Let’s take a look at the action from The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale and see how I predicted the night.

Junie Browning vs. Dave Kaplan

I said:

Who knows, or cares, about this fight – but, I’ll say Junie stops him early in the first with strikes after catching him on the feet.

Prediction: Browning, TKO, Rd. 1

Junie won this in the second with a submission so while I had the winner I missed the round and means of victory. Let’s keep it moderate: B (3.0)

I must say Junie looked better than I expected. He put together some nice strikes and pretty much dominated the fight. He’ll grow into a decent fighter, but I don’t expect him to be much more than career .500 in the UFC.

He apologized to Mir afterwards which was a nice move, but while we’re on the subject here is a quick rant. The precedent is now officially set for someone to act like a complete moron on the show and be better off for it. Dana can say whatever he wants, but the only reason Browning wasn’t kicked off was because he was good for ratings. Every halfway decent fighter that makes the show now has a proven formula to make a name. This is going to get real annoying, real fast. So while Junie may have been good for a ratings spike this year (which I’m actually not sure he was) – you can expect viewers to walk away in future seasons when they get sick of all the Browning clones that come down the pike.

As for Kaplan, I liked his entrance music – it was nice knowing you, buddy.

Kevin Burns vs. Anthony Johnson

I said:

Anyway, I think Johnson takes it early this time around with some of that explosive striking of his.

Prediction: Johnson, TKO, Rd. 1

I didn’t know the round – but that KO was as explosive as it gets. How about B+ (3.3)

I think Johnson has a bright future, but I’m not ready to put him up against the upper-echelon of that division. Let’s not forget that Rich Clementi, who now fights at lightweight, worked him over and scored a submission in the second round at UFC 76.

I would really like to see Johnson given time to grow, but I have a feeling the UFC is going to hotshot him up the ranks ala Houston Alexander. Just last week I predicted Mike Swick’s next fight would be against the loser of Parisyan/Kim, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the UFC set-up an explosive Johnson/Swick battle. If that goes down, don’t blink.

Wilson Gouveia vs. Jason MacDonald

I said:

Wilson hits like a brick and has some sweet jits. I think he rattles MacDonald with a punch and follows up on the ground with a sub.

Prediction: Gouveia, Sub, Rd. 2

I was wrong about the round but Wilson did rock him and (technically) made him tap – so I’m going high: A- (3.7)

I was so disappointed with Gouveia not making weight for this fight. It just reinforces the idea that the man has a wealth of talent, but lacks the drive. We have seen him gas before and now he missed weight. I really hope he can turn the corner and dedicate himself to his full potential because he can be great in that division. He hits very hard, has awesome leg kicks and is a Black Belt in BJJ. That’s the total package.

There are about 10 billion cool match-ups in the middleweight division for Wilson. How about Gouveia/Marquardt? … FYI, I just drooled all over myself salivating about that fight possibility.

As for my main man Jason MacDonald – he’ll be back. The guy is a gamer and offers a test to anyone in the division.

TUF8 LHW Final: Vinny Magalhaes vs. Ryan Bader

I said:

Halfway through the first Bader forgets who he’s dealing with and makes the terrible decision to take Vinny down and get subbed less than a minute later.

Prediction: Magalhaes, Sub, Rd. 1

Well, you see the thing with this is… er… it’s like… Ah screw it. F (0) - this one really chaps my ass because I was money picking this card except for this mishap. Oh well.

I want to preface this statement by saying that I don’t know what its like to get hit in the side of the head by someone like Bader and hopefully I never will. With that said – it really seemed like Vinny quit as soon as he got hit. When he dropped he immediately turtled and made it clear that he did not want to continue. This could be a major problem for his career going forward. The guy is a BJJ ace, but if he can’t handle getting punched in the face, I can’t see him doing much in the sport.

Congrats Bader! The wrestling is there and will carry him through this stage of his career, but the rest will follow. We know he can hit hard and once he gets a bit more technical in his striking he will be good to go.

The UFC would be wise to bring him up very slowly. There are plenty of contenders at LHW, so let Bader develop. I doubt his next opponent will be anyone who has fought in the UFC before.

TUF8 LW Final: Efrain Escudero vs. Phillipe Nover

I said:

Here it is - my upset special…

I’m not saying the hype is undeserved on Nover – the kids a stud – but it’s a bit much when you consider how little of a chance people are giving Efrain in this fight.

• FACT: Efrain is the far superior wrestler
• FACT: Efrain has ended 9 of his 10 career fights by submission – 11 of 12 if you count the show
• FACT: Efrain fought tougher opponents on the show (Nelson, Browning vs. Kaplan, Roop)
• FACT: Efrain has fought tougher competition his whole career – don’t have time to get the exact stats, but trust me.

Don’t come crying to me when Escudero takes this via a hard fought decision where he controls the fight from the top.

Prediction: Escudero, Decision

Care to take a stab at what I’m giving myself here? You guessed it – A (4.0)

He doesn’t look like a wrestler, but Efrain will put you on your back with ease. I’ve heard the word ‘lay ‘n pray’ tossed around to describe his win which is sour grapes. Escudero had a gameplan and stuck to it. He was looking to do damage on the ground, but that’s tough to do against a BJJ Black Belt like Phillipe. Besides all that, the fight was exciting as hell.

Efrain seems like a real cool dude and you better believe he is well on his way to gaining ‘main man’ status in my book. He is going to be a great fighter. At 22-years-old he is 11-0 and a top-notch wrestler. Unlike Bader though, his BJJ is already very good. Once his hands get crisper, look out. I can’t wait to see him again.

The hype for Nover was a bit much, but the UFC still has a future star on their hands. Like Escudero, Phillipe is very young and has a world of potential.

Look for the UFC to import the next opponent of both guys. It will be another slow build. Neither has the ability to start fighting the big boys right away like Mac Danzig did.

Ken’s Overall Grade: 2.8 (B-) Friggin Bader…

Overall, a great finale to close out a solid season of TUF. I liked the coaches, liked the fighters and enjoyed the fights. My main complaints were the frat boy antics were a bit much at times and the Junie precedent is a dangerous one. Other than that though, it was enjoyable.

Props to Scoozna for the ‘Post-Mortem’ suggestion for this feature. If anyone ever has suggestions to better things around here or just wants to shoot the shit in the comments section, feel free.

-Ken
http://www.IntelligentlyDefending.com

Tags: MMA, Post-Mortem, TUF, UFC

This entry was posted on Monday, December 15th, 2008 at 12:12 pm and is filed under MMA, Post-Mortem, TUF, UFC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.