Retro Re-Cap: The Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale 11/5/05

UFC: Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale 11/5/05

Heavyweight Fight- Keith Jardine vs. Kerry Schall

R1- Jardine just kind of picks his spots early and lands some good shots. Schall looks to be heavy. This is jus pretty much a straight stand up fight. Jardine wins the round and bloodies Schall’s nose.

R2- Not a very exciting fight so far through a round and a half. Jardine just picked apart Schall with leg kicks until he finally chopped him down like a tree and fight was ended.

Winner: Keith Jardine by TKO (leg kicks) R2 3:28

Welterweight Fight- Marcus Davis vs. Melvin Guillard

This should be a fun fight.

R1- Guillard charges about a minute in and hits several good punches and then takes Davis down. Melvin got in a couple of good shots and then grabbed a guillotine on Marcus. Davis pops his head out after about a minute and is now in Davis’s guard. Melvin gets another take down with about 30 seconds left in the round and gets side control. Melvin takes round one 10 to 9.

R2- Melvin got another take down (that’s three so far) about one minute into the round. Melvin opened up a big cut on Marcus and the ref stops the ref to check the cut. Melvin caught him with an elbow above the eye and the doctor stops the fight.

Winner: Melvin Guillard by Ref Stoppage (Cut) R2 2:55

Welterweight Fight- Josh Burkman vs. Sam Morgan

R1- Burkman gets a quick take down and immediately beats Morgan. Wow. Burkman took him down and then just nailed him with a couple of shots that knocked Morgan out. It looked like when Burkman drove him into the mat the impact might have knocked Morgan out.

Winner: Josh Burkman by TKO (strikes) R1 0:21

Welterweight Fight- Kenny Florian vs. Kit Cope

Kit Cope is a Muy Thai fighter.

R1- Florian immediately clinches with him. Good action early as they clinch and battle. Florian caught a right hand going in for a take down but managed to clinch with Cope. Florian struggled but finally got a take down. Florian mounted but was quickly moved by Cope to full guard. Cope got to his feet but got taken down again. Florian took a mount and got lots of punches in. Florian then grabbed an arm bar but the bell rang before Cope would give up. Cope tapped but it was after the bell.

R2- Florian gets a quick take down and takes Cope’s back and quickly put on Rear Naked Choke and Cope tapped out again. Florian looked great in this fight.

Winner: Kenny Florian by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 0:37

TUF Welterweight Finals Fight- Joe Stevenson vs. Luke Cuomo

Cuomo has a 5 inch height advantage and 4 inch reach advantage. When asked if the fighters have any questions Stevenson says “Luke I am your father.”

R1- Stevenson gets this fight to the ground within the first 30 seconds. Stevenson grabs an arm triangle but Luke gets out of it and moves Joe to full guard and then escaped back to his feet. Joe gets another take down half way through the round. Joe takes side control and lands some good elbows. Joe gets a bunch of elbows in on Luke and the fight was in danger of being stopped but Luke lasted until the bell range. Stevenson easily took round one.

R2- Luke hit a good clean right hand to start the round but Stevenson quickly recovered and good the take down. Stevenson went for an arm bar but Luke escaped. The exchanged some shots standing and then Luke got a take down but Joe grabbed Luke’s leg and moved to the top position. Joe hits some good elbows from the top. This was a close round and goes to Stevenson so he’s up 20-18. Good fight so far.

R3- Luke got in a punch to start the round and then Joe went for a take down but Luke reversed it on him. Luke’s conditioning is helping him out in this part of the fight. Luke got some shots in on Stevenson. Stevenson got up and quickly took down Luke. Luke went for a triangle but couldn’t get it. Joe went for a leg lock but abandoned it. They briefly got separated and Joe got in a slam to take Luke back down. This was a real good fight. I think Luke took round 3 but I’ve got Joe 29-28 for the fight.

Judges score the fight: 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Stevenson

TUF 2 Welterweight Winner: Joe Stevenson by Decision (Unanimous)

TUF Heavyweight Finals Fight- Rashad Evans vs. Brad Imes

Imes has a huge 8 inch height advantage and a huge 6 inch reach advantage. Look for Rashad to take him to the mat quickly.

