Ultimate Finale 12/5/09 Re-Cap (Spike TV)

Ultimate Finale
The Pearl at the Palms
Las Vegas, Nevada
12/5/09

Heavyweight Fight- Marcus Jones (4-2) vs. Matt Mitrione (0-0)

R1- Jones got a quick take down in the first 15 seconds but Mitrione got to his feet at the one minute mark. Mitrione landed some knees in the clinch. Jones was able to grab a guillotine and pull guard but he couldn’t get the submission. Jones got another take down with one minute left in the fight but Mitrione got to his feet quickly. Both guys swung wildly but Jones got another take down. Jones 10-9.

R2- Mitrione caught Jones coming in and knocked him out for the win.

Winner: Matt Mitrione by KO R2 0:10

Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff and Dixie Carter are at the show. Wow, now that’s a trio that I have no interest in seeing as partners in pro wrestling.

Lightweight Fight- Frankie Edgar (10-1) vs. Matt Veach (11-0)

Edgar is coming off of a big win at UFC 98 over Sean Sherk.

R1- Veach got a couple early take downs stuffed and then Edgar partially hit a head kick but Veach grabbed him and took him down. Edgar popped back up and Veach slammed him back to the canvas. Edgar gave up his back and got back to his feet and Veach again slammed him back to the mat. Veach seemed to tire a little at the end of the round and Edgar was able to get the better of the stand up. I’ve got Veach 10-9 on the strength of his slams.

R2- Edgar hit a big time right hand and knocked Veach down. Edgar jumped on top and landed some good shots on Veach. Veach gave up his back and Edgar clamped on the Rear Naked Choke and Veach tapped out. Really good performance by Edgar in weathering the early take downs in round one and then winning the stand up game later in the fight.

Winner: Frankie Edgar by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 2:22

Joe Rogan interviews Hulk Hogan ringside.

Lightweight Fight- Mark Bocek (7-2) vs. Joe Brammer (8-0)

Bocek has a 5” reach advantage in this fight. This is Brammer’s UFC debut.

R1- Bocek got the first take down and on the second take down he took Brammer’s back and got him in a body triangle. Bocek ended up getting a standing Rear Naked Choke and Brammer tapped out. Good showing by Bocek.

Winner: Mark Bocek by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:36

215 lb Catchweight Fight- Kimbo Slice (3-1) vs. Houston Alexander (9-4)

Kimbo has a 2” height, 5” reach and 4lb weight advantage.

R1- Kimbo takes the center of the cage and Houston circles him for the first minute with no punches thrown. Very little action in the first half of round one as Houston has landed a few leg kicks and Kimbo has thrown one strike. Finally they engaged and both guys threw some strikes but nothing significant landed. Really tough first round to score as neither guy was aggressive and neither guy landed anything worth taking note of.

R2- More of the same at the beginning of this round as Houston circles Kimbo and hits an occasional leg kick. Kimbo landed a good jab at the two minute mark of the round. Kimbo got a take down and took full mount but Houston got out of it. Houston slipped on a leg kick and Kimbo was able to land a couple of shots. Kimbo landed a good body shot. Kimbo hit an awesome side suplex on Houston and landed some strikes. Kimbo tried a guillotine but Kimbo easily slipped out and then again took top position. Houston gave up his back and Kimbo tried weakly for a Rear Naked. Kimbo then flipped him over and landed a good short elbow. I don’t know who won the first round but Kimbo easily took the second round.

R3- Both guys came out swinging to start the third round. Houston looks tired. Kimbo landed a good right hand. Houston hit a leg kick and Kimbo fell down and it looked like his leg might have given out on him. Houston followed in with some shots but Kimbo grabbed a leg and got a take down. Good recovery by Kimbo. Kimbo is landing some shots but Houston did a good job on defense and the ref stood the fight up with one minute remaining. Houston landed a couple of strikes in the last ten seconds but this one goes to a draw. Not the fight anyone thought we would see and other than the second round this was a pretty ugly fight. This is gonna be a really tough fight to score. As an overall fight Kimbo definitely won but breaking it down into round-by-round scoring it will be interesting to see what the judges decide.

Judges score cards say: 29-28, 29-28, 30-27

Winner: Kimbo Slice by Decision (Unanimous)

Tito Ortiz is in attendance at the show. And UFC is going to announce the coaches for the next TUF. Hmmmmm……

Joe Rogan interviews BJ Penn and Diego Sanchez at the same time via satellite.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Matt Hamill (8-2) vs. Jon Jones (9-0)

Jones has a 3” height and 8.5” reach advantage.

