The black and white sitdown interviews open up the night's show, with Kimbo Slice saying "if Houston Alexander is the gatekeeper, he's got a problem." And it's time for The Ultimate Fighter Finale!
Mike Goldberg welcomes us, as always, to the event, bringing in Joe Rogan to discuss this season of TUF and run down the fights on the card.
Season 11's coaches will be announced by Dana White tonight on the broadcast, so that's something to look out for. I'm thinking Forrest Griffin-Tito Ortiz makes a lot of sense.
FIGHT ONE: MARCUS JONES VS. MATT MITRIONE (HEAVYWEIGHT)
[Commercial Break]
PRE FIGHT: Mitrione said we're gonna see two ex NFL guys who don't like each other. Jones said last time he checked he's nobody's doormat or stepping stone. Mitrione said this is the fight he's been wanting and the fight he asked for. Jones said Mitrione disrespected him on national television and now he's got the chance to go in and disrespect him in front of a live audience.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND ONE: Jones opens with a leg kick and clinches quickly. He picked Mitrione up and slammed him down against the cage. Mitrione got him to half guard and then got to his knees but Jones stayed on him against the cage. Mitrione made it to his feet but Jones tagged him with a couple of punches on the way up. Mitrione finally separated but Jones landed the first punch. Jones swung a couple wildly as he lowered his head to come in. He got Mitrione against the cage again. Mitrione landed a knee to the body. Jones threw a knee to the thigh. Mitrione with a higher knee and a few more to the body and Jones finally backs off. Jones threw a few shots and and then grabbed for a Thai plum before Mitrione dropped to his knees. Jones grabbed for a guillotine but Mitrione got out. Jones threw his legs up for a triangle but Mitrione got out of it and stood up. Finally Jones was let back up to his feet. Jones pushed forward and landed a punch, and then another before shooting in and getting a takedown. Mitrione walked right up the cage, however, and got right back to his feet. Mitrione backed off and they started swinging. Mitrione looked to crack Jones with a punch but couldn't connect anything more and Jones took him down with 15 seconds left. He landed a couple of shots before the round ended.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Jones. Mitrione is getting his chances to land here as Jones' stand up is definitely a weak point, but he's getting it to the ground and controlling most of the action.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND TWO: Jones comes in with a leg kick and tried to push forward. He landed a punch but was wide open coming forward and Mitrione dropped him with two straight rights. He followed it up with two more punches on the ground and that's all she wrote.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Mitrione via KO at :10 of the second round.
POST FIGHT: Mitrione said Marcus was much stronger than what he gave him credit for coming in. He said he was also surprised by how hard Marcus punched as well. He said he's glad he caught him as Jones was coming in.
STAR RATING: (**+) Extremely sloppy and, as expected, amateurish fight between two fairly inexperienced fighters. Mitrione did a good job getting off his back early and then finding the spot that Jones was leaving open for him, though, and it was a good, decisive victory for him.
[Commercial Break]
FIGHT TWO: FRANKIE EDGAR VS. MATT VEACH (LIGHTWEIGHT)
PRE FIGHT: Veach says Frankie's more technical, but with his power he'll be able to take him out. Edgar says he's prepared for everything. Veach says he's a finisher and he's going to finish the fight tonight. Edgar says a win means he's knocking on the door for a Title shot.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND ONE: Both fighters come out to the center immediately. Edgar threw a high kick early that got blocked. Veach tried to shoot in and Edgar stuffed it nicely. Edgar cracked Veach with a good right. Veach returned the favor and landed one of his own. Veach again shot in and Edgar again stuffed it. He landed a knee and nearly got a trip. He threw a high knee and Veach took him down. He got right back to his feet but Veach picked him up, ran him across the cage and dropped onto his side to slam him. Ouch. Edgar worked his way to his feet but Veach stayed on him and picked him up and slammed him again. Edaar tried to walk up the cage and Veach stayed on him. Edgar worked his way to Veach's back and then a clinch and got separated. He landed a good straight right. Edgar landed a good body kick. Edgar with a body punch and Veach countered with a right to the face. Veach tried to launch a big left hook and Edgar blocked it. Veach came forward with a good two punch combo. Edgar landed a couple of punches and a couple kicks in a combo. Veach landed a really solid jab. Veach missed a punch and Edgar tried to shoot in but got shrugged off. Edgar landed a big right. Edgar with a left hook. Edgar continued to come forward. He landed a kick and a few punches as the round came to an end.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Veach. He landed some good punches in that round and had three slams, two of which were really big slams. Edgar started to outstrike him late in the round and he'll need to pick up the pace to stay with him.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND TWO: Edgar pressed the pace early and landed a few good punches. Veach shot in and pushed Frankie to the cage. Edgar got to a knee and tried to hold off the completion of the takedown. Veach stayed on him against the cage as Edgar landed some punches. Edgar got loose. He landed a good combo and backed off. Edgar with another good jab. Big right hand to the jaw lands by Edgar. Edgar bobbed away from a punch and countered nicely. Edgar dropped Veach with a big right and tried to get onto him to finish it. Veach is trying to recover but Edgar stays on him with tons of punches. Finally Veach gives up his back and Edgar gets the rear naked choke in to force the tap. Big finishing sequence from Edgar.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Edgar via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:22 of the second round.
