Another season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ passed by.  This one was a bit painful to watch at times, what with the urination in the fruit salad and ejaculation in the sushi.  Was the finale worthy of the buildup?  Let’s take a look:

Junie Browning vs. Dave Kaplan (155 lbs)

TUF back-story: Both men stood out more for their drinking problems than their fighting abilities.  While Junie was the unanimously despised, throwing glasses and fits – drunk, Kaplan was more of a happy, ‘punch-me-in-the-jaw-I-can’t-be-knocked-out’ drunk.   It was only fitting that these two met in the finale.

A few glimpses of skill managed to shine through Junie’s bad attitude, and he controlled the bout from the beginning.  While Kaplan was somewhat competitive in the first, Browning handily won the round then completely took over in the second, quickly taking down Kaplan then achieving dominant position and securing an armbar.  Kaplan had no choice but to tap out.  The fast-paced bout took the ‘Fight of the Night’ award.

Fight grade: 4/5

Aftermath:  It is usually the case that the winners of all TUF finale fights get to stay in the UFC, while the losers are shown the door.  In this case, ‘Fight of the Night’ may have earned Kaplan another fight in the Octagon (or perhaps a smaller version of it in the WEC).

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UFC ‘Fight for the Troops’ was a charitable event, held to benefit the Intrepid Center – a medical center which helps U.S. veterans who suffered a traumatic brain injury.  Ironically, several matches on the card ended with brutal concussion-inducing knockouts, along with other injuries.

Jim Miller vs. Matt Wiman (155 lbs)

This fight had a last-minute substitution: Wiman was originally slated to face Frankie Edgar, who pulled out with an injury only a week prior to the fight.  Jim Miller stepped in on short notice, and performed admirably.  After getting the better of Wiman in early exchanges, Miller pulled guard as Wiman was going to a takedown, and secured a very tight guillotine.  Miller rolled over into mount as he attempted to finish the choke; Wiman held on to Miller’s trunks despite repeated warnings from the referee Mario Yamasaki.  As Mario finally detached Wiman’s hand from Miller’s shorts, Matt was able to slip out of the guillotine.  After briefly achieving the top position Wiman let Miller up and Jim finished the round strong on the feet.

The pace slowed down a bit in the remaining two rounds, but Miller thoroughly dominated Wiman both standing and on the ground for the rest of the match.  Wiman hung in there but was never able to get an advantage, and lost all three rounds in a unanimous decision.

Fight Grade: 4.5/5

Aftermath:  A dominant performance from Miller in his second UFC bout should earn him a spot in the lightweight Top 10.  Wiman’s win streak is over with what has to be a very disappointing loss after his last performance.  Both fighters earned an additional $30,000 for the official ‘Fight of the Night’.

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WEC 37 featured featherweight and bantamweight bouts on the televised portion of the card, and was highlighted by the bantamweight champion Miguel Torres defending his belt against the undefeated challenger Manny Tapia.

Joseph Benavidez vs. Danny Martinez (145 lbs)

The first televised bout turned out to be rather lackluster.  Martinez worked hard for a takedown in the first round, but was unable to complete and ended up on his back as a result of a throw at the end round.  In the second and third, Martines gave up on the takedown attempts and instead began swinging at Benavidez with widely telegraphed shots, most of which did not find their target.  Benavidez on the other hand peppered Martinez with multiple combinations of punches and kicks, none of which seemingly did much damage.  Benavidez won a unanimous decision: 30-27 on all three scorecards.  This was the first MMA bout that I’ve seen where a woman (Kim Winslow) was the referee.

Fight grade: 2/5

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UFC 91 featured the return of the briefly retired heavyweight champion Randy Couture, taking on the challenger Brock Lesnar in the first leg of a four-man heavyweight title tournament.  The matchup was billed as ‘biggest in UFC history’ and so the undercard of this event was overlooked: the only bout besides the main event to receive any publicity was a #1 contender eliminator between Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson for a shot at the lightweight title.  Three other lightweight bouts took place in the preliminary portion of the event.

Nate Quarry vs. Demian Maia (185 lbs) 

The televised card began with a striker vs. grappler matchup, and the grappler Maia wasted no time bringing the fight to the ground. From there he easily passed Quarry’s guard and achieved mount, then back control, and finished with a rear naked choke forcing a tapout less than halfway through the first round.

Fight Grade: 3/5

Aftermath: Maia once again demonstrates impeccable jiu-jitsu, gaining his fourth victory in the UFC.  Since there are no clear-cut contenders for Anderson Silva’s middleweight belt, undefeated Maia can make a good case for demanding a title shot.  However he instead asks for Michael Bisping in the post-fight interview, stirring up rumors that he may become the coach on the next season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’, opposite of Bisping.

Quarry suffers his second loss in the UFC, dashing any hopes of title contendership in the foreseeable future.  Perhaps he can take on Kendall Grove in his next bout.

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