I'm sitting cageside, tweeing from @sltribmma and chatting it up with Dann Stupp, the MMA Junkie himself. I'll update this as each fight finishes.
Cameron Dollar vs. Jason Dent
Cameron Dollar had this fight in the bag with his standup, eating hard leg kicks to land punch after punch to the chin and body, stunning Jason Dent through most of the first round. But when he shot for a single leg takedown with about 35 seconds left, and botched it, Dent made no mistake. He sunk in an anaconda choke, and there wasn't much Dollar could do but struggle before he tapped with about 14 seconds left in the first round.
Frank Lester vs. Nick Osipczak
Frankie Lester tried to outswing Nick Osipczak, but the Brit was having none of it. He controlled Lester early, landing a right hand to the chin that dropped Lester and then holding the American along the cage while the two grappled. When the fight did come back to the center, Lester caught a kick from Osipczak and tried to take him down. Osipczak tried to grab a guillotine, but Lester stood up and both started brawling with kicks and punches. The fight went to the ground, when Osipczak took Lester's back and sunk in a rear naked choke at 3:40 of the first round.
Mike Ciesnolevicz vs. Tomasz Drwal
A fight of extraordinary boredom mixed in with fits of explosiveness. Drwal made the most of his opportunities, landing several hard shots on the feet and on the canvas. Ciesnolevicz, who did not make weight before the fight, looked gassed halfway through the round. When Drwal landed a left leg kick in the last minute of the fight, Ciesnolevicz returned a left to the chin. Drwal saw his opening, unleashing a flurry of punches that brought Ciesnolevicz down and forced Herb Dean to stop the fight at 4:48 of the first round.
Edgar Garcia vs. Brad Blackburn
When they got down to business, Garcia and Blackburn was a slugfest with serious punches thrown and landed on both sides. It look as if any man could go down at any moment. Garcia seemed to land more punches in teh exchanges, but Blackburn's punches had power behind them. The first round was action-packed, but the second round was ho-hum.
The third round saw more action, with a hard high kick by Blackburn and cuts open up on both fighters. Garcia started to push the pace about halfway through the round and the crowd started chanting "Edgar." At the end of the fight, during a wicked exchange, Blackburn got dropped by an overhand left with about 10 seconds left, but he kept his wits about him and held on.
The judges scored a split decision for Blackburn, much to the dismay of the crowd, which booed loudly. I have to agree, I don't know which two rounds you could give to Blackburn.
Gleison Tibau vs. Melvin Guillard
Melvin Guillard looked like a new fighter, a patient tactician willing to wait out his prey. Instead of the wild swinging that left Guillard open to be finished as much as to finish, he took his time and worked his angles. Gleison Tibau was the more dominant wrestler, for sure, and he controlled the third round of the fight after having mixed success in the first and second rounds. But in the end, a razon-thin split decision went to Guillard, who formerly trained in Utah for a spell.
Nate Diaz vs. Joe Stevenson
Joe Stevenson's strength was enough to overcome the crafty submission attempts of Nate Diaz, who tried as best he could to turn the close combat to his advantage. Diaz himself survived a tight guillotine choke in the first round, and he rolled Stevenson off the cage several times trying to negate Stevenson's advantage against the fence. Along the cage, Stevenson threw knee after knee into Diaz's thigh to soften up the jiu-jitsu expert. Stevenson took the fight in the
Andre Winner vs. Ross Pearson
The lightweight finale of The Ultimate Fighter was Brit vs. Brit. Andre Winner and Ross Pearson were very evenly matched when the fight was in the clinch, as much of it was, but the difference came when the two exchanged punches. Pearson was far more accurate and threw more punches, which sealed the 29-28 decision for him. The fight was mostly spent along the fence, with both trying to get position over the other. Neither really came out ahead. But when Pearson did land his punches, they were effective. He put a mouse over the left eye of Winner in the third round. When the fight was over, Winner couldn't stand to walk around the cage, but Pearson leaped up onto the cage, proving he was the fresher fighter. judge's eyes, getting a 29-28 decision.
Kevin Burns vs. Chris Lytle
It was a race to the knockout when Kevin Burns and Chris Lytle brawled back and forth in the cage. There was no ground game to speak of, just two guys swinging hard. The first round went to Burns, who took a lot of punishment but landed a near-fight-ending right uppercut toward the end of the round that stumbled Lytle. The second round was all Lytle, who landed the better shots and took his second and third to the cup. The third round started with a bang. Lytle caught a kick and threw a huge punch that opened a gash on the side of the left eye of Burns. Lytle continued to land rights to that spot throughout, opening it up further and causing vision problems for Burns. Lytle ended brutal, Burns ended strong but bloody, and the fight ended 29-28 for Lytle.
DaMarques Johnson vs. James Wilkes
With his nose bloodied, his arm trapped and his opponent's forearm pressed tight against his throat, DaMarques Johnson did the only thing left to do. He submitted.
The welterweight finale of "The Ultimate Fighter: Team U.S. vs. Team U.K." ended with the West Jordan fighter unable to turn the fight in his favor.
With six seconds left in the first round, Johnson didn't have enough breath to keep up the fight.
The fight started with Johnson throwing a few lefts that landed on Wilks, but after the fighters clinched against the cage and Wilks landed some knees, Johnson's nose was dripping blood.
They went to the ground, where Wilks tried several times to secure a leg lock, but Johnson avoided the danger. After the fight came back to the feet, Wilks took Johnson's back and methodically worked for the rear naked choke. Johnson did everything he could to keep his throat safe, but once Wilks trapped his free arm, there was no other option.
Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida
In one of the most entertaining fights of the year, Clay Guida and Diego Sanchez went nose to nose on the feet and on the ground. Sanchez had a dominant first round, bloodying Guida badly and controlling the fight everywhere. In the second round, Guida came back, taking Diego down and keeping him there. Diego landed elbows from the bottom, while Guida kept on top of him. The third round was back and forth, and both fighters took big shots. In the end, Diego Sanchez came away with a split decision win.