POST FIGHT: Edgar said this was a dangerous fight and he had a slow start, but he made his adjustments and he was able to finish it.
STAR RATING: (***+) Very good fight between these two, with some big slams from Veach highlighting the first round before Edgar's striking took over. Veach can take some punishment, but Edgar pounced after landing that shot and was determined to finish. Great win for Edgar.
[Commercial Break]
-Joe Rogan brings in mega-douche Hulk Hogan cageside. Hogan says he's a huge fan of the UFC. This is a spot given to Hogan to pimp his new venture with TNA Wrestling, and they'll be going head to head with WWE's Monday Night Raw starting January 4th.
[Commercial Break]
PRELIM FIGHT A: JOE BRAMMER VS. MARK BOCEK (LIGHTWEIGHT)
-This was the first fight of the night on the prelims, yet they're showing these entrances when they haven't for the other two fights thus far. And the arena is nearly empty. This is called wasting time.
ROUND ONE: Brammer throws a low kick early and eats a counter punch. Brammer goes for a high kick but it gets blocked. Bocek calmly stalked Brammer against the cage and landed a good jab. Brammer with another leg kick. Bocek again stalking landed a big right and then immediately clinched. He landed a knee to the body. Brammer landed a shot and separated. Bocek took the center again and then shot in for a double. He got the takedown but Brammer got back up to his feet. Bocek picked him up and slammed him and then took his back, getting the hooks in and then moving to the body triangle. Bocek working nicely here. He landed a few shots to Brammer from behind him and patiently looked for an opening. Brammer was able to roll around and Bocek stayed on him as he got to his feet. Bocek kept the back with the hooks in and got the rear naked choke in standing and forced him to tap standing up. You don't see that everyday.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Bocek via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:36 of the first round.
POST FIGHT: Bocek said he's really happy about the fight and had a tough camp. He said he's got three in a row now and he's looking for a name, a tough test for his next fight.
STAR RATING: (***) Elevated by the unique finish with Brammer tapping while still standing, this one was fun to watch with Bocek looking very good.
-Mike Goldberg is really pushing the hyperbole factor on the excitement for Kimbo Slice's UFC debut. You'd think this was EliteXC right now or something. That fight's up next.
[Commercial Break]
FIGHT THREE: KIMBO SLICE VS. HOUSTON ALEXANDER ( 215 LB. CATCHWEIGHT)
PRE FIGHT: Kimbo talked about Dana White saying that the only way that he was going to get in was by going through TUF. He talked about training with American Top Team, and Dana White talked up how much he's working on the holes in his game at ATT. Alexander said he'd love to have a storybook ending and knock out Kimbo in the first round. Dana said the two of them are going to throw punches until one of them goes down.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND ONE: Kimbo takes the center of the Octagon as Houston circles on the outside. Kimbo continues to try to walk Kimbo down and a punch is not thrown in the first minute. The crowd starts to get restless as nothing has happened yet. Houston threw a leg kick that landed but then went back to circling. He threw another leg kick and Kimbo continued to keep him on the outside. Leg kick again from Houston. Kimbo is getting frustrated and pleads with Alexander to come at him. The crowd loudly boos. Kimbo throws a punch and Houston hits him with two more leg kicks. Alexander with another leg kick and Kimbo finally gets in on him. He lands a punch and they clinch. They separate witha brief flurry. Houston with another leg kick and combo. Kimbo tried to engage and Houston used some nice head movement to avoid punches and land a couple of his own. Another leg kick from Houston. And another. Houston again lands the leg kick, but it doesn't seem to be doing much yet. Again. Kimbo tried to close the distance and land a couple punches but Houston kept him off with the leg kick again. The round ends to boos.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Alexander. Almost by default because Kimbo didn't do much of anything, but Houston is content to work that leg kick to try to take the leg away, but this is exactly the opposite of the fight people were expecting.