JEDRZEJCZYK RETAINS 115LBS BELT OVER GADELHA VIA UD IN TUF FINALE FROM MGM GRAND IN VEGAS

In what is already buzzing around the Internet forums and social media as an ‘instant classic’ thanks to its constant fireworks and back and forth action, the main event for The Ultimate Fighter Season 23 Finale ‎produced the greatest war the UFC’s Strawweight division has ever seen. Reigning undefeated champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk (12-0) defended her 115lbs championship opposite Claudia Gadelha (13-2) ‎via unanimous decision with scores of 48-46, 48-45 and 48-46. The battle was full of action from start to finish with Round 1 setting the tone with Claudia stunning Joanna in the first 30 seconds sending her to the canvas, then swarming her getting top position as the champ slid to half guard, she managed to prop up as Claudia applied a guillotine choke and scrape back up along the cage wall and reverse the position. They let go of the clinch trading a few shots at close range then Claudia pressed up on her again using under hooks along the fence but could not drive the champ to the mat at first until tossing her to the mat and working out of Joanna’s half guard at the 2 minute mark. Joanna managed to crawl backwards along the cage wall and let off some punches but Claudia landed first and cleaner. In the last minute of Round 1Joanna was able to assert herself back into the fight using her combinations, fast hands and front kick but likely not enough to win the opening stanza.

Going into Round 2 Joanna pushed to get the fight to the mat, coming forward fishing  for a takedown. She got Claudia to the fence but the Brazilian reversed and dragged her to the mat with about 2 minutes left. She grapevine’d her leg, holding her down with her left arm as she blasted Joanna landing few clean right hooks to her face. With about 3 minutes left Joanna wall walked back to her feet but Claudia maintained her dominant position pinning her along the wall as Joanna desperately tried to land chopping elbows on the inside. After a Joanna knee, Claudia dropped levels looking for one more takedown, Joanna reversed it and got her to the mat but shortly thereafter Claudia out worked her to get back to her dominant position and pin her along the cage wall using a left underhook then controlling her right wrist. Joanna peeled herself off of the Octagon fence for the last 10 seconds but still not enough to win the round.

Round 3 saw a change in momentum with Joanna staying in her range and racking up points trading shots as  Claudia alertly ducked as well as slipped a few punches then went for a takedown securing it , driving Joanna along the cage wall. She kept her pinned along the fence with 3 minutes left off of a tight body lock while Joanna defended with underhooks and slid out. With 3 minutes left Joanna went to work behind her jab landing some low and damaging leg kicks along the way. She began putting together 3-punch combinations also as Clauida looked more and more tired. With 2 minutes left Claudia slipped under a Joana strike nabbing another takedown and getting her along the cage wall but, this time the crafty Poland native easily got back to her feet. The champ turned her back to her downed opponent, strolled away from Claudia while waiving her up to the crowd’s absolute  delight. The brilliant Brazilian obliged and during and exchange she landed a mean elbow that sent Joanna to the canvas. The champion recovered and let her hands go cracking her rival with lightning fast 2-punch combos as Claudia leaned on her back foot and slipped some punches, visibly drained fighting purely on heart now as the round came to an end.

Heading into the championship rounds, Joanna was clearly the fresher of the two warriors in what was already a high-paced match and memorable affair in the women’s or any division for that matter. Joanna operated behind her crisp, speedy leg kicks to the body and legs of Claudia, while the Brazilian landed some hooks or looping rights but they were now far and few in-between. With 2 minutes left Claudia landed a mean right hand but Joanna gladly returned fire with a hard right of her own plus some solid jabs. She took the round by coming forward and landing great strikes the last minute of Round 4 ‎.

