Dec 06 2009
The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale Play By Play – Matt Hamill Vs. Jon Jones (Kimbo Slice Vs. Houston Alexander)
The only reason I put the Kimbo Slice vs. Houston Alexander fight in parenthesis is because while the UFC is billing Matt Hamill vs. Jon Jones as the main event, they’re counting on Kimbo Slice to help them draw a better than average number for this show.
1. Matt Mitrione vs. Marcus Jones
It’s Meat Head vs. Big Baby. Most people don’t know Matt Mitrione not only had a really good career at Purdue, but he also had a cup of coffee with the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings. He was also in training camp I believe with the San Francsco 49ers as well as other teams.
Big Baby had a decent NFL career and even had 13 sacks in one year with the Tampa Bay Bucs. He was the real deal in college at North Carolina. Supposedly, Marcus Jones changed his nickname from “The Darkness” to “Big Baby” for real.
Big Baby got a couple of takedowns, but Mitrione looks in much better shape. Mitrione stick his head into a guillotine and this time, he didn’t tap in two seconds. Mitrione got the better of the stand up. Big Baby’s stand up is horrific.
Mitrione caught Jones leading with his head and just knocked him out. He caught Jones with two right hands while Jones was moving in. You can say that Jones didn’t look much different from his stint on TUF, while Mitrione looked improved, especially with his cardio.
Winner: Matt Mitrione by way of 2nd round TKO
Eric Bischoff, Dixie Carter, and Hulk Hogan were there and Mike Goldberg got all the plugs right.
2. Frankie Edgar vs. Matt Veach
Veach had three takedowns including a huge slam. He’s a lot bigger than Edgar. He also leads with hooks and it looks like Edgar’s trying to time him for a big head kick or counter hook. We’ll see if he throws it in the second round.
It was actually a straight right that caught Veach. Veach threw an awkward left hand and was off balanced and Edgar caught him with a right that dropped him. He followed him to the ground and eventually got the rear naked choke.
Winner: Frankie Edgar by way of 2nd round TKO
Now Joe Rogan is interviewing Hulk Hogan. He announced that they were going heads up with WWE on January 4th. No word on if it’s just a one time deal for Monday. He mentioned that he might wrestle again by saying, “You never know.”
3. Joe Brammer vs. Mark Bocek
Bocek just owned him in every aspect. He was working for the choke on the ground, but Brammer got to his feet, but couldn’t shake Bocek from his back. Bocek got the rear naked choke from on top of his back.
Winner: Mark Bocek by way of 1st round submission
4. Kimbo Slice vs. Houston Alexander
Kimbo Slice looks terrific at the lower weight. Houston Alexander looks exactly like he always does.
Alexander kept circling Slice for the entire round. It took about 2 1/2 minutes for them to engage. They had two small flurries, but Alexander landed about 7 or 8 leg kicks in the first round. Nothing at all happened.
Alexander looks terrible. He circled Kimbo again and then was taken down right into the full mount. Alexander made his way back up and Slice gave him a sick slam on the back of his head. Alexander gave him his head for a guillotine, but Slice was a little late in his reaction to take it. He also had a shot at a rear naked choke, but couldn’t get it. Slice may have worn himself out though. Not sure how you could score the first round for Slice since he didn’t do anything, but he most definitely won the second. Alexander needs to let his hands go and not be so afraid to engage.
Slice is just much stronger at this weight than Alexander. He’s pushing Alexander up against the cage at will. Neither guy understands that you can put your hands up and block punches, or move your head even. Alexander threw a nasty leg kick that dropped Slice. Alexander was too tired to follow up and Kimbo was too tired to get up. Kimbo eventually got his let and took him down. Alexander looks more tired than Slice but Slice can’t really do anything either. Alexander might’ve won the round with a big right hand or elbow that rocked Slice backwards near the end of the round.
The fight didn’t really hurt either guy, but I’m not sure it helped either guy either. If this fight was scored as a whole, Slice wins it. By rounds, it’s close.
Winner: Kimbo Slice by way of unanimous decision
One judge gave Kimbo that first round. I’m not sure how. Whoever told Houston Alexander to fight defensively and run from Kimbo had the wrong game plan. I think Alexander should’ve been a bit more aggressive and lured Kimbo into closer proximity because while Kimbo can punch, he has problems getting his hands back up and can be hit with counters. Hopefully it’s not over for Houston.
They played a killer video package for the B.J. Penn and Diego Sanchez fight. But for some reason, the producer’s microphone was on and it ruined it as well as the interview. Diego is talking like the young and hungry tiger while B.J. is talking like the guy who doesn’t know how much longer he’s going to fight.
