The Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale was live from the Hard
Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Back in August, eighteen hopefuls (and
a couple of substitutes) entered the Tough Enough
2 house. Over the weeks we watched them develop their
skills. We laughed with them and we cried with them.
And one by one, the number of competitors dwindled
due to injuries, being on the losing end of elimination
matches, or because they didn't have the heart and
quit. MMA is a demanding sport.
Four fighters are left and they will
face off in the octagon tonight to determine the best
welterweight and best heavyweight. The winner in each
category will win a six-figure UFC contract.
The announce team of Mike Goldberg and
Joe Rogan welcomed viewers to the show and ran through
the matches on the card.
Dana White was shown backstage wishing
the various competitors luck.
On to the first match. Bruce Buf-f-f-f-f-fer
did the ring announcing, as usual.
Welterweight Bout: Kit "Havoc"
Cope vs. Kenny Florian. Florian, a veteran
of season one of TUF, is from Boston, Massachusetts,
5'10" and 170 pounds. Cope, making his UFC debut,
is from Las Vegas, Nevada, is 6'0" and 170 pounds.
He adopted an "Elvis" look for this fight.
Herb Dean will be the referee for this
match. Florian went immediately for a take down and
made good use of his elbows and knees. Cope did a
good job of avoiding the take down. Cope is a good
Muay Thai striker and was holding his own and had
the size advantage. Florian succeeded in getting Cope
on his back, and Cope showed some ground skills, then
successfully battled back up to his feet. Florian
got him down again and had side control.
The first round was ticking down to
the last seconds. Florian was throwing a flurry of
punches. Then just as the bell sounded, it appeared
Cope had tapped...
Arrrrrrgh!!! With the worst timing possible,
the show cut abruptly to a commercial.
Coming back from the ill-timed commercial,
it was shown that Cope had tapped a split second AFTER
the bell had sounded. He appeared to have severe pain
in one arm.
The second round started and almost
immediately Kenny Florian won it with a rear naked
choke.
Bruce Buffer announced the winner by tap-out--Kenny
"KenFlo" Florian.
Coaches Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes
were shown visiting with their former team members
backstage.
The musical group Korn was shown in
the audience.
A video package aired on the welterweight
finalists. After TUF2 ended, Joe Stevenson returned
to his training regimen in Las Vegas. His newborn
baby was shown, which is apparently where the "Daddy"
nickname came from.
Luke ("powered by Zen and trained
by Matt Serra," according to Goldberg) went back
to New York and viewers got to meet his girlfriend,
who actually eats that healthy stuff with him.
Churck Liddell was shown in the audience,
as was Luke Cummo's family and Joe Stevenson's mother.
(I was wondering how they were going
to fill three hours, and I believe I've discovered
the secret--two hours of commercials and one hour
of actual show. While I'm glad they have sponsors,
the frequency of the commercials is getting annoying.)
The Cummo family was shown in the audience
again, and it sounded like Goldberg forgot he'd introduced
them already.
Welterweight Final: Luke
"The Silent Assasin" Cummo vs. Joe "Daddy"
Stevenson. This match-up had its share
if irony. When teams were chosen back in August, quirky
Luke was the last one picked. His opponent, Joe Stevenson,
was the first pick. Luke is from New Hyde Park, Long
Island and is a Bruce Lee fan, which probably explains
his odd Ninja entrance attire (although he looked
more like the Zodiac serial killer). He has an MMA
record of 6-1.
Stevenson has been competing in mixed
martial arts since the age of 16. He's only 23, but
already has a 28-6-0 MMA record. On a fashion note,
Joe has kept his hair bleached blond and has spiked
it up, which makes him look taller.
Big John McCarthy was the referee for
this match.
"Luke, I am your father,"
said Stevenson to the Luke Skywalker as the match
began. Joe got an early take down against a fence
and he locked in an arm triangle. Luke was trying
to survive. A kick from Luke and he made it back to
his feet. More kicks by Luke. Joe went for another
take down. Side control for Joe, which was bad for
Luke. Luke used the fence for leverage, and Joe dropped
some vicious elbows on Luke. Joe was successfully
avoiding being submitted. Joe with a blurry of elbows.
The round ended, and it was clearly Joe's.
Round two began with Luke throwing a
punch that rocked Joe. Joe got him down again and
they were up against the fence. Lots of "Luke"
chants from the crowd. Stevenson controlled the ground
game. Arm bar by Joe, but Luke broke free. The crowd
was really into this match. They got back on their
feet, and Luke took Joe down. Joe seemed tired and
his pace had slowed.
Dana White was shown in the audience--looking
very pleased.
The third round saw them back down on
the ground almost immediately. Joe seemed to be in
trouble and Luke was throwing everything he had. Back
on their feet, Joe took Luke down where the battle
continued. Joe got his second wind and the third round
ended with them both on their feet.
Buffer announced that Joe Stevenson
had won the fight and raised his arm in victory. Luke
looked terribly disappointed.
Dana White said he thought it was Griffin-Bonnar
only on the ground. He presented Joe with a trophy,
a brand new Scion, and the six-figure contract.
Stevenson told Rogan that he'd taken
Luke lightly and that was a mistake. Joe confided
that he was fighting with his clavicle separated from
his sternum and he'd kept that a secret so that he
could continue in the competition. Talk about a tough
guy!