R1- Brad hit a couple of jabs early and then grabbed a Muy Thai clinch and tried some knees. Rashad answered with a good right and Imes again grabbed a clinch. Brad got a take down a little over a minute into the fight but couldn’t do anything with it. Brad hit a good elbow and then a left hand. Rashad came back with 3 punches but Brad keeps coming at Rashad. Rashad hit two big right hands and Brad tried to clinch but Rashad kept firing and knocked Brad down. Rashad jumped on top to try and finish but Brad hung in there. Rashad passed the guard but Brad rolled over to his knees and got to his feet. Brad is cut from those punches. This was a good first round. Brad was winning until Rashad hit that series of punches that knocked Brad down and almost finished him. Rashad 10-9 after one round.

R2- Even start to the round. Rashad starts to get the distance on his jab. Brad comes up with some good shots and tied to finish Rashad but Rashad weathered the storm and never left his feet. Brad got Rashad up against the fence and swung at him a bunch of times but Rashad showed good head movement and ducked the onslaught. Rashad got off the fence and hit some jabs. Both guys are really winded with about a minute and a half to go in the round. Rashad stuck Brad with two right hands. Rashad hit another right but Brad came back at the end of the round with some shots. Really good round. I think Brad took this round but it was close. I’ve got 19-19 after two rounds. Good fight so far.

R3- Rashad connects with some shots early in the round. Rashad caught Brad leaning in and nailed him with a left hand that staggered and then dropped Brad. Rashad jumps on top for the finish but Brad tries to wrap him up. Brad gets to his feet and tries to get some shots in on Rashad. Brad clinches and then gets a take down and gets half guard. Rashad got back to his feet after some elbows. 90 seconds left in the round. Both guys are really tired. They swing at the end but both guys are too tired to do any damage. Really close round and really close fight. I’ve got Rashad with a close victory 29-28. Good fight.

Judges score the fight- 29-28 Rashad, 29-28 Imes and 29-28 Rashad.

TUF 2 Heavyweight Winner: Rashad Evans by Decision (Split)

Welterweight Fight- Diego Sanchez vs. Nick Diaz

They meet heads during the meeting at the beginning of the fight and John McCarthy pushes Diaz back to his corner. Looks like a lot of bad blood is brewing between these two guys.

R1- Diego quickly takes Nick’s back. Diaz spins around and Diego is in his guard but Diaz is very active. Diego lands some pretty decent shots but Diaz remains pretty active which is making him hard to hit. Nick reverses and gets Diego in side control but Diego quickly reverses back. Diego is surprisingly controlling Diaz on the ground. Diego looked really good in this round. Sanchez 10-9 in the first round.

R2- Diaz slips really early but luckily it doesn’t hurt him. Diego gets a quick take down within the first 30 seconds of the round. Diego picks Nick up and slams him down and then gets some shots in on Nick. Diego moved Nick up against the cage and got some good Ground and Pound in on him. Diaz reversed a mount and got in Diego’s guard but Diego got out of it before the end of the round. Diaz has a cut near his eye. Diego got another take down at the end of the round. Sanchez is up 20-18 after two rounds.

R3- Diaz starts out the round with a left hand and a jab. Nick is doing a good job at the start of the round avoiding take downs and hitting jabs but Diego gets a take down within the first minute of the round. Diego is bleeding and it’s dripping onto Diaz as Diego is in his guard. They got back to their feet but Diego quickly took Nick’s back. Diaz looks like he’s bleeding now. There is a good amount of blood flowing and it’s tough to see exactly who it is coming from. Diaz gets a take down with about two and a half minutes left. Both guys look to be cut badly. Diaz is on top but Diego grabs an arm bar. Diaz frees himself from the move. Diego slips out and they roll around a little bit and Diego ends up in Nick’s guard. This was a close round, probably went to Diaz. I’ve got Sanchez winning 29-28. Really good fight.

Judges score the fight 30-27 in favor of Sanchez.

Winner: Diego Sanchez by Decision (Unanimous)

This was a very enjoyable show with some good fights- Sanchez/Diaz, Imes/Evans, Stevenson/Cuomo and it also had some good performances from Florian, Jardine and Guillard.