citing his reasons as not being able to handle the camera environment at the house (as an aspiring fighter, this made me so mad)
Dan Christison joined the show to replace the injured Schall
Josh Burkman was forced to leave the competition after breaking his arm in his match with Melvin Guillard
Jason Von Flue joined the show to replace Burkman
Evans caused controversy by showboating in his fight against Tom Murphy
Coach Hughes sent Von Flue over to Team Franklin for reshuffling, which made Von Flue mad
Even though Cummo and Imes were both the last picked for their respective divisions, they both made it to the finale
There wasn’t much memorable that happened, but I do remember when Rashad won the heavyweight finals. It made me fall in love with him as a fighter. Here was this smooth talking undersized athlete taking on this monstrous rugged cowboy. Rashad was clearly too small to be a heavyweight, but he won anyway. I’m not sure when he took the nickname “Suga” but I gave that name (Sugar) to my third dog in his honor.
Where are the champions now?
Joe ”Daddy” Stevenson: Stevenson’s last fight in the UFC was a loss to Javier Vazquez on June 26, 2011. It was his fourth loss in a row. He was cut by UFC and has since lost two more times putting his losing streak at six. He most recently fought one year ago on January 30, 2015, for Swarm Entertainment at Super Brawl 1 losing by split decision to Dominique Robinson. My guess is that there was never a Super Brawl 2. His current record is 31-16 and rumor has it that he’s retired from active fighting at age 33, which is probably a smart decision.
“Suga” Rashad Evans: Evans’ is still in the UFC. He is 36 and was most recently seen being defeated by Ryan Bader at UFC 192 on October 3, 2015. Rumor has it that he will be facing Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC on FOX 19 on April 16, 2016. His record is 19-4, and he actually had a brief light-heavyweight title reign taking the strap from season-one alum Forrest Griffin, only to have the title taken from him in his first defense against Lyoto Machida.
The Notorious Quote of the Week: “I didn’t think I’d see you again! You’re around!!! Good to see you my friend. I didn’t think I’d see +HIM+ again.”
Lightweight: Saul Rogers (Team Europe) vs. Marcin Wrzosek (Team Europe)
The first of two semi-finals. Wrzosek has the lighter trunks on, Rogers the darker grey. Rogers is showing off his striking game early, forcing the Polish Zombie to step backward, and then he hits a takedown at the one minute mark into guard. Wrzosek scoots his back to the fence looking to get up as John McCarthy looks on. It’s deathly quiet in the gym save for the rattling of the cage and their feet bouncing on the canvas. Rogers takes his back against the fence at 1:52. Wrzosek gets up and gets taken back down again at 2:10. He’s up again and backs away clean at 2:52. Zombie is being a little more aggressive but Rogers is still landing the better shots and gets another single leg at 4:16. He spins to take the back a half minute later but can’t do anything and Wrzosek escapes right before R1 ends.
Rogers is still the more fluid of the fighters in the first minute of R2. He’s acting, not REACTING. You can see it from the motion of his head and shoulders – his muscle memory from years and years of big fights and top level training. He scoops the leg for another takedown at 1:01. Rogers is warned to watch the back of the head as he overwhelms Wrzosek with strikes from behind, forcing him to cover up and drawing impressed whistles from a few people watching. Wrzosek tries to escape and can’t. Rogers sits on one leg and pounds his face, grabs a front headlock, then transitions to the back again. All Zombie can do is cover up. Zombie loses his mouthpiece and McCarthy calls time to let him put it back in but doesn’t stand them up or change their position. He escapes, Rogers takes him down, and jumps to his back immediately. He sinks in the rear naked choke and it’s over at 4:07. They hug.
SAUL ROGERS IS GOING ON TO TONIGHT’S TUF 22 FINALE.
Urijah Faber brings Jose Aldo to the final training session for his team – their last chance to prepare Julian Erosa for his fight with Artem Lobov. Aldo: “He is a great friend mine. We were once opponents but after that we became friends. We always stay in touch. Urijah always has something to teach me and I always have something to teach him.” Aldo shows off positional techniques for how to get dominant positions on the ground, even explaining the technique to go from a triangle to a shoulder lock.
Afterward they play a little soccer in the gym for fun, with some MMA takedowns mixed in. It’s pretty lighthearted – they’re all laughing and having a good time.
Meanwhile for Team McGregor it’s all business for Artem Lobov. He says he wants the hat trick and the third knockout. “This is what pays – knockouts pay.” McGregor says he wants Lobov reacting every time Erosa goes for single shots. He wants him to cut off the cage. “He has good ring knowledge, he just needs to use it. He will use it early and he will knock him out.” Lobov talks about how they were all once so broke they had to share a hotel room for McGregor’s fight and he slept on the floor.
McGregor waxes nostalgic as training winds down, saying he got personally attached even without trying to, and he’ll leave the show with a lifetime of memories. McGregor walks into the gym for the other semi-final fight and sees Jose Aldo sitting on Faber’s bench, and he’s laughing and smiling, but Also just sits there quietly.
Lightweight: Artem Lobov (Team Europe) vs. Julian Erosa (Team USA)
There are under ten minutes left so this isn’t getting out of the first round. McGregor reminds Lobov to be “flowey.” Dana White runs down the rules. Herb Dean signals both men and the fight is underway. Erosa is in the blue and Lobov the gray trunks. Lobov is following his usual MO – he’s head hunting and pressuring his opponent. Lobov rocks him at 57 seconds with a big left, hits him with another huge shot when he tries to get up, and Herb Dean is there to wave it off immediately. McGregor is so happy he rips his pants jumping over the fence!
ARTEM LOBOV ADVANCES TO TONIGHT’S TUF 22 FINALE.…BUT THE SHOW ISN’T OVER.
Dana White: “Saul lied on his visa application and has problems getting into the country and can’t fight on the Finale. Ryan Hall will now get the opportunity!” So the fight is Ryan Hall vs. Artem Lobov on Friday instead.