Rogan told Luke there was no way he
came out of that fight a loser. Luke thanked his trainers
for getting him ready for his fight with Stevenson.
Rogan was in the audience with Rich
Franklin, who talked about his upcoming fight against
Nate Quarry at UFC 56 on November 19.
Video packages aired on Rashad and Brad.
After TUF2, Rashad had returned to Michigan where
he continued training and where he proposed to his
long-time girlfriend. Brad had gone to Cincinnati
to work with Tim Silvia and Rich Franklin. Although
he has only one year of MMA experience, it's said
he's a fast learner.
Diego Sanchez was in his dressing room
waiting for his match to begin.
Heavyweight Final: Brad "The
Hillbilly Heartthrob" Imes vs. Rashad Evans.
Rashad Evans is 5"11" and 224 pounds. Brad
is 6'7" and 250 pounds (although Dana White keeps
saying he's seven feet tall; Dana must be using WWE
measurements--sort of like with Kane).
The Evans and the Imes families were
shown in the audience.
Herb Dean was the referee for this match.
Brad's reach advantage served him well early in the
match. Body lock by Imes and he finally got Rashad
down. Back on their feet, Brad came after Rashad with
Muay Thai knees. Suddenly Rashad started throwing
punches and took Imes down. Back on their feet they
were throwing again.
The cuts to commercials have been annoyingly
abrupt. No sooner does a bell sound than they're pitching
video games and cheeseburgers.
Then just as abruptly, the show returned
to Rogan in mid-replay mode.
Round two started with Brad on the attack.
Brad was swinging for the fences, but Rashad bloodied
Brad's nose. Both looked fatigued. Brad rocked Rashad
and the round ended with a flurry of fists.
Leonardo DiCaprio was in the audience.
Goldberg made reference to the Titanic forces in the
ring. Rogan thought that was pretty corny. Yep, it
was.
As round three began, Rashad rocked
Imes and tried to finish him off. Brad would not give
up and got back to his feet. Brad grabbed Rashad's
leg and took him down to the mat; Rashad was in trouble,
but he fought back. Body shot by Brad, and Rashad
seemed out on his feet, but the round ended with both
standing and throwing and not about to give up.
Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta both
looked very pleased with the match.
In the octagon, Buffer announced that
the winner of the fight was Rashad Evans by split
decision.
Dana White congratulated Rashad and
presented him with his trophy, his brand new Scion,
and the six-figure contract.
Rogan asked Rashad how he felt now that
he'd won the Ultimate Fighter. Duh! Maybe he'll go
to Disneyland. Rashad noted that he might drop down
in weight class.
Brad told Rogan that MMA training had
been a trial by fire. He's only been training for
a year.
Nick Diaz was shadow boxing and waiting
for his fight to start. Diaz thinks Diego is a spoiled
brat. Nick is pretty crabby.
Rogan was in the audience with Korn,
and they used the "T" word-- Tito Ortiz.
Whoops. Rogan asked who they thought would win, and
they picked Sanchez, but didn't seem to have a clue
how one wins UFC matches. They have a new album coming
out. Imagine that.
Rogan was with Matt Hughes and Joe Riggs,
who will be Hughes' opponent at the November 19 UFC
pay-per-view. Both were confident in their own abilities,
yet complimentary of their opponent.
Nick Diaz was still shadow boxing.
Goldberg introduced the video package
on Sanchez and Diaz which concentrated on the animosity
between the two.
Welterweight Bout: Diego
"Nightmare" Sanchez vs. Nick Diaz.
Bottom line: Sanchez won one of the coveted contracts
in the season one finale. Nick Diaz is jealous. Very,
very jealous.
Big John McCarthy was the referee for
this match, and he had to separate the two while he
was still giving instructions.
Time to put up for shut up.
Diego immediately took Diaz down. Good
elbows from the bottom, but Diego's ground and pound
skills served him well. It seemed to be his round.
Back from commercial, Rogan and Goldberg
were in mid-conversation. Again, sloppy timing.
Round two was more of the same on the
ground and Sanchez had Diaz up against the fence.
Big kick from the bottom to Sanchez. More good grappling
throughout this match.
Round three saw the two standing and
trading. Diego got Diaz down after several tries,
but Diego was bleeding from a bad cut over his eye.
Diego got on Diaz's back and he was bleeding, too.
Diego was still swinging all the way to the final
bell.
Surprisingly, the fight went three full
rounds and nobody got their head knocked off. Yet.
Buffer announced the winner as Diego
Sanchez. That means you can expect more bitching from
Diaz.
Rogan asked Diego to comment on the
match while they showed clips on the TUF-a-Tron. Diego
had nothing to say other than they looked like "a
couple of lizards." Then--against UFC rules about
thanking sponsors--Diego started thanking his sponsors.
When Rogan tried to stop him, he said it was okay
to thank Xyience. It was an awkward moment.
Rogan asked Diaz his thoughts on the
match, and he got booed and bleeped. Even so, Diaz
was a lot more coherent than Diego.
UFC had to be happy that the finale for season two
equaled the excitement of season one. The action tonight
was excellent and a good demonstration of what UFC
is all about. There were technical glitches, but UFC
seeemed to learn from their mistakes during the first
finale, and things (other than commercial breaks)
ran much smoother. TUF 3 will debut in the spring
of 2006. I can hardly wait!
