TUF21 Finale: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians – Main Card Results Recap

‎

Another highlight reel was born in the main event of the evening Jake “The Juggernaut” Ellenberger took on Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson in the  5-round main event welterweight bout headlining The Ultimate Fighter season 21 Finale. The victory tonight kept the winning half of these 170ers relevant in what is currently a loaded division whose ruler remains champion Robbie Lawler.

For the first few minutes Thompson used his supreme and world class arsenal of leg kicks to keep his man at bay, controlling the distance and keeping the fight in his range. Ellenberge wasn’t able to close the gap between them for the first few minutes so he instinctively set up a trap to let Thompson come in close then catch him with something ugly.

The Omaha native did that as he caught “Wonderboy” flush with a counter right hook ‎inside the pocket. Thompson fell flat on the canvas clearly dazed from the punch that crash landed on the side of his head while Ellenberger did everything in his power to put him away with follow up punches.

Despite being hurt so badly,Thompson defended the strikes well managing to get his composure and moving on his feet to create space once again from within his range. He returned to his bread and butter and shortly thereafter landed a spin hook kick to the head of Ellenberger that rattled his cranium seriously hurting the elite wrestler.

Thompson was not able to close the show landing that final blow so to “The Juggernaut’s” credit his seasoned time spent battling years in the cage let him continue on but his legs were unsteady and his lateral movement became choppy.

“Wonderboy” Thompson patiently waited for the finish walking his man down with less than a minute to go in the fight. He threw the spin hook kick and it again landed this time connecting even more flush on the head of Jake. The tough as nails warrior fell straight backwards like an ironing board as Thompson closed in with some two follow up punches as the referee jumped in to close the show.

The official time of the spin kick knockout for Stephen Thompson came officially at (4:29) of the 1st Round. At the post fight press conference ‎talk sprouted of a match between Thompson and Gunnar Nelson for the UFC’s next event in Ireland. Steven seemed very interested in the match welcoming the opportunity to headline against Nelson. Ellenberger was not present as he was taken to the hospital as a precautionary method do to the KO loss.

Kamaru Usman vs. Hayder Hassan

(Welterweight Bout – 3 Rounds)

The final pair of The Ultimate Fighter season 21 combatants on the card locked horns in Usman and Hassan. Usman was recognized during the season for having the superior wrestling style in comparison to most of the fighters in the TUF House so it was no surprise that he would immediately close the distance in an attempt to fight at close quarters and out wrestle his man. ‎

Which is exactly what he did with ease off of body locks and powerful underhooks managing to take down Hassan on multiple occasions in the 1st round. Usman was able to control him with relative ease as the fight progressed which enabled him to attempt two rear naked chokes and a head and arm triangle choke submission as he clearly won the 1st Round.

Going into the 2nd Round Hassan went for broke landing some crisp punches, stunning his foe momentarily. An uppercut snuck in as well as a left hook which had Kamaru’s legs looking like they were made of rubber. Hassan went in for the kill but amazingly Kamaru had his wits about him enough in those pivotal seconds to throw some punches back before clinching then driving the fight to the canvas once again.

Result: Kamaru “Nigerian Nightmare” Usman defeats Hayder Hassan via arm triangle submission at (1:19) of the 2nd Round to win a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and $300,000 prize money for his Blackzilians gym in Florida.

Michael Graves vs. Vicente Luque

(Welterweight Bout – 3 Rounds)

A pair of participants from The Ultimate Fighter season 21 met in Graves and Luque for further bragging rights between the two rival camps.  Both men charged at one another locking up in a clinch following a few strikes. Graves overpowered his man using a body throw to take the match to the mat roughly one minute into the stanza.

Luque managed to get the fight back up standing but when they created distance he ate a clean elbow from Graves for his troubles. The duel worked it’s way along the cage with both men pummeling for position. They pulled away from the cage wall temporarily allowing Graves to change levels taking a single leg then bringing the battle back to the ground about halfway into the 1st Round.

He muscled his foe towards the fence for a few moments before  Luque was able to work back to a standing position. He started letting his hands go, having some nice success with his punches. But, Graves slid to his strong side shooting in on his opponent who was busy striking securing a perfectly timed take down to close out the round behind top control.

Going into the 2nd Round Luque pushed forward with the same approach of wanting to land first with his punches. Again, Graves slipped under the strikes wrapping up a clean take down. Graves hit a slam on his man by lifting him up over his head then dumping him on the mat as simultaneously Luque went for a guillotine choke. Alertly, Graves spring boarded out of the attack shifting his weight completely to the opposite side, disabling the angle and pressue letting him get free.

The match got back standing but as expected with the better wrestler, Graves shot in on a single leg takedown getting it as he drove Luque towards the cage. As soon as he tried to wall walk, Graves took him down again via his superior, none stop wrestling. Luque scrambled to get up in the last minute but Graves held him in place thanks to a head lock before landing some knees to his foe’s head ending the round dominantly.