R1- They stood up for the first two minutes and then Jones escaped a Hamill take down. Jones is hitting some strikes but nothing damaging so far although Hamill’s ribs are a little red. Jones landed a really nice trip and ended up on top of Hamill and then starting hitting some big Ground and Pound. Jones is throwing some big time elbows as Hamill is trying to cover up. Jones gets a point taken from him for a down ward elbow and then the fight is stopped. Not sure if this will be a DQ or a victory for Jones but Rogan/Goldberg seem like they are assuming victory for Jones and not talking about DQ. Jones was dominating Hamill once he got him down on the mat.

Winner: Matt Hamill by DQ (Intentional Elbows) R1

Heavyweight Fight- James McSweeney vs. Darrill Schoonover

R1- The video is messed up so we are pretty much just getting PBP from Rogan/Goldberg. After a minute we get video and McSweeney pulls guard on a guillotine but Schoonover pops his head out and takes McSweeney’s guard. McSweeney flips Schoonover over and moves to mount. They stand back up and Schoonover lands a good knee but couldn’t follow up before the round ended.

R2- McSweeney got Schoonover down with a looping right hand and didn’t fully hit. McSweeney followed him down to the mat and took his guard. McSweeney definitely took this round.

R3- McSweeney got a good slam and again took top position. McSweeney landed a couple of good strikes about half way through the round and this one is over. McSweeney looked a lot better in this fight than he did in any of his TUF fights.

Winner: James McSweeney by TKO (Strikes) R3 3:20

Dana White announces the coaches for Season 11 of TUF. They are Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. Dana says that TUF 11 will be Middleweight Fighters.

TUF 10 Heavyweight Final- Roy Nelson (14-4) vs. Brendan Schaub (5-0)

Roy Nelson comes out to Weird Al Yankovic’s song “I’m Fat”. Schaub has a 4” height and 5” reach advantage. Nelson has a 23 lb weight advantage.

R1- Schaub is using his jab effectively early and avoids a take down but then got clinched and taken down by Nelson. Schaub got held down for a while but did a good job of getting to his feet without taking any damage. Schaub is landing some decent strikes. Nelson hit a big right hand behind Schaub’s ear and this one is over.

Winner: Roy Nelson by KO R1 3:45

TUF 10: Heavyweights "Road to the Finale" Re-Cap

TUF 10: Heavyweights “Road to the Finale” Episode Eleven

Dana is looking for guys to take Mitrione’s place and nobody is stepping forward. Kimbo turns it down because he doesn’t feel he’s 100%. Mitrione decides that he feels good and he’s going to fight.

Marcus Jones lost it and starting yelling at Matt Mitrione when he found out that Scott Junk got a detached retina in his fight with Mitrione and might not fight anymore. Junk got the surgery but the doctor said that he could resume training in about two months. Jones says he’s glad he didn’t go overboard.

McSweeney pushes Mitrione after an intense staredown at the weigh-ins.

Heavyweight Quarterfinal Fight- James McSweeney (3-3) vs. Matt Mitrione (2-0)

Mitrione has a 6” reach advantage in this fight.

R1- McSweeney caught Mitrione in a guillotine choke about mid-way through the round and Mitrione tapped out. Neither guy looked really good in this one.

Winner: James McSweeney by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1

Heavyweight Quarterfinal Fight- Marcus Jones (4-2) vs. Darrill Schoonover (10-0)

Jones has a 4” reach and height advantage.

R1- Jones quickly got a take down in the first ten seconds of the fight. Jones just really controlled Schoonover in this fight and eventually took his guard and got in some good shots and knocked him out.

Winner: Marcus Jones by KO

Final Four: James McSweeney, Brendan Schaub, Roy Nelson, Marcus Jones.

Semi-Finals Fights:
Roy Nelson vs. James McSweeney
Brendan Schaub vs. Marcus Jones

McSweeney locks Zak Jensen in the bathroom and Jensen comes out swinging but McSweeney grabs him in a guillotine and subdues him.

Heavyweight Semi-Final Fight: Roy Nelson (13-4) vs. James McSweeney (3-3)

R1- Roy took the fight to the ground about half way through the round and then got the crucifix position like he had Kimbo in and landed some good undefended offense and the ref stopped the fight.

Winner: Roy Nelson by TKO (Strikes) R1

Heavyweight Semi-Final Fight- Marcus Jones (4-2) vs. Brendan Schuab (4-0)

R1- Jones got an immediate take down. Marcus mounted at about the one minute mark but Schaub was able to get to his feet without taking much damage. Jones landed a knee to the head. Schuab hit a big punch that stunned and floored Marcus. Scahub jumped on top and landed some Ground and Pound and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight. Really good come back and showing by Schaub.

