Fight Night 21 - Big Country

Ultimate Fight Night 21 brought some bigtime action in its two hour run-time. Roy "Big Country" Nelson firmly entrenched himself in the title picture with a big time knock out over Stefan Struve. Kenny Florian took a giant leap back into the lightweight title picture by submitting Pride legend Takanori Gomi.

Kenny Florian def Takanori Gomi via sub (RNC) R1, 2:52- Florian looked crisp with his jab and boxing throughout the fight. Gomi routinely was outclassed, not being able to get his counter hook going.

In the third round, Florian got the fight to the ground, landed in mount, and got the rear naked choke for the victory. Florian may get a fight next with Gray Maynard, Jim Miller, Tyson Griffin or George Sotiropoulos to get closer to a rematch with BJ Penn.
*Florian wins submission of the night bonus

Roy Nelson def Stefan Struve via KO (strikes) R1, 0:39- Roy Nelson was throwing overhand rights from the start, landing a big one off of a Struve jab. Nelson's last punch landed flush, crumpling the 6'10 fighter to the canvas. Expect Nelson to get Cheick Kongo, Cro Cop, Pat Barry or a rematch with Ben Rothwell.
*Nelson wins KO of the night bonus

Jorge Rivera def Nate Quarry via TKO (strikes) R2, 0:29- Jorge was able to work his right hand throughout the fight, smashing Quarry routinely in the chin. Quarry was content to throw leg kicks, but they didn't help. After being wobbled numerous times in the first, Rivera crumpled Quarry again in the second.

Ross Pearson def Dennis Siver via unanimous dec- In an entertaining bout that featured ample kickboxing, Ross Pearson was able to connect on more punches throughout the bout. Siver looked to be the more sloppy fighter, but did land one trademark spinning back kick during the bout. In the third, Ross sealed the win with a takedown.
*Pearson and Siver win fight of the night bonuses

Gleison Tibau def Caol Uno via TKO (punches) R1, 4:13- Gleison dominated the entire fight from start to finish with his power punching. Uno looked to stay low and stick and move, but he was unable to avoid Tibau strikes.

UNDERCARD

Andre Winner def Rafaello Oliveira via unanimous dec
Jacob Volkmann def Ronys Torres via split dec
Nik Lentz def Rob Emerson via unanimous dec
Yushin Okami def Lucio Linhares via TKO (stoppage) R2, 2:47
Gerald Harris def Mario Miranda via TKO (punches) R1, 4:49
Charlie Brenneman def Jason High via unanimous dec

TUF 9 Finale - UK Domination

The TUF 9 Finale was a sold out show at the Palms in Las Vegas. Commercials were abundant in this three hour broadcast on Spike. Despite both being seen as slight underdogs, UK's Ross Pearson and James Wilks came out TUF 9 champions.

Diego Sanchez def Clay Guida via split dec- This fight was a bloody three round war. The first round was all Sanchez as he landed big uppercuts and combinations before he nailed Guida with a perfect high kick sending him to the canvas. Guida would never stop coming throughout the fight, despite blood pouring out of his wounds.

Guida would go on to storm back in the second, getting takedowns to secure top position winning the round with his ground and pound assault. The third round was very close, with Sanchez almost getting a guillotine. Then he unleashed some serious elbows from the ground. The judges gave Sanchez a split decision victory.
*Awarded Fight of the Night Bonus.

James Wilks def DaMarques Johnson via sub (rear-naked choke) R1, 4:54- James Wilks first got some strikes in before the fight went to the ground. From there, it was all Wilks as he transitioned from submission attempt to attempt. With time running down in the first, Wilks got the back of Johnson and sunk in the winning choke. *James Wilks wins the 170 pound TUF 9 Title.

(James Wilks pictured)

Chris Lytle def Kevin Burns via unanimous dec- Burns looked to dominate in the first round, landing an uppercut that nearly had Lytle out. However, in the second and third, Lytle came back, overwhelming Burns. In the third, Lytle opened up a gash on Burns' head, and blood started to pour. All three judges awarded the fight to Lytle.
*Awarded Fight of the Night Bonus.

