The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale 6/20/09 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale 6/20/09
The Pearl at the Palms
Las Vegas, Nevada

This is a big show with two really good match-ups in Diego Sanchez/Clay Guida and Joe Stevenson/Nate Diaz. We also have a potential show stealer in Chris Lytle/Kevin. Plus, we have the two Ultimate Fighter 9 Finals that have Damarques Johnson facing James Wilks in the Welterweight Division and Andre Winner taking on Ross Pearson in the Lightweight Finals.

Lightweight Fight- Nate Diaz (10-3) vs. Joe Stevenson (34-10)

This is a battle of past ultimate fighter winners. Joe Stevenson is really in a must win situation as he is coming off of losses to Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian. Nate Diaz is coming off of a close decision loss to Clay Guida at UFC 94. Stevenson won his weight class in Season 2 and Diaz won Season 5. Diaz has a 6” reach and 5” height advantage. Stevenson spent 6 weeks in Greg Jackson’s camp before this fight.

R1- Stevenson goes to touch gloves and Diaz does not touch. Stevenson gets an early take down and Diaz grabs a guillotine but could not hold onto the move. Joe lands some shots and has Nate tied up. Nate turns into Joe’s guard and Joe grabs a guillotine but Diaz held on and got out of the submission. Joe lands some knees to end the round. Joe takes this round 10-9.

R2- Joe went for a take down and Nate went for a guillotine again and didn’t get it but did fend of the take down as they ended up against the cage. Joe landed some knees against the cage and Joe gets Diaz down on the mat. Joe is controlling the round but not landing a lot of damage. I’ve got Joe up 20-18 going into the third round.

R3- Diaz again does not touch hands with Joe. Joe worked hard for a take down early and Nate landed a nice judo throw to get in Joe’s guard. Nate went for a submission but couldn’t get it and then briefly tried a Rear Naked but Joe scrambled back to his feet. Joe lands some more knees against the cage. Nate landed some punches in the last minute of the round while avoiding Joe’s take down. This was a pretty decent fight. I give Nate the final round but I’ve got Joe winning this fight 29-28.

Judges score cards say: all 3 judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Stevenson.

Winner: Joe Stevenson by Decision (Unanimous)

Ultimate Fighter 9 Lightweight Finals: Andre Winner (10-2-1) vs. Ross Pearson (10-3)

Winner made it to the finals by defeating Gary Kelly, Santino Defranco and Cameron Dollar. Pearson made it to the finals by defeating A.J. Wenn, Richie Whitson and Jason Dent. Winner has a 4” reach and 3” height advantage.

R1- Really even start to the fight as they started out on their feet and then clinched battling for position. This round was a virtual tie. Winner hit a flurry at the end of the round and I’ve got him barely taking this round 10-9.

R2- Lots of clinching in this round. This was another very close round. Winner hit another flurry at the end of this round but this one was not as good as the last round. Scoring could be anywhere right now. I’ve got it 19-19.

R3- They stand up and throw some leather in the middle of this round but then quickly got back to the clinch. With under a minute left they throw some more leather. Pearson has thus far landed more shots in this round as Winner looks like he’s is tiring. Pearson landed a knee and an elbow at the end of the fight and Winner took a knee as the bell rung. I’ve got Pearson winning this round so I’ve got Pearson up on my score card 29-28 but I think this is going to be a split decision as I really don’t feel there was a clear winner in this fight. This was a good close fight but it didn’t really have that explosive action that most MMA fans enjoy. Both guys deserve a shot to see if they can make it in the UFC.

Judges score card: all judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Ross Pearson.

Winner: Ross Pearson

Welterweight Fight- Chris Lytle (36-17-4) vs. Kevin Burns (8-2)

Chris Lytle is coming off of a split decision loss to Marcus Davis at UFC 93. Burns is coming off of a KO loss to Anthony Johnson back in December. Burns has a 6” reach advantage in this fight.

R1- This fight starts out how you thought it would with both guys throwing punches and some kicks. Lytle came in and Burns caught him with a short right uppercut and Lytle went down. Burns followed him to the ground but Lytle seemed to recover. Burns lands some good shots at the end of the round and Lytle is reeling. Burns took this round 10-9.