As the 5th round began, Claudia came forward full force  but was not landing cleanly and Joanna was even while backing up. Claudia went for a takedown with 4 minutes left and Joanna stuffed it with ease this time while Claudia drove her backwards along the cage wall. Joanna slipped out of the takedown attempt and grasp of Claudia, circled  out and landed a 3-punch combination finishing with a high left kick. She tagged Claudia with a front kick with about 2 minutes left but the challenger kept on coming forward. Towards the final minute of the bout Claudia went for one final takedown but Joanna reversed it and got her to the ground.  She landed some standing to ground strikes and then backed away, waiving her foe to get back to her feet again once again in the same, turn and walk away fashion as before. During the final moments Claudia pressed forward using her jab but was reaching with her left barely just coming up short with Joanna landing a clean right that staggered Claudia but she did not go down. Both ladies were pressed up along the cage wall looking for another takedown as the bell rung and as expected no hug handshake followed but rather both putting their arms in the air in triumph.

Claudia’s only two losses are to the same person and it’s almost inevitable with the still infancy of the 115-pound division that a trilogy may be in order. For Joanna she walks away with her belt in tact and record without a blemish.

https://youtu.be/fHSF5M0SXw4

SANCHEZ CRUISES TO POINTS T‎RIUMPH TO WIN TUF 23 MEN’s 205LBS TITLE

Andrew Sanchez (9-2) went for an early takedown in Round 1 which was stuffed by Khalil ‘The War Horse’ Roundtree (5-1) the second one came at about the 90 second mark and was successful. Roundtree did his best to pop back up but Sanchez kept a tight body lock around him which he used to drag him to the ground two more times. ‎Roundtree scooted his hips backwards into the cage wall in hopes to maybe wall walk back to his feet but his foe grapevine’d his left leg around Roundtree’s  preventing him from posturing up. Sanchez lost the hold with less than a minute in but managed to land a pair of standing to ground strikes along the way. He hit one final take down to finish Round 1 in dominant position.

Heading into Round 2 Sanchez again shot in early and  it was stuffed. He stayed in tight looking for another shot going from a double leg to a single leg but Roundtree’s extraordinary balance kept him standing. Finally, off of a body lock, Sanchez dragged him to the ground with about 2 minutes left. He used the move to pin his man along the cage wall preventing any Roundtree offense from materializing. Past the 2 minute mark Sanchez was in full control and rode out the rest of the time working out of Roundtree’s halfguard while hitting him with some left hooks as he held him down using his hips and left arm.

Going into Round 3 it was academic, Sanchez worked for the takedown for the first minute while Roundtree did his best to keep his balance hopping on one leg as his man grabbed a single leg. With a little less than 4 minutes left Sanchez got the takedown, took his man’s back sinking in one hook as he mashed him along the cage wall to a chorus of boos from those in attendance at the MGM Grand Garden Arena who desired a stand up battle and not a ground attack. Sanchez easily rode out the remainder of the round in dominant position to secure his title as the men’s The Ultimate Fighter Season 23 winner.

The official scores were 30-25, 30-25, and 30-26 for Andrew Sanchez as he becomes the TUF Season 23 light heavyweight champion via unanimous decision.

SUAREZ ENDS COOPER WITH SLICK D’ARCE CHOKE IN ROUND 1

The women’s Ultimate Fighter Season 23 winner tonight was decided in the form of a history making move as Amanda Cooper (2-2) and 1st round Team Claudia pick, Tatiana Suarez (5-0) locked horns to determine the champion of the season for the females.

For the first couple of minutes Cooper got off to a great start locking in 2 solid submission attempts on her foe after they touched up each other before fighting on the ground. Cooper got the battle to the mat initially out grappling her foe. She moved to a dominant position after a takedown , slid over to an armbar submission attempt simultaneously pinning Suarez along the cage wall were they were doing battle. Suarez alertly did what she needed to defend the tight armbar by clasping her hands together, scooting her hips and then managed to step over and slip out of the hold. Shortly after the initial scare , Suarez landed some ground and pound on her foe beating her to a dominant position but Cooper hopped to her feet and dragged her to the mat once again. She immediately wrapped up a guillotine choke which Suarez barely escaped stepping over. For Cooper’s troubles however, Suarez thanked her by unleashing a barrage of punches landing some great ground and pound on Cooper.