Ross Pearson def Andre Winner via unanimous dec- Ross Pearson took the 155 pound title in a three round scrap against Andre Winner. While working mostly in the clinch, the fighters traded shots throughout the fight. Pearson seemed to control the fight more and was awarded the decision victory.
*Pearson wins 155 pound TUF 9 Title

(Ross Pearson pictured)

Joe Stevenson def Nate Diaz via unanimous dec- Nate Diaz nearly had a deep guillotine in the first round, but that was the closest he came to victory. Stevenson was the stronger fighter, landing shots and controlling the action on the ground. Stevenson credited the win to his 6 week training camp at Greg Jackson's camp in New Mexico. "It's like having Chuck Norris in your corner, it's just unfair" remarked Stevenson post fight.

UNDERCARD

Melvin Guillard def Gleison Tibau via split dec
Brad Blackburn def Edgar Garcia via split dec
Nick Ospiczak def Frank Lester via sub (rear naked choke) R1, 3:40
Jason Dent def Cameron Dollar via sub (anaconda choke) R1, 4:46
Tomasz Drwal def Mike Ciesnolevicz via TKO (strikes) R1, 4:48
*KO of the Night Bonus

TUF 9 Finale Set

After the last TUF episode, the finale for TUF 9 which takes place this Saturday in Vegas has been set. Team USA's Damaques Johnson taking on UK's James Wilks, with an all-UK lightweight finale, pitting Ross Pearson against Andre Winner. TUF 9 had some great fights play out, especially in the early episodes.

The fight between James Wilks and Frank Lester played out much like the first fight. Lester was throwing bombs, with Wilks countering with his longer reach. Lester successfully defended numerous takedowns throughout the bout.

In the second round, Wilks' reach became more a factor, as he bloodied Lester's nose and started to work him over. In the third, knees to the face ended Lester's run. Lester should hold his head up, as he fought 4 times in 34 days and earned a spot on the undercard of the Finale.

The TUF 9 Finale will take place this Saturday. Here is the rumored Line-up:

Clay Guida vs. Diego Sanchez
Ross Pearson vs. Andre Winner- TUF LW Final
DaMarques Johnson vs. James Wilks- TUF WW Final
Nate Diaz vs. Joe Stevenson
Kevin Burns vs. Chris Lytle

UNDER CARD

Jason Dent vs. Cameron Dollar- TUF 9 Fighters
Frank Lester vs. Nick Osipczak- TUF 9 Fighters
Mike Ciesnolevicz vs. Tomasz Drwal
Brad Blackburn vs. Edgar Garcia
Melvin Guillard vs. Gleison Tibau


(Andre Winner pictured)

TUF 9: UK Domination

This episode featured the two lightweight semi-final fights to make the live finale. From the start, UK's Andre Winner has been a favorite to win the entire show. Ross Pearson has been looked at as a solid brawler who favors the clinch.

In contrast, USA's Jason Dent hasn't adjusted to the house at all. He has routinely gone out of his way to make situations awkward. Cameron Dollar has been kind of crazy, getting emotional at many turns. It appears he has a rib injury before his fight that hampers his training.

Once again, USA's Jason Pierce has given the UK team secrets on how to beat Team USA's fighters. In the Dollar fight, Pierce tipped off Team UK as to Cameron's love of the uppercut and ranging hook. Sure enough, in the fight Dollar uses both those punches.

Instead of sticking to the game-plan, Dollar looks to stand and trade. By the time he tries a takedown, he is out of position and tired. It doesn't take long for Andre Winner to lock in a triangle and secure the submission victory and his place in the finals.

In the Dent v. Pearson fight, Dent tries to be exciting rather than win the fight. He goes for big looping kicks, spinning back kicks and big punches and knees. Ross prefers to brawl and look for the clinch. For three rounds the fighters battled, but in the end, it was Pearson who got a couple takedowns to seal two rounds for the decision victory.


Finals- 155- Andre Winner(UK) v. Ross Pearson(UK)
Finals- 170- Damarques Johnson(USA)

TUF 9, Ep 7 - USA Downward Spiral

Team USA did not look good in this episode, despite coach Dan Henderson destroying Michael Bisping in a tennis match and pocketing $10,000. The $1,500 for each guy on Team USA would not be enough to lift everyone's spirits.

At the house, Jason Pierce comes off like this season's Captain Miserable, aka Charles McCarthy from Season 4. Pierce trains on his own and doesn't like taking direction, disenfects the house after Whitson gets Impatago, and complains about his hurt foot. When Jason Dent realizes some guys are talking trash in the downstairs room it adds to his frustration.

