The Ultimate Fighter
TUF 21 REPORT 7/8: Penick's thoughts on twelfth and final episode of "ATT vs. Blackzilians" season
Jul 8, 2015 - 11:05:33 PM TUF 21 REPORT 7/8: Penick's thoughts on twelfth and final episode of "ATT vs. Blackzilians" season

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

It's time to close this season of The Ultimate Fighter out with the final pre-taped episode before Sunday's Finale event. It's down to the wire for the season competition, as both teams are tied at 300 points into tonight's final bout for $200,000 to the winning team. Time for the final weekly rundown!

-Dana White says the end of this season has made it "one of the most exciting seasons ever." D'ohkay.

-Glenn Robinson lectures the guys on his team, and says people are going to say they started strong and finished weak, trying to get them to finish out strong. They chose Vicente Luque as their final competitor for this season. Luque says he's going to fight for the team and for himself, because he ultimately wants to be a UFC Champion.

-ATT coaches are out at the house, and ask Hayder Hassan who he'd put in if he were them, and he asks to be put back in a third time. Given he's been their best fighter all season, that makes sense. Also, it's ballsy on his part to fight for a third time in 16 days.

-We get to the weigh-ins quick, which suggests a lengthy fight coming up on this episode.

-The Blackzilians have respect for Hassan, but Robinson still thinks Luque has the edge. Luque himself believes he's a better striker, and expects to win this one. Lambert thinks this one's going to bring shots thrown until someone goes down, and he believes the first to go down will be Luque.

-Training time for both fighters, and there's significant respect shown from each team to the opposing competitor. ATT thinks Luque's not to be taken lightly, but expect Hassan to be the better fighter in this one. On the Blackzilians side, they believe Luque throws just as hard as Hassan, and doesn't back down to anyone. Luque says there's "0% chance" ATT wins the show.

FIGHT: HAYDER HASSAN VS. VICENTE LUQUE

ROUND ONE: They traded strikes early, with Hassan getting the better of the exchanges with his jabs. Hassan worked well on the outside as Luque tried to press forward. Luque connected on a hard right hand. He landed a big combination that rocked Hassan. He got in a knee and kept the pressure on. Hassan was a bit shaken as he continued on the outside, but he regained his composure and fired some shots back. Luque closed the distance and got in some strikes at the cage. Hassan missed a couple of strikes. Luque got in to the body. He ate a punch and delivered a combination. They traded hard jabs in the center. Hassan landed a hard straight left. Luque went for a knee. They both missed. Luque got in a hard kick to the body. Hassan got in a solid combination. Luque timed a shot well for a takedown. Hassan got to his feet quickly, though. Luque turned into him and went for the takedown, tripping him back up and briefly taking his back standing. Hassan got loose with a couple of strikes. They both pawed out some strikes late. Hassan got in a solid two punch combo. Luque landed to the body. He landed a knee that tripped Hassan up late. Both swung before the horn. Luque's round, and a good one at that.

ROUND TWO: Hassan pressed in with the jab early. He was aggressive, but Luque fired back. Luque landed a few body strikes as Lambert noted that Hayder was "getting tired." Luque landed a couple of jabs. He missed a head kick. They each missed a couple of strikes. Things slowed a bit, with both missing a few pawed out strikes. Luque connected on a jumping knee. They continued to circle around and throw out minor strikes, but neither was landing much with any significance. Hassan landed a jab but ate some leg kicks. He countered with a couple of short strikes, but Luque fired back. Hassan connected on a couple of strikes. Luque got back in with a couple of his own. The round was running at a really slow pace despite the loud reaction in the gym. Both landed and blocked at a fairly equal rate. Luque landed a body kick late. He pressed in and shot, with Hassan holding him off to the horn. Could have gone either way there.

And it looks like we're getting a third round.

ROUND THREE: Hassan opened with two hard jabs. He got in another short combo while avoiding some early strikes from Luque. Luque shot in, and briefly got Hassan to the ground, but Hassan rolled out and popped to his feet. Luque drove him to the cage but Hassan got separation. Hassan stayed busy with the jab, though it wasn't entirely effective. Luque got in a solid knee, but Hassan came back with a couple more jabs. Hassan landed a few more jabs. Luque went high with a kick that was blocked. More jabs from Hassan. Hassan got in a couple more minor strikes as he continued to throw more overall. Luque landed the knee again, and got in another out of a brief clinch. Hassan breathed heavily, but kept up with the jab. He got in a few strikes. Luque shot in again, this time getting Hassan down. Hassan tried to get to his feet but got dragged down again. Hassan got free and popped to his feet. He came right back in with a jab and a few more punches. He landed another short combo. Both looked exhausted but Hassan kept throwing. Luque landed a hard combination late. He landed to the body, then got in another knee. Hassan got in a few hard strikes, pressing in late. Luque went for the late single leg, but got held off at the horn. Really could see that going either way, but I think Hassan and ATT will steal the season. If they're getting $200K for the gym, a vast majority of that should be going straight to Hassan.

WINNER: Hassan via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

-ATT was down by a wide margin early in the season, but because of the point system, winning less than half the fights still gave them the overall win. Dana White said the Blackzilians let it slip away. Hassan's the MVP of the season.

-Next is the team picks for Sunday's Finale, which will crown the TUF season winner, and earn the winning gym the other $300K prize for the season.

-Lambert and ATT couldn't have been happier to pull that out. A beaten up Hassan called it a battle of wills, and was happy his team had the confidence in him to carry them. He called it something he'll remember for the rest of his life.

-The mood was much lower in the Blackzilians camp, with the team morale down off a loss like that. Kamaru Usman commented on how they needed just one fight with three chances to win, and it didn't happen. Robinson said it just didn't go their way, and he expressed his disappointment, but said they'll get the last word with the finale fight.

-The teams get very little time to pick their man for the Finale, with Dana White and the UFC expecting them to make a pick shortly after the final bout. ATT has a choice between Hassan, Michael Graves, and Nathan Coy. Given Hassan won three fights during the show, ATT goes ahead with him. Not surprising.

-The Blackzilians debate on what makes sense for them, and they're going back and forth between Luque and Kamaru Usman. A lot of the coaches want Luque, but Robinson isn't convinced.

-Lambert and ATT announces that they're donating the $200K the team just won to the Wounder Warriors foundation. That's a damn classy move from the team (though I still wonder what these fighters themselves are fighting for).

-They announce the finals bout, and it will be Kamaru Usman (Robinson went against his coaches' suggestions) against Hayder Hassan (that's really the only way for ATT to go).

-Alright, the season's been completed, we'll close this out on Sunday on Fox Sports 1. Would still be nice to know what the fighters will gain out of this entire thing, but given the real lack of quality through much of this season, Hassan-Usman is probably the best possible matchup for the Finale.

-Thanks for joining us each week throughout this season; we'll have live coverage of the Finale event Sunday night, and before that live coverage of Saturday's UFC 189 event!