The tide changed drastically as Suarez worked into her opponent’s guard moving the fight on the canvas, this time on her own terms. Suarez then slapped on a D’arce choke attempt, sliding over her side to apply pressure as Cooper desperately sco‎oted her hips to relieve pressure on her end. Unfortunately, it was not enough as Suarez forced her rival to tap giving her the victory and TUF Season 23 women’s title in the 115lbs division at an official time of (3:43) the first ever finish of its kind to win a TUF season in the entire show’s history.

BROOKS IS THE REAL DEAL TONIGHT IN TRIUMPHANT UFC DEBUT WIN OVER PEARSON

Former Bellator 155lbs title holder, ‘Ill’ Will Brooks (18-1) made a successful Octagon debut tonight with a unanimous decision over seasoned veteran, Ross ‘The Real Deal’ Pearson. (21-11, 1 NC). The talented striker didn’t have it easy however as his baptism by fire into the UFC came in the form of a very game Pearson who managed to take Brooks’ best shots whether they were leg kicks, knees, elbows or punches. That nonetheless was the problem, the flashier and more meaningful strikes were constantly landed over the course of 15 minutes by Brooks and not Pearson.

Pearson as durable as any fighter in the Octagon cage will ever be, stayed in the pocket with his foe trading heavy leather at close range. There were moments in the 2nd and 3rd rounds where both pushed each other along the cage wall and unloaded wicked combinations. Pearson via jab-jab-hook to the body and then Brooks with hard 1-2s and a follow up straight. The Brit even managed to get the fight to the mat very early and stuffed a Brook takedown or two but his foe was just a bit quicker and beat him to the punch in the second half of the match.

The loss might lower Ross Pearson’s record down a notch but the heavy boos from the pro-Pearson crowd told the tale that he’ll be back better than ever, with more support and ‎with a chip on his shoulder knowing that he went 3 hard rounds with a former belt holder.

During the post fight interview after the scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 29-28 were read for Chicago’s Will Brooks , almost on cue, he called out newly minted UFC lightweight champion, Eddie Alvarez, less than 24 hours after Alvarez captured UFC gold in the same city and arena. He told Alvarez to, ‘hold the belt a little longer’, sending a clear message that their pasts from their former organization followed them to the Octagon and there is allot of unfinished business to take care of.

KOREAN SUPERBOY’ CHOI ‎SUPERB IN FIRST ROUND FINISH OF TAVARES

Many eyes and ears checked in to see the pride of South Korea, Doo Ho ‘The Korean Superboy’ ‎Choi (14-1) tangle with his most experienced opponent in seasoned veteran, Thiago Tavares (24-7-1). Well, he did not let any of his fans or admirers down as he created another jaw dropping TKO, this time in Round 1. The Korean Superboy’ willingly exchanged strikes in the Octagon with Tavares, who was looking for the perfect opening but never found it. The one who did was Choi who walked his man down towards the middle of the round, cut off the cage and landed a crisp boxing combination flush. The solid 1-2 rocked Tavares who folded like a lawn chair towards the canvas, the right hand got through after the jab and Choi knelt down to land one more shot to the face of Tavares for good measure, respectfully not unleashing a multi-hit combo seeing that his man was out.

The offcial time of the TKO stoppage came at (2:42) of Round 1 as Doo Ho Choi continues working his way up the featherweight ladder.

SILVA POWERS THROUGH HOLLBROOK IN LESS THAN A MINUTE ‎

Kicking off the main card on Fox Sports 1 were lightweights Andrew Hollbrook (11-1) and Joaquim Silva (9-1). Silva took little to no time closing in on his man tagging him with a right hand shot which leveled his foe. Hollbrook fell back first to the mat as the Brazilian striker followed up with 4-5 unanswered hammer fists as the official stepped in. The time of the brutal TKO stoppage came at 32 seconds of Round 1 as the referee mercifully stepped in to call off the action giving Joaquim Silva his biggest and now signature highlight reel victory.

By : arm romo jr