After the fight announcement of Ross Pearson v. Richie Whitson, they cut to Richie celebrating his birthday. On that night, it appears Cameron Dollar is having yet another meltdown. He misses his family and friends and is homesick. Dan Henderson lets Dollar know that it is ok to feel that way, but wants him to relax and eat a piece of cake.

During the fight of Whitson v. Pearson, Whitson does not look like the fighter who won his first fight. He looks slower, taking wilder punches, and getting into bad situations. After missed kicks, Pearson nearly gets Whitson's back. Whitson is able to get back up on most occasions, but the last one results in an arm-bar. Team UK is now dominating with a 4-2 lead and only 2 fights to go.

Next week we will see Jason Pierce v. David Faulkner or Jason Dent v. Jeff Lawson. Due to extreme foreshadowing seen on the show, there is a possibility Jason Pierce won't fight. If that is the case, expect Mark Miller to take his spot. Faulkner injued his leg in this episode during a sledgehammer drill but should be fine. Andre Winner put the sledge through the mats during this episode.

Team USA Second Round- LW- Cameron Dollar, WW- Damarques Johnson
Team UK Second Round- LW's- Andre Winner, Ross Pearson WW's- Nick Osipczak, James Wilks

TUF 9 Debut - UK Edition

The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 debut featured 16 fighters from the UK trying to make Team UK and earn a shot to Las Vegas. Every fighter seemed ready to brawl and was hungry to get that ticket. The fights were staged at the Wolfslair which is coach Michael Bisping's home gym.

It was kind of awkward throughout the 8 fights as Bisping had 3 fighters from his gym trying out and a few more that he knew personally. As such, some fighters got a little more coaching than others. Regardless, I enjoyed the episode and the raw feel of a cage and only a few spectators.

These guys seemed to be matched up well. The only slight favorite to go down was Che Mills, who got a tough draw in the more experienced James Wilks. I had Che as a 2-3 seed, and Wilks around 4-5. Team UK's advancing lightweights might have more talent than the welterweights.

Matches-

Andre Winner def Gary Kelly via KO(knee) R1- Andre Winner completely dominated the Wolfslair trained Gary Kelly. Kelly got stuck in a Thai clinch and ate a vicious knee to the face. Winner followed Kelly as he crumpled to the canvas and the bout was called. An oxygen mask was needed, but Kelly was ok.

Jeff Lawson def James Bryan via Sub(armbar) R1- Judo ace Jeff Lawson showed off some skills in his defeat of the younger James Bryan. Lawson executed a nice hip toss to get the fight to the ground, then went to work. After some posteuring, Lawson locked in an armbar to defeat Bryan.

James Wilks def Che Mills via Sub(kneebar) R1- Wilks ate some serious punishment from Mills until the fight went to the ground. Wilks leaned back and sunk in the kneebar with Mills responding too late. Wilks stated that he had been training in the US for the past few years.

Martin Stapleton def Dan James via Sub(rear naked choke) R1- Stapleton controlled the action standing, sneaking in punches on James. Once the bout got to the ground, all James could do was try to grab Stapleton's gloves before the rear naked choke was in. Stapleton, a military man, declared it the fight of his life.

Ross Pearson def A.J. Wenn via KO(punches) R2- Pearson and Wenn spent most of the first round in the clinch trading shots before Pearson snuck in two vicious standing knees to close out the round. With Wenn wobbled, Pearson smelled blood and attacked in the second round landing a left right combination followed by punches.

Nick Osipczak def Tommy Maguire via KO(knee) R1- Osipczak controlled the action from start to finish as Maguire seemed to run out of gas about three minutes in. From there, Osipczak threw a flurry of punches before a knee knocked out Maguire.

Dean Amasinger def Alex Reid via decision- Amasinger won by getting the fight to the ground. Reid attempted a number of triangles, but none were sunk deep enough.

David Faulkner def James Bateman via Sub(kneebar) R1- Bisping's training partner Faulkner went for a takedown early before getting in the clinch. After eating a little punishment, Faulkner got the takedown, rolling into a kneebar.

TEAM UK Welterweights - 170

James Wilks
Nick Osipczak
Dean Amasinger
David Faulkner

Team UK Lightweights - 155

Andre Winner
Jeff Lawson
Martin Stapleton
Ross Pearson


*By the looks of the next episode, it appears one of the potential Team USA fighters will have issues making weight.