Heading into Round 3 it was no surprise that Graves shot in for another take down. However, this time Luque anticipated it sprawling the shot. He managed to wrap up a front head lock on his man controlling the fight for the next two minutes off of that position.

Occasionally he would attempt a D’arce choke or anaconda choke but Luque seemed content just holding on to the head lock riding Graves for the majority of the round. With 90 seconds left Graves turned the corner popping up from the lock.

He took his man’s back pushing him into the cage wall taking control of the action by planting Luque with his back along the fence. ‎Graves drove and drove and drove until he successfully changed level on Luque who did his best to get upright but it would not be, Graves locked his hands around his foe dumping him on his back via take down as the final bell sounded.

Result: American Top Team’s Michael Graves defeats Blackzilian’s representative Vicente Luque ‎ via unanimous decision. All judges had it 29-28.

Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal vs. Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira

(Welterweight Bout – 3 Rounds)

The Ultimate Fighter : Brasil season 1 winner Cezar Ferreira collided with one-time Strikeforce title contender Masvidal as they simultaneously made their 170-pound debuts. Masvidal was moving up from 155lbs while Ferreira was traveling south from the 185-pound weight class.

Both men took their time engaging, looking to set up combinations using movement and angles not really committing to anything big. Masvidal came in with some straight punches about 2 minutes in as Ferreira timed him perfectly slipping the jab and cross securing a takedown.

The Cuban warrior stayed on his back for a very short amount of time however, before working his under hooks to lift the fight and Ferreira back to the feet. The two returned to working their angles and single punches, mixing in front kicks or 1-2 combinations for the next 90 seconds.

With less than a minute left in the bout “Mutante” looked for a pair of take downs that were stuffed by Masvidal. The slick striker had gotten his man’s timing down at this point sprawling the shots with ease. Nonetheless, the Brazilian seemed to want to operate in close range backing his foe along the cage wall with an arsenal of punches.

Masvidal used the clinch to his advantage when his foe came in, he planted his feet throwing a short left elbow then a perfect right hook that rocked Ferreira sending him tumbling backwards to the canvas. Masvidal smelled blood in the water and followed up with lighting quick straight punches resembling Cain Velasquez’ memorable KO at UFC 110 of Big Nog. The referee stepped in instantly to call if off.

Result: Jorge Masvidal defeats Cezar Ferreira via 1st round knockout at (4:22) in his successful debut. In the post-fight press conference Masvidal expressed interest in fighting Matt “The Immortal” Brown.

Angela “Your Majesty” Magana vs. Michelle “Karate Hottie” Waterson

(Women’s Strawweight Bout – 3 Rounds)

A pair of 115ers in the women’s division had the honor of being the only women’s match on the card. Waterson was making her much anticipated debut in the UFC as she was moving up from the 105-pound weight class. Magana welcomed her with ruthless intentions gunning at the debuting Waterson with multiple straight shots then a leg kick right after the bell sounded.

This enabled The Ultimate Fighter season 20 alumni to close the distance pushing Waterson against the cage. She woked some offensive strikes keeping top control before Waterson reversed the position with a throw slamming Magana along the cage wall.

The seasoned fighter however sprung up a masterful armbar submission that looked seriously close to being finished but the resilient Waterson did not tap. She managed to not only survive the attack but manuever her way out then work her offense ‎via short punches.

She took control with less than 2 minutes left using a hip toss to plant Magana in the ground. From there she transitioned to full mount before taking Magana’s arm applying an armbar submission of her own with about 10 seconds left before the round ended.

Going into the 2nd Round Magana was sent down to the mat off of a front kick from Waterson which was blocked and the leg used as a trip. Magana later returned the favor with a front kick of her own that sent Waterson seat-first unto the canvas.

She came in searching for big punches from standing position then moved to top control but the crafty Waterson  reversed the position then transitioned to another armbar attempt. Magana survied but was in allot of trouble on the gound as she was shortly then mounted. Waterson unleashed some serious ground and pound to close out the round taking control of the battle.

Maximo “Maxi” Blanco vs. Mike “El Cucuy” De La Torre

(Featherweight Bout – 3 Rounds)

Opening up the main card from inside the MGM Grand were 145ers Blanco and ‎De La Torre. Blanco had actually missed weight on the scales coming in at 148.5 pounds. Sadly, fans would never know if he had any kind of weight advantage since the match ended very quickly.

Both men darted towards the Octagon center looking to trade heat. De La Torre launched some sharp hooks against his foe but came up just shy of landing big.

In the middle of an exchange, a Blanco counter right hand connected flush taking De La Torre’s legs from underneath him, he fell backwards in a seat-taking motion then a hard left hand from Blanco followed up damaging the already stunned warrior further.