Faber & Gastelum Triumph At TUF 17 Finale In Las Vegas

Faber Continues Submission Victories With 4th Round Finish Of Jorgensen

“The California Kid” Urijah Faber kept on his winning ways this year with another finish as he headlined The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale opposite Scott Jorgensen. Right out of the gate, the former WEC featherweight champion scored with takedown after takedown as he set the shots up using crisp boxing for the 5-round bantamweight bout. The combinations from Faber constantly kept his opponent guessing whether another strike was coming or a takedown materialized. Jorgensen found himself on the mat, in every round, almost at will by Faber but never let up on his strategy to trade hands in the pocket or do his best to secure a few takedowns of his own.

The first round almost sealed the deal for the former WEC 145 lb title holder when he took Jorgensen to the mat and tied him up with a rear naked choke towards the end of the stanza. He cruised for the next two rounds looking for the right spot to go for the finish. It came in the 4th round as the two fought it out along the cage wall. Faber closed the distance, took his foe’s back and sunk in the rear naked choke to seal the deal from the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Sin City. The official time of the stoppage was (3:16) of the 4th round giving Urijah Faber the submission victory as he moves closer to another shot at UFC gold.

Gastelum Upsets Hall To Become Youngest TUF Winner Ever

The two finalists from season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter put it all on the line for 15 minutes as KO artist, Uriah Hall, faced underdog, Kelvin Gastelum to capture the 6 figure contract with the UFC and a custom Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Clearly learning from his peers mistakes, Gastelum didn’t allow himself to end up on one of Hall’s highlight reel finishes by keeping the Jamaican stand out busy from bell to bell. The strategy paid dividends as the Arizona resident used angles, feints and upper body movement to close the distance on his foe, never letting him get off or find his rhythm. The youthful 21-year old kept coming forward cutting of the cage, rarely allowing Hall to set his feet or unload something fierce with his hands or feet.

Hall managed to get himself in the fight towards the middle of the round by moving forward off of his jab. By being first, Hall made Gastelum play the roll of counter puncher and got to fight his fight in spurts. The best moment for the New York resident came off of a body lock which he used to secure a highlight reel belly to back suplex as Hall slammed Gastelum unto his head. For the 3rd round, the two traded takedowns but neither had any luck keeping the other down. Hall found his footing thus he began to throw a spinning kick or two and also pop his jab which landed. Nonetheless, Gastelum went back to the feints which allowed him two set up a couple of pivotal takedowns going down the stretch. Even off of his back, the 4 to 1 favorite Hall, would not go quietly throwing some potent punches as Gastelum returned fire in the form of some wild over hand shots before the final bell rang. One judge saw it (29-28) for Uriah Hall while the other two both had it (29-28) for the winner by split decision and youngest TUF winner ever, Kelvin Gastelum.

Zingano Stops Tate In 3rd Round Of Historic First Ever TUF Finale Women’s Fight

Only the second women’s bout in the UFC took place tonight as former Strikeforce champion, Miesha Tate clashed with unbeaten, Cat Zingano.
Without wasting a second the two title contenders engaged in a heated battle for the right to challenge for UFC gold later this year. The two fighters traded heavy leather in the middle of the cage at a rapid pace in search for the win. Tate landed the more explosive shots but Zingano debuted her granite chin inside the Octagon, taking the punches and returning fire as she mixed up her jab amongst leg kicks. For the 2nd round Tate applied a more tactical approach by taking the fight to the mat successfully mounting her foe twice while landing some serious ground and pound. At about the halfway point, Zingano was able to reverse the mount and get top position on Tate returning the favor with some strikes of her own, really changing the momentum of the bout. For the 3rd round, the fight went to the ground again, Tate managed to get a toe hold then go for a leg lock but Zingano waited it out throwing some punches from her defense. Once the fight got back to the feet Zingano opened up her arsenal by landing some devastating blows unto the one-time Strikeforce title holder. Using the clinch, Zingano rocked Tate with some wicked knees, stunning the Washington native making her stumble backwards along the cage. The referee saw enough, stepping in to stop the match at the (2:55) mark of the 3rd stanza giving Cat Zingano an 8th win to her still perfect record as she now looks at a chance to coach the next season of The Ultimate Fighter then meet Ronda Rousey for the Womens UFC Bantamweight title.

Browne’s Vicious Elbows Stop Gonzaga In Round One

The only heavyweight bout of the night was scheduled for 3 rounds between Travis Browne and Gabriel Gonzaga. However, little over a minute was needed by the Hawaiian to send Gonzaga to the hospital following their encounter. The Brazilian avoided a Browne high kick once the round started so he immediately went for a single leg. From there, he attempted a double leg takedown by pinning hi man along the cage wall. Unfortunately for Gonzaga, his head was exposed and Browne used the opening to rain down some deadly accurate elbows to the side of his head. The first one out of the 4-strike series basically put Gonzaga’s lights out, the last 3 were academic. The official time of the stoppage was (1:11) granting Travis Browne the KO finish in round 1.

McDaniel Submits Smith In Three

Opening the televised main card, Smith used his better wrestling to take McDaniel to the ground and keep him planted for the majority of the 1st round. The Jon Jones training partner fought mainly off of his back but with less than a minute to go he used a guillotine attack to reverse position, ending up in Smith’s half guard getting in some ground and pound before the round came to a close. For the 2nd round, Smith went back to trying to take the match to the ground and lost a little momentum seeing as how McDaniel adjusted to the takedown attempts by circling away or using lateral movement to stay just outside of the shots by Smith. Heading into the 3rd, McDaniel controlled where the fight went, this time he initiated the ground battle and used his diverse game to apply a submission unto his foe. While Smith thought he had his foe in trouble on the mat, McDaniel set up a triangle choke and sunk it in deep giving the Colorado resident no choice but to tap.

Result: Bubba McDaniel defeats Gilbert Smith by triangle choke at (2:49) of round 3.