TUF 9 Cast Revealed

TUF 9 will premier directly after the conclusion of Ultimate Fight Night 18. Spike TV has announced the first 32 participants in the 9th season of The Ultimate Fighter. The UK and US teams will each face 1st round elimination fights before making it into the house. Coaching Team USA will be Dan Henderson, with assistants Krzysztof Soszynski Vinny Magalhaes. Coaching Team UK will be Michael Bisping with Cyrille Diabate as a stand-up coach.

Team USA Welterweights:

Mark Miller (10-4)- Mark was a former member of the IFL's Chicago Red Bears. His career highlights have been a devastating KO of UFC fighter Josh Neer at IFL Chicago and a decision victory against UFC fighter Brad Blackburn. He is mainly a stand-up fighter with a solid Muay Thai game.

(Mark Miller KO's Josh Neer)

Kevin Knabjian (10-3) is a former Eastern Illinois wrestler who brings a four fight win streak into the tournament. He has wins over decent competition in TUF alum Josh Rafferty (9-6), Jacob Kuester (8-3), Mario Stapel (14-11) and Nino Marroquin (5-1). He has 6 KO's and 4 submissions on his record.

Jason Pierce fights out of Miletich Fighting Systems in Iowa. He has a (9-0) or (6-0) record depending on what database you look at. He has fought in the Extreme Challenge promotion with his biggest win over Luke Gwaltney (11-11).

Other US WW's: Ryan Biglar, Christian Fulgium, DaMarques Johnson, Kiel Reid and Ray Elbe (profiled in video below)

Team USA Lightweights:

Jason Dent (19-9) fought twice in the UFC, losing decisions to Gleison Tibau and Roger Huerta. The submission specialist has 14 submission victories on his resume with wins over Hawaiin veteran Kolo Koka (12-11), Harris Sarmiento (25-19) and team USA member Josh Souder (7-2).

(Jason Dent pictured)

Santino DeFranco (13-4) fought once in the IFL losing to Rafeal Dias. With 9 submissions on his resume, his big wins are against Melvin Guillard (21-7), Kevin English (11-7) and Jamal Perkins (9-3).

Richie Whitson (4-0) is an Alaskan fighter now fighting out of Team Quest with coach Dan Henderson. The striker has KO wins over Ray Cooper (14-9) and Schon Ellis (6-2).

Other US LW's Paul Bird, Cameron Dollar, Tom Hayden, Waylon Lowe and Josh Souder.

Team UK Welterweights:

Che Mills has a record of (7-2) or (6-1) depending on what database you look at. He has heavy hands and power in his punches. He has fought primarily in the Cage Rage promotion with big wins over Ross Mason (14-9), Marius Zaromskis (8-2) and Oriol Gaset (6-3).

James Wilks (5-2) trains out of Eric Paulson's gym in California. He has wins over Ray Lizama (7-5) and Roman Mitichyan (5-2).

(James Wilks pictured)

Nicholas Osipczak (3-0) trains out of Pancrase UK. None of his fights have gone out of the first round. His biggest win was over Brendan Flanagan (3-2).

Other UK WW's- Dean Amarasinghe, James Bateman, David Faulkner, Tommy Maguire and Alex Reid

Team UK Lightweights:

Andre Winner (9-2)- Winner was (8-1) before his last two fights where he drew against Abdul Mohamed (16-6) and lost a majority decision to Bendy Casimir (17-5). He has notable victories over Mario Stapel (14-11), teammate Jeff Lawson (13-2) and Daniel Thomas (9-6).

Jeff Lawson (13-2) is probably the frontrunner in the LW division with 11 submission victories on his resume. After a loss to teammate Andre Winner in 06', he has pulled off 10 straight wins. His big wins have come against Greg Loughran (18-11) and Joakim Engberg (4-3). He has crushed alot of cans in his young career. The judo blackbelt was a member of the British national judo team.

(Jeff Lawson pictured)

Ross Pearson has an (8-4) or (9-3) record depending on the database you look at. He is the Strike & Submit British LW Champ and Ultimate Force LW Champ. In his last fight he beat Ian Jones (6-5) via submission.

Martin Stapleton (5-1) is primarily a Muay Thai fighter with solid kicks. He hasn't beaten a fighter with an above 500 record, with his biggest win over Martin Begley (5-9)

Other UK LW's- James Bryan, Dan James, Gary Kelly and A.J. Wenn