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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The 28 man lightweight tournament for The Ultimate Fighter's 12th season will come to a close on Saturday, and the two finalists were revealed during Wednesday's two hour final episode on Spike TV before this weekend's live finale event.
Team GSP fighters Jonathan Brookins and Michael Johnson each picked up decision victories to make their way to the tournament finals, and they will face off live in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Brookins earned a unanimous decision over Kyle Watson in the first hour of the two hour show on Wednesday, earning numerous takedowns and working his ground and pound on Watson to score throughout the fight. The scores came down across the board for Brookins following the fight.
Johnson's fight wasn't quite as easy, as he took a thin split decision win over Team Koscheck's final remaining fighter in Nam Phan. Johnson started off strong, out-striking Phan in the first round and using his size advantage effectively. Phan appeared to take the close second round of the fight, and Johnson edged the third on two of the judges' scorecards to earn the decision and a shot at the "six figure contract."
The TUF 12 Finale takes place from The Pearl at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada this Saturday, December 4.
Penick's Analysis: I like this finals matchup, and although Phan was a game fighter in the semis and had an argument for winning it, ultimately he'll be better suited back in the featherweight division going forward. Johnson-Brookins is a good fight for this finals. I still favor Brookins in the matchup, as his submission game is superb and his control is very good as well. I'm sure Johnson has done some things to improve the cardio issues that seemed to come through in a couple of the fights on the show, and that could also be an inaccurate representation of how his cardio will fare in this fight considering he had to fight multiple times in a short time span and now has had six months to prepare. It's going to be a tough fight, and the winner will definitely have earned it come Saturday night.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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