5. Jon Jones vs. Matt Hamill
This was odd. Jones looked great. Hamill looked more patient and cautious than normal, but looked fine. Then Jones took him down with a great trip. He was in side control and immediately jumped into the mount. He went to town on Hamill with elbows and punches and looked at the ref to ask him if he was going to stop it. He kept going and then threw some Dusty Rhodes elbows which caused him to get docked a point. As it was about to get stood up, Hamill stayed on the ground and couldn’t get back up. The ref called it off.
When we came back to commercial, the ref ruled it for Hamill by disqualification. Maybe if Jones wore Dusty elbow pads, he wouldn’t have been DQd. The loss absolutely doesn’t hurt Jones. It looks like Hamill did something to his left shoulder as well. He said he couldn’t defend himself on the ground with one shoulder. If his shoulder was dislocated, he’s probably not fighting anytime soon so I’m not sure if they can do an immediate rematch.
Winner: Matt Hamill by way of disqualification
Was it a coincidence that they had a wrestling finish with Hulk Hogan in the building?
6. Darrill Schoonover vs. James McSweeney
We missed about the first minute and a half of the fight. When we saw the fight, Titties was taking a beating. Titties was on top of him and trying to make a move, but then McSweeney rolled him over and ended up on top. Titties looks like Samoa Joe. Titties rocked him up against the cage near the end of the round.
McSweeney hip tossed him to the ground and then Titties just played possum the rest of the round. Nothing much to it. McSweeney looked a little frustrated at Titties just laying on his back and not really engaging.
Oh Titties. Oh Titties. Oh Titties. McSweeney finally got to him and put him away with a flying knee and another knee that sent him reeling. He grazed him with an uppercut that sent Titties down, but I’m not sure it was a shot worth finishing him with. I think Titties was just hurt from the other shots and exhausted.
Winner: James McSweeney by way of 3rd round TKO
Well, Chuck is coming back. He’s going to be one of the coaches of the next TUF and the other coach is Tito Ortiz. Considering Tito has never beat Chuck, I’m not sure if it’s a great fight. However, Tito might be favored in the third fight. It’s a weird fight, but it’s probably the best fight for Chuck to not get his bell rung, and they can probably draw with it.
7. Brendan Schaub vs. Roy Nelson
These guys had a pretty good stand up battle for the time being. Schaub looked really good. Nelson even took him down and he was able to get back up. Both guys were throwing pretty heavy shots. All it took was for Schaub to get off balanced with a weak jab and Nelson throw a huge straight right to his ear and it was over.
Winner: Roy Nelson by way of 1st round TKO
I think Schaub has a good chance to be something. His punches were quick and straight, but just like most young fighters, he was with a crafty guy who was trying to set him up to deliver his own big shot and that’s what happened. He’s young enough to where he should be able to keep getting better.
I wonder if we’ll see Roy Nelson and Ben Rothwell in a rematch. Rothwell beat him by decision some time ago and I think it’d be a good step for both guys. I don’t want to see him with Cain Velasquez or Shane Carwin just yet though.
Joe Rogan says Big Country uses his fat to his advantage.
Loading ...
Sucks that Jones gets an L on his record even though he clearly dominated the fight. I believe it was the correct decision though.
There is no need for a rematch though. Jones was clearly the better fighter and will continue moving up the 205 ladder. The ending was unfortunate but it changes nothing really.
Set him up against Franklin on a maincard; UFC 109 could use another fight. I’m sure Rich Franklin is willing to fight and Jones probably is too. He left the ring without a scratch on him.
If not, put him on the UFC 111 card in NJ so I can see the kid fight in person.
As for the TUF 11 coaches, I’m not a big fan of the selection. The UFC needs to move forward and build up new fighters rather than rely on older guys with no real future in the promotion. I know Liddell is the UFC’s biggest name, but unless they are desperate for ratings, I don’t think he should be on the show.
I was really pulling for Koscheck vs Thiago Alves or Sanchez-Florian. Keep with the alumni theme and build up the star of some of these younger guys.
In UFC booking, I’d expect them to rematch Jones/Hammil, not that it needs to happen. It gives Jones more experience because moving to Franklin is a huge one.
You can’t put Koscheck or Alves on a show like TUF. Nor could you put Sanchez vs. Florian, unless Sanchez gets over.
The reason is because though the higher percentage of the UFC revenues comes from PPV and gate, TV is the reason why they are able to make so much money. Spike TV is one master and you have to utilize it all that you can. If you are building some of these kids up, the best way to get them exposure is to use your current stars. At the end of the game, this is prize fighting. You’re not booking for entertaining fights. You’re booking to create stories and make stars.
Liddell/Tito does 600,000 PPV buys minimum if promoted correctly. It’s Chuck’s comeback fight and he’s only going to have one. Neither of the two fights is a main event fight today and you’re not going to make it a main event by forcing them into TUF.