R2- Lytle came out and hit two good strikes right off the bat that sent Burns reeling. Burns went for a take down and got it but Lytle quickly got to his feet. Burns has hit Lytle with at least 3 low blows so far in this fight. He is the same guy that kept poking Anthony Johnson in the eye in a fight last year. Lytle evens this fight up at 19-19 after two rounds.

R3- Rashad Evans in the house, no doubt he’s still thinking about how Lyoto Machida just dismantled him. Lytle caught a kick and delivered a punch while holding onto Burns leg and Burns got cut bad by that strike. Lytle hit a big right hand half way through the round that rocked Burns. Lytle is throwing some heavy punches this round. This was a really good fight. Lytle takes the final round and wins the fight 29-28 on my score card.

Judges score cards say: all 3 judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Lytle.

Winner: Chris Lytle by Decision (Unanimous)

Joe Rogan interviews Brock Lesnar via Satellite about the Frank Mir fight that is coming up in a few weeks.

Ultimate Fighter 9 Welterweight Finals: DaMarques Johnson (14-6) vs. James Wilks (6-2)

James Wilks got here by defeating Che Mills and Frank Lester twice. Damarques Johnson defeated Ray Elbe, Dean Amasinger, and Nick Osipczak. Wilks is from the UK but actually fights out of California now. Damarques trains with Jeremy Horn.

R1- Wilks hit a couple of nice shots to start off the fight. Wilks is landing some good knees against the cage. Wilks went for a leg lock but couldn’t lock it in. Damarques got a couple of shots in on Wilks. Wilks landed a triangle and Damarques got out but his arm looked like it was in a weird spot. Wilks went after a Rear Naked Choke and Damarques tapped with under 10 seconds left in the round. James Wilks just dominated this fight and looked very good.

Winner: James Wilks by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 4:54

Lightweight Fight- Diego Sanchez (22-2) vs. Clay Guida (25-6)

Diego won his debut at Lightweight against Joe Stevenson and is looking to move up in ranking as he’s looking for a title shot. Guida is coming off of a Split Decision victory over Nate Diaz at UFC 94 and he beat Mac Danzig by Unanimous Decision in his fight previous to that one. Diego looks incredibly intense getting into the cage and he and Guida are jawing at each other. Diego has a 4” reach and height advantage. They have a crazy looking stare down.

R1- They are throwing shots at each other like crazy as Diego came running across the ring. Diego is nailing Guida with strikes and hits him with a flying knee. Guida looks like his face or nose is busted open. Guida gets a take down. Lucky for him because he was just getting destroyed by Diego on their feet. Sanchez uses the rubber guard and is able to get back to his feet. Diego landed a big head kick on Guida and he fell to the ground. Diego hit another flying knee and continues to eat Guida’s lunch on their feet. Diego got a take down with thirty seconds left in the round. WOW, what a SICK first round. Probably the best round of fighting I’ve seen this year. This was reminiscent of some of Eddie Alvarez’s fights in DREAM last year. Sanchez took this one 10-9. It was a borderline 10-8 round but Guida got a take down and landed some elbows. Sanchez looked awesome in this round.

R2- Guida got a take down to start this round. Diego is throwing elbows from the bottom. Guida is dominating control but Diego is landing better strikes so far this round. Diego is a bloody mess and I think it’s from the top of Guida’s head (where Diego has been hitting the strikes) and from Guida’s nose (which was probably broken in the first round). I’ve got to give this round to Diego. Cage control only goes so far. Diego did more damage in this round than Guida did with the elbows to the top of the head. Diego is up 20-18.

R3- Guida is bleeding from the nose and the head as this round starts. Clay went for a take down and Diego tried to take his back but Guida slipped into guard. Sanchez got an arm triangle briefly but Guida again slipped out. Guida is on top but Sanchez is working a kimura. Sanchez tried for an arm bar and then Guida hit some Ground and Pound as the bell rung. GREAT FIGHT. I’ve got Sanchez taking this round also as he had 4 submission attempts and the stand up in the round was even. Sanchez 30-27 on my score card. It will be interesting to see how the judges score the fight. Fight of the Year so far?

Judges score cards say: 29-28 Guida, 29-27 Sanchez and 29-28 Sanchez. I just don’t see how you would score the fight for Guida. Lying on top of a guy doesn’t beat out damage inflicted in a round. I can see how someone would give Guida round three but no way he won round two.

Winner: Diego Sanchez by Decision (Split)

Solid night of fights capped by a FOTY candidate in Sanchez/Guida.