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND TWO: Houston goes back to circling. Kimbo's just moving around in the center with him. Houston lands the leg kick and avoids a big right from Kimbo. Houston continues to circle here. Landing the leg kick sporadically. This is getting a bit ridiculous. Inside leg kick again and Kimbo finally lands a straight left. Kimbo gets a hold of Houston and takes Houston down right into the mount. Houston gets out of it and eats another right from Kimbo. Houston slipped on the leg kick and Kimbo landed a few punches and clinched him again. Kimbo landed a big body punch. Kimbo got Houston's back and pulled off a belly-to-back suplex. Awesome. Houston got up again, and tried to take Kimbo down but Kimbo landed right on him in the mount again. Houston rolled over and gave up his back and Kimbo tried to get hooks in. I can't believe I typed that. He tried to get a rear naked choke but he's kind of on his side. He turns back to the mount. He lands a good short elbow. Houston again rolls over and Kimbo keeps the hooks in, but Houston rolls out the back door. Kimbo checks a kick and almost gets one more suplex as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Kimbo. Awesome stuff from Kimbo once he was able to engage. I can't believe he pulled off a suplex and nearly had a rear naked choke in. Much improved on the ground, and Houston's in trouble here. Kimbo's impressing people with that round.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND THREE: They start slow, but then Houston comes forward and lands a couple of punches and Kimbo swings back at him. Houston's looking out of gas a bit as they exchange a big jab. Kimbo goes back to stalking but then tells Houston to come at him. Houston lands the leg kick again and Slice tries to cut off the distance. Kimbo lands a big right and eats a shot, but Kimbo got the better of that one. Kimbo with another nice jab. Houston tags Kimbo and Slice drops his hands to tell him to keep coming at him. Kimbo misses two big punches. Houston trips Kimbo with a leg kick, but Kimbo grabbed his leg, pushed him to the cage and got a takedown on him. Kimbo landed a good hammer fist from Houston's half guard. Kimbo lands a few big punches to the body as Alexander tries to grab a guillotine. They get stood up with a minute left. Houston goes to the leg kick again. Kimbo tried to land a counter punch and his knee is probably pretty hurt here. Kimbo keeps eating leg kicks. The crowd boos and Kimbo comes forward swinging with twenty five seconds left. Houston landed a big right and sent Kimbo back. Both fighters are gassed and put their hands on their knees as the round ends and the crowd boos.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Kimbo. Tough round to score, but Kimbo's takedown after getting tripped and the body punches he landed and a couple on the feet take it for him. Barely.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Slice via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
POST FIGHT: Kimbo said he wants to catch his breath first, but he's sorry about that. He said they did their best and the crowd should give them credit. He wanted to thank ATT but he's still working on that ground game. He said he feels good. He said the house was a good experience, but was more mental than anything.
STAR RATING: (**) The second round alone was exciting as hell with Kimbo's suplex and shocking display of a ground game, but the rest of the fight was a dog with Alexander inexplicably running around the outside for the duration of the fight. Disappointing compared to what people were expecting to see, but Slice was impressive in that second round. There's definitely some hope for him yet, but there's a lot of guys much better than Houston that will give him trouble in the future.
[Commercial Break]
-Joe Rogan brings in B.J. Penn and Diego Sanchez to talk about their fight for next weekend. They've got audio issues here with production guys in the background. Sanchez says he's ready to go to war wherever the fight goes. He feels it's his time, and feels it will be a big fight for the sport of MMA. Penn says the difference for him now is that he's enjoying the sport now, he feels he can't believe he made it this far and he wants to enjoy this as long as it lasts. Sanchez says every fight is a surprise and he doesn't know what's going to happen in this one, but he's very healthy and he says everything feels right. He feels more confident, stronger and faster than he's ever been. He said he's ready to be the guy that puts it all on the line and says this is going to be one of the legendary fights people talk about for a long long time.