Actually, I think putting a fight as opposing Tough Enough coaches really does help legitimize the fighters. You get a chance for the coaches to really connect to the audience through the Ultimate Fighter. Like Henderson vs Bisping. I undestand that fight had the advantage of being on the loaded 100 show, but among VERY casual fans that I’m friends with, that was the biggest fight on the card. Sure, more people said “I want to see Brock” but they couldn’t name his opponent without prompting. On the other hand, they were quick to say “I wanna see Hendo knock out Bisping.” It works really good when they can clearly position one of the coaches as a heel. So I think Kos would work perfectly on the show.
But I thought the coaches this season were gonna be Tito and Foresst, so what do I know?
I totally get why you see it that way, and if all things were equal, so would I.
But Spike TV and the UFC have a great relationship. If the UFC went to Spike and said, “Hey, what about Koscheck?” they’d go, “Hmm, sure, how’s GSP’s adductor muscle?” And then if they said, “No, with Alves,” they’d go, “Um, you’re joking right?”
TV is all about ratings. Spike TV would never allow them to do that.
I really don’t think fans care about Tito anymore; the numbers from 106 are not good. And that was with two of the UFC’s biggest stars.
Tito-Liddell means nothing in the long term. Its not even an interesting fight really. No matter who wins, neither guy is going to challenge in the UFC again. The loser gets his third straight loss and becomes cannon fodder for better fighters or retires again.
As for Jones-Franklin, it is a huge step but what other options are there? Hamill fought Franklin after beating Tim Boetsch, a comparable jump so there is precedent. Plus Franklin is one of the few non-booked 205′ers and I think the UFC would be wise to get Jones back into the octagon quickly.
But think about the difference of TV versus PPV. People will flock to watch Kimbo. He’s the reason the season did so well. Not Evans/Jackson. People want must-see TV, but it doesn’t translate to what they will buy. If you put Kimbo against someone on PPV today that’s not already a star, he’s not going to be able to carry a buyrate. Chuck can.
Thus, TV is a completely different business than PPV. Tito and Chuck will draw better ratings than all of seasons 1, 3, and 10. And that’s all that Spike cares about.
And let’s be real about the Tito number. Some of it is that the UFC just killed his image. They didn’t include any of his fights in their Top 100 even though he was their biggest star for two years and was bigger than both Randy and Chuck. Dana White continued to kill him in the media. They killed their own golden goose.
It’s also a fight that wasn’t designed to be the main event, and was put together late in the game. Thus, they hadn’t really hyped it well. And also, what responsibility does Forrest have in drawing the terrible buyrate? He was man-handled in two straight fights before this one.
So let’s not all blame this on Tito. He should take some of the responsibility for deceiving folks into thinking he was bigger, better, and stronger, but that’s not all the reason as to why people didn’t come out in droves. The UFC put on a free show headlined by an aging fighter who got somewhat of a gift decision the week before and followed it up with literally the same story a week later and asked people to buy it. Is it really any surprise that this number died?
Again, I agree with both you and Ryan in that, if all was equal, they should utilize some of their up and coming stars on this show, but they can’t put two guys on the show just because they want one to break out. If their ratings start to die, it hurts them in whatever next TV deal they want. And also, it hurts their negotiating power on other deals they have.
As for Jones, like I said, they could put him back with Hamill in what seems like would be a UFC move. They could put him with Franklin, but if Franklin wins, where does Jones go? And if he beats Franklin, oh well, so have Hendo and Vitor. It’s a decent stepping stone, but not necessarily one that could pay off as well enough for the risk. Franklin is just technical enough as a striker to catch Jones when he’s doing his goofy stuff.
You make good points as always G.G.; Obviously I don’t blame it all on Tito for how poorly 106 did, but I think his brightest days are behind him, for a variety of reasons.
I just want to see the UFC move forward rather than move backward which is what this move seems like to me.
The upside is I think the 185 talent should be good if any of the rumored participants are involved. Plus after some embarrassing showings by heavyweights, the middleweights should bring more excitement into the Octagon with them.
With Jones, I think his next move has to bring him out of prospect mode and into main card guy. A fight against Luis Arthur Cane could be intriguing.
Ok, I like that fine better for Jones. Good call.
I totally agree with you about moving forwards than backwards, but like I said, TV is much different than PPV. This is a total TV move.
If it was Hughes/Gracie as rumored, that would’ve made great TV too, but not necessarily moving forward. Charisma and star power are far more important on TV. On PPV, you can make a star if a young fighter upsets a star. You can’t get that star making performance as easily on TV.
Though, I’d love GSP and Koscheck. You could do it because GSP would carry the show. And Koscheck would have to turn up his assholeness up a few degrees. You’re saying he doesn’t have to do it and just has to be Josh Koscheck? Ok, I agree. Ha!
I would love to see Koscheck get in there with GSP and really turn up the asshole. See if he can get GSP to lose his cool. Would be perfect television.