Exciting TUF Finale

Season Six Finale Recap by the MMA Blaster

Anyone who was upset at the uneventful UFC 78 should have been rejoicing after seeing the latest Ultimate Fighter Finale. Season Six wrapped up with a bang with exciting fight after exciting fight. Even though I was a little disappointed at the showing of Tom Speer, the card was great. As you can see by the results there was only one fight that went to a decision and that usually guarantees there were some fireworks. In terms of grades I would give this card an A.

Huerta v. Guida will definately get fight of the year consideration. The fight was an absolute war with Guida beating Huerta pretty bad in the first two rounds. Huerta was able to come back somehow in the third round, a round which he knew he had to do something to finish the fight. He came out with everything he had, hitting Guida with punches and knees that found their mark. Huerta was able to get Guida's back and won with a rear naked choke with just 31 seconds to spare. Because of this victory, Huerta better get a shot at the winner of Stevenson v. Penn.

Full results:

1 Jonathan Goulet defeats Paul Georgieff Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) 1 4:42
2 Roman Mitichyan defeats Dorian Price Submission (Ankle lock) 1 0:23
3 Matt Arroyo defeats John Kolosci Submission (Armbar) 1 4:42
4 Troy Mandaloniz defeats Richie Hightower KO 1 4:20
5 Ben Saunders defeats Daniel Barrera Decision (Unanimous) 3 5:00
6 George Sotiropoulos defeats Billy Miles Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) 1 1:36
7 Jon Koppenhaver defeats Jared Rollins TKO (Strikes) 3 2:01
8 Mac Danzig defeats Tom Speer Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) 1 2:01
9 Roger Huerta defeats Clay Guida Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) 3 0:31

Thoughts on the TUF fights

Ben Saunders needs to develop takedown defense because Barrera was able to get takedowns whenever he wanted. Saunders does have potential to be a UFC star with solid kicks, punches, and submission defense and offense.

Sotiropoulos should have taken on a tougher opponent because Billy has little submission defense or striking ability. George outclassed Billy.

Koppenhaver showed heart and determination in a great fight with Jared Rollins. This was a three round battle that went back and forth with J-Roc and War doing damage. After being wobbled, War Machine was able to sweep J-Roc and knock him out cold with elbows and punches with little time left in the third. This was my second favorite fight of the night.

Mandaloniz v. Hightower was a pretty exciting fight. There were times when Hightower was getting the most of the action, but then he was stunned by some huge shots and pounded out by Rude Boy.

Danzig beat Speer just two minutes into the action. Seemed like Tommy may have been a little gun shy being on the big stage for the first time in his fight career. He didn't look like himself and Danzig capitalized.



Photo from Sherdog

TUF - Upperdecker Edition

Recap by the MMA Blaster

I saw something that was pretty nasty last night. Nasty in the sense that War Machine, or Poop Machine, dropped a deuce in the the top shelf of the Team Hughes toilet. I have heard about this practice before, but had never seen it in action. Billy Miles reaction was priceless when he walked into the bathroom and discovered a nasty smell. When he flushed the backwater came back a little brown.

It was pretty obvious when Team Hughes came back from practice that something had just went down. All three could not stop laughing. Mac said that Richie was laughing like Fran Drescher (the Nanny) and got in his face before the deed was even discovered. The person that took it the worse was J-Rock, who proceeded to kick team Serra's door in (too bad he didn't kick like that when he was facing George). Rude Boy and War ended cleaning it up, no harm, no fowl smell.

The editing of this episode was priceless. Anytime they showed Speer, it was right after his previous fight when he is the most swollen. We got to see some actual coaching from Serra and Hughes - finally. Serra was showing JJ, and Hughes gameplaning for some Saunders high kicks. I wish that they would show more technique and training, but I don't think it will happen anytime soon.

The first round of the fight consisted of Speer basically imposing his will for a takedown, and then Saunders getting the most of Speer on the ground. Saunders nearly had a arm bar, then nearly had a triangle. But, close just doesn't cut it. The second round saw Speer taking Saunders down and getting some shots in. I scored the first round for Saunders and the second for Speer. With time left, I thought for sure it would have been called a draw and we would see another round. To my surprise Speer won. I seriously have my doubts about judges, but if you want to win you have to finish the fight.

The quarters were picked with Danzig fighting Arroyo and George fighting Speer. Supposedly one fighter won't be going any further. If it is injury related, I would guess Speer would be out. If it is idiot related, I would say Mac probably did something stupid to Richie and got booted. Regardless, I am looking forward to the next show.