Winner: Brendan Schaub by TKO (Strikes) R1

The TUF Heavyweight Finals are: Roy Nelson versus Brendan Schaub

Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two
Kimbo Slice defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Three
Demico Rogers defeated by Brendan Schaub- Episode Four
Wes Sims defeated by Justin Wren- Episode Five
Zak Jensen defeated by Darrill Schoonover- Episode Six
Scott Junk defeated by Matt Mitrione: Episode Seven
Mike Wessel defeated by Marcus Jones: Episode Eight
Justin Wren defeated by Roy Nelson: Episode Nine
Jon Madsen defeated by Brendan Schaub: Episode Ten
Matt Mitrione defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Eleven
Darrill Schoonover defeated by Marcus Jones- Episode Eleven
James McSweeney defeated by Roy Nelson- Episode Eleven
Marcus Jones defeated by Brendan Schaub- Episode Eleven

TUF 10: Heavyweights Episode Two Re-Cap

TUF 10: Heavyweights Episode Two

“All About Survival”

In week one we saw Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson jawing at each other, Kimbo Slice introduced, a bloody first match in which Jon Madsen was easily victorious and we saw what looks to be a much better team drafted by Rashad.

At the start of the show Rampage brings in a specialist and they show Kimbo working on his ground game during the Team Rampage training session. In the Team Rashad training session Roy Nelson was being a little bit of a pain by not following his coaching and Rashad and one of his coaches have some conversations with Roy.

At the fight announcements Rampage asks Roy Nelson what his name is. Rampage picks James McSweeney versus Wes Shivers. Rampage says he wants to get Rashad’s first pick out. Rashad says he feels his guy is going to walk all over Rampage’s guy.

Team Rashad runs 5 minutes late in their training and Rampage and Rashad have a little back and forth with one another.

Wes Shivers (2-0) vs. James McSweeney (3-3)

Shivers is the bigger fighter as he has a 3” height and 6.5” reach advantage. McSweeney was Rashad’s first round pick and trains with Rashad at Greg Jackson’s camp.

R1- Shivers does not touch gloves to start. Shivers lands some strikes early as McSweeney retreats. Shivers clinches and sweeps McSweeney to the ground. Shivers went for a kimura but could not clamp it in and McSweeney got to his feet. McSwinney lands some kicks and then Shivers kicks him in the balls. Shivers lands some strikes and McSwinney is trying anything he can to fight back. Shivers looks like he’s running out of gas towards the end of the round. Wes took this first round as the only thing that McSwinney really had going for him was the fact that Wes got tired. McSwinney landed some leg kicks but that was really his only offense. Still anybody’s fight since Wes Shivers seems to have hit the wall.

R2- McSwinney went for a head kick and missed and Shivers briefly took him down but couldn’t hold him. McSwinney is starting to land more strikes but Shivers grabs a leg kick and takes him down. Shivers moves to the mount position and lands some Ground and Pound. McSwinney gives up his back and Shivers tries for a Rear Naked but can’t clamp it in and McSwinney flipped him over and took his guard but then quickly got back to his feet. Shivers is really tired and I think McSwinney is right behind him. McSwinney really hasn’t landed anything substantial this round. Just as I say that McSwinney lands a punch and then a kick and then pulls guard on a guillotine which is probably enough to take this round. Shivers pulls out of the guillotine as the round ends. Close round, I think McSwinney might have stolen this round with the punch/kick combo. Both guys are totally exhausted.

The ref says they have a decision. There is no way McSwinney took the first round so I’m thinking that Shivers is going to be the winner. He must have eeked out that second round.

Judges score cards say: 19-19, 20-18, 20-18 in favor of McSwinney. Wow, I don’t know how McSwinney won that first round.

Winner: James McSwinney by Decision (Majority)

Fight Announcement: The ball is now in Rashad’s court and he is up 2-0. Rashad picks Roy Nelson against Kimbo Slice. Wow. Dana says Roy has better all-around skills than Kimbo but that Kimbo is explosive and has the ability to knock Roy out. Dana says this is the true test for Kimbo Slice.

Fighters Remaining
Team Rashad #1: James McSweeney
Team Rampage #1: Kimbo Slice
Team Rashad #2: Brandon Schaub
Team Rampage #2: Abe Wagner
Team Rashad #3: Justin Wren
Team Rampage #3: Demico Rogers
Team Rashad #4: Jon Madsen
Team Rampage #4: Wes Sims
Team Rashad #5: Roy Nelson
Team Rampage #5: Scott Junk
Team Rashad #6: Darrill Schoonover
Team Rashad #7: Matt Mitrione
Team Rampage #7: Marcus Jones
Team Rashad #8: Mike Wessel
Team Rampage #8: Zak Jensen

Eliminated:
Abe Wagner defeated by Jon Madsen- Episode One
Wes Shivers defeated by James McSweeney- Episode Two