FIGHT FOUR: MATT HAMILL VS. JON JONES (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT)
PRE FIGHT: Jones says this fight has the potential to be a battle and a slugfest, but he's looking for the first round finish. He says it's an opportunity for him to shock the world. Hamill says Jones is a very talented fighter, but Jones doesn't have the heart that he does and he will win this fight.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND ONE: Hamill comes out with a couple of short jabs. Jones throws a straight kick high that just misses. Hamill lands a leg kick and nearly tags Jones with an overhand right. Jones lands a low kick then a high kick and pushes Hamill back with a straight kick. Jones lands a leg kick inside. Jones throws a spinning back kick and follows with a jab. Another right hand from Jones. Jones lands a good body kick. Hamille tried to come in with a spinning back fist but missed. Hamill shoots in but Jones stuffs it and gets away. Jones throws a low punch and spun around with the elbow but missed. He lands a good leg kick and Hamill ducks under a high kick. Hamill grabs a Thai plum but Jones moves to the side and trips him down. He gets almost immediately indot the mount and starts unleashing a ridiculous flurry of elbows. Hamill covers up but Jones stays on him with shot after shot here. Jones slows a bit but goes back to trying to throw shots. Jones lands a 12 to 6 elbow and Mazzagatti takes a point away. Hamill's in a lot of trouble and can't continue. I don't know if this will be a disqualification or not because of the illegal blow finishing the bout. We'll see what they announce this as, but Jones beat the hell out of Hamill on the ground.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Hamill via disqualification.
POST FIGHT: Jones is in shock. Matt said he couldn't defend with one arm, he can't move his left arm, he hurt his shoulder. He said it all happened so fast and Jones is really good and he will come back. Jones said he's heard so many times when you lose that you come out a better person, and he says everything happens for a reason.
STAR RATING: (***-) Really exciting stuff from Jones with a terribly unfortunate finish. That trip slam was awesome and he beat the hell out of Hamill on the ground once he pounced on him, but it's just really too bad that this one had to end this way. Jones is getting scary good with each and every bout, and he will beat Hamill if they match them up again, as he would have tonight without the DQ finish.
[Commercial Break]
PRELIM FIGHT B: JAMES MCSWEENEY VS. DARRILL SCHOONOVER (HEAVYWEIGHT):
ROUND ONE: The audio starts for the bout but they've still just got the fighter image on the screen. Don't know what's going on, but apparently something that made Joe Rogan say "Wow!" The video comes in right after McSweeney landed a flying knee. McSweeney tries to grab a guillotine but Schoonover pops his head out. McSweeney throws a few elbows from the bottom and then tries to get an armbar. Schoonever stands and eats an upkick. Schoonover drops down onto him and gets into half guard. He lands a few body shots and then moves to side control, but McSweeney rolls him over and gets into side control himself. He goes for an Americana but lets it go. He gets a crucifix briefly and lands a few shots before moving to the mount quickly. He then gets Schoonover's back but gets pulled back to half guard when Schoonover rolls. McSweeney finally stands back. He then gives him an axe kick to the body. Schoonover gets back to his feet and comes forward with a flurry, landing a few shots and nearly rocking McSweeney. McSweeney lands a straight kick to the body as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 McSweeney. From the action we were able to see due to technical difficulties McSweeney landed more and got a good sweep from the bottom.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND TWO: Schoonover chases McSweeney down early, landing a few shots. McSweeney lands a good left. He throws Schoonover to the ground as he came in. The crowd starts booing as McSweeney stands on the outside and throws leg kicks to Schoonover on his back. He finally drops down with a punch into Schoonover's guard. Schoonover went for an armbar but McSweeney gets out and lands some good hammerfists. McSweeney stands up, throws Schoonover's legs to the side and lands a big punch. Schoonoer gets to his knees and nearly gets tagged in the head with a knee before McSweeney realized he was still grounded. He worked on the body with punches as Schoonover is just tired here, taking punishment. Schoonover finally rolls through and sweeps McSweeney, but as he tries to pass he gets rolled over. McSweeney starts throwing short elbows from side control. Schoonover again throws up for the armbar but McSweeney got out. McSweeney got to his side on the back and finally moved it to mount. Schoonover gave up his back with ten seconds left and ate a few shots as the round came to an end.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 McSweeney. Schoonover's gassed here and doesn't seem to have a whole lot left. McSweeney landed a ton of shots in that round.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND THREE: McSweeney landed an early straight kick and came in with a good leg kick. He landed a good punch. Schoonover tried to come in and clinch but McSweeney threw him straight down, slam-style. McSweeney takes side control and lands a couple of elbows. McSweeney tries to trap an arm to get an arm triangle but loses it. Schoonover tries to roll out but McSweeney stays on him. They finally get stood up. Schoonover lands a big right hand as they're back on their feet. McSweeney with a straight kick keeps Schoonover at bay. He comes in with a quick flurry and pushes Schoonover back. McSweeney lands a good counter left hook. Schoonover sloppily comes in and eats some shots in the clinch. McSweeney lands a flying knee and rocks McSweeney. He stays on him with punches, grabs the Thai clinch and lands another knee to the jaw. He landed a few more punches and Schoonover drops down, and referee Josh Rosenthal came in to stop it before he took anymore punishment.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: McSweeney via TKO at 3:20 of the third round.
