Author: By Thomas Gerbasi

For the first time in the history of The Ultimate Fighter, the bantamweight and featherweight divisions are being featured on the Spike TV reality series, and leading these 32 hopefuls into battle on what promises to be one of the most action-packed seasons yet will be middleweight contenders Michael “The Count” Bisping and Jason “Mayhem” Miller.

“I’m really excited to help a batch of new guys start their UFC careers right here,” said Miller.

“I’m back here for season 14, I’m not gonna do anything differently,” said Bisping winner of TUF season three and a successful coach on season nine. “You either like me, or you don’t.”

As this season opens, UFC President Dana White doesn’t meet the fighters in the UFC Training Center. Instead, the Octagon at the Mandalay Bay Events Center is the setting for his introduction to the 32 competitors.

“The reason I brought you here today is because I want you to feel it,” said White. “I want you to take it in and look around at some of the banners up here. Not only some of the biggest UFC fights in history, but some of the biggest fights ever have been held here at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.”

And the next series of fights, to whittle the field down from 32 to 16, will be held in this renowned arena. In another new twist, fans will vote for the best fight, knockout, and submission of the season, with the winners getting $25,000 each at the finale.

After the coaches are introduced, the fights begin.

Josh Ferguson is up first against 21-year old Casey Dyer in a bantamweight bout. Ferguson wastes no time sending Dyer home, dropping him with the first right hand he landed and finishing him off with ground strikes in less than 20 seconds.

Featherweights Diego Brandao and Jesse Newell get called to the Octagon next, and Newell has some striking success early, but it’s Brazil’s Brandao who finishes things later in the first round with a left hook followed by a flying right forearm.

John Dodson was impressive with his punches and kicks throughout his bantamweight bout against Brandon Merkt, and it was a body shot that spelled the beginning of the end, with follow-up ground strikes forcing referee Steve Mazzagatti to halt the first rounder moments later.

East coasters Dennis Bermudez (New York) and Jimmie Rivera (New Jersey) squared off in a featherweight matchup. Rivera was in total control in the first round, dropping, slamming, and almost submitting Bermudez. The New Yorker got back in the fight in round two though, and after getting Rivera to the mat and taking his back, he finished off his foe with strikes. Bermudez goes to the TUF house via second round TKO.

Josh Ferguson’s brother BJ gets the next call to face Winnipeg’s Roland Delorme in a bantamweight scrap, but he won’t be joining his sibling, as Delorme finished matters in the first round with a triangle choke.

In featherweight action, Marcus Brimage was impressive in his stoppage of game Bryson Wailehua-Hansen. It didn’t look good for Brimage early, as he was controlled on the mat for much of the first round, but after reversing position, getting back to his feet, and opening up with his thudding strikes, he battered the steel-chinned Hawaiian for the rest of the round.  In the second, Brimage picked up where he left off, and after another series of strikes, Mazzagatti stopped the fight, sending Brimage to the house.

Texas veteran Johnny Bedford scored the upset in an exciting bantamweight battle, using his wrestling and striking to set up a submission via choke of Carson Beebe, the brother of former WEC bantamweight champion Chase Beebe.

Tokyo native Tateki Matsuda is the first Japanese fighter to compete in TUF, but after two closely-contested rounds, it was Dustin Pague earning the majority decision win in the bantamweight bout.

In a back and forth bantamweight match, Paul McVeigh and Louis Gaudinot went to a sudden victory round, but in the third, Gaudinot surged ahead to earn the decision win.

WEC veteran Bryan Caraway moved on the final 16 at featherweight with a two round unanimous decision win over Eric Marriott, and joining him was veteran Dustin Neace, who upset unbeaten Josh Clopton via unanimous decision.

Highly-touted bantamweight TJ Dillashaw lived up to expectations, stopping Indiana’s Matt Jaggers via first round TKO, but in the biggest upset thus far, unheralded Steven Siler submitted WEC vet Micah Miller via guillotine choke in the third round to move on to the TUF house.

Earning the final bantamweight slot in the tournament was John “Prince” Albert, who submitted Orville Smith via rear naked choke in the first round. And in the final two featherweight bouts of the elimination round, Stephen Bass submitted Karsten Lenjoint via triangle choke in the second round, and Sweden’s Akira Corassani knocked out Brian Pearman in the first round.

Next week, the coaches pick teams. Here’s the