STAR RATING: (**+) Good fight from McSweeney, but Schoonover was pretty gassed in that second and third.
-Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz will be the coaches for season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter. Dana White just announced it, saying that while he's fought it, it's hard to tell Chuck he can't have another fight if that's what he wants. So we're getting Tito-Chuck III. The eleventh season will be middleweights.
[Commercial Break]
MAIN EVENT FIGHT FIVE: ROY NELSON VS. BRENDAN SCHAUB (TUF 10 FINAL
-Roy Nelson came out to Weird Al Yankovic's "Fat." Excellent.
ROUND ONE: Schaub landed a couple of early jabs, showing the effectiveness of that reach. Nelson shot in but Brendan stuffed it. Schaub started unleashing punches against Nelson on the cage, but Big Country kept his head. He came in and got the clinch and dropped Brendan against the cage, getting into half guard. He went for an americana but got to side control when Brendan fought it. Schaub tried to buck him off as Roy moved toward trying to get the crucifix. Schaub pushed Nelson off and got back to his feet. Nice job to get out of there. Brendan lands a few good punches in a combo. Nelson gets him with a right. Schaub changes levels and lands a couple of good punches. Nelson comes forward and lands a right. Schaub presses forward and lands a good jab. Nelson cracks Schaub with a big right. He gets in again with another big right and tries to clinch, but Schaub pushes him off. Schaub gets a looping left hook in. Nelson drops Schaub with a huge punch and then drops one more down on him and it is done. Holy shit. Nelson jumps on the cage and rubs his belly in celebration. That came out of nowhere. Wow. The replay shows he got him right on the ear. Huge punch, and highly impressive victory from "Big Country" to become the tenth season's Ultimate Fighter.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Nelson via KO at 3:45 of the first round.
POST FIGHT: Dana White presents Nelson with the trophy and the six-figure contract. Nelson jokes that he's tired and could go for some Burger King right now. He again joked that he wasn't the most experienced and that he was the underdog coming in, saying Kimbo had more backyard brawls than him. He said he is ready to take on anyone in the heavyweight division.
STAR RATING: (***+) Very good one round finals fight, with a great performance from Nelson. Schaub got out of a bad spot on the ground and showed some good things in there, but he got hit with a shot that would put just about anyone down and out. It was a perfect punch in a perfect spot from Nelson there.
Well that's another event in the books, and another season of the Ultimate Fighter has come to a close. Roy Nelson was the favorite from the moment he was announced for the show, and now he's fulfilled that expectation by becoming The Ultimate Fighter. He's going to get a chance to jump right into the deep waters of the heavyweight division, and there's a lot of guys he can perform well against. This was his big shot with the UFC and he absolutely took it. Big night for Nelson. Make sure to stick with us throughout the week for fallout coverage from this event and more heading into next weekend's UFC 107 event from Memphis, TN!
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Never noticed it until the main event but switching between fighter's first
and last names gets confusing. Otherwise, nice work.
Jamie Penick
05 Dec 2009, 23:42
Haha! I suppose I don't even notice that as I type. I think I try to stick
with one, but I suppose it slips to the other name every once in a while!
JWW
06 Dec 2009, 00:00
Kimbo Slice is good but i dont think he could make it far in the UFC due to
the Fact there better fighters then him. Also is HOUSTON ALEXANDER MENTAL?
Going around Kimbo and kicking him was just avoiding him and was a bad
thing do do if he was trying to win or dancing with kimbo from what it
looked liked somtimes!
MMA Fan
06 Dec 2009, 03:17
Yo Penick JWW has a point their....why was alexander being like 2 arm
lenths from slice? He would have won if he went was more agressive with
slice.
Boles
06 Dec 2009, 08:13
Roy Nelson made himself into a star by going on TUF instead of just signing
and starting as a prelim guy.
Mazzagatti (sic?) should've stopped the murder long before Bones threw the
12-6 elbow.
I'm horrified that they put Brammer and that shirt (and banner) on tv.
Absolutely disgusting move by the UFC to allow that crap to get any pub at
all.
The pacing last night was just awful. We have to watch the Brammer
entrance (which really, show the fight if you must, but don't show that
damn company's shirts as well), but then they don't show the Kimbo
entrance. If this show is going to draw a few million viewers to see
Kimbo, you'd think, logically, they'd expand his airtime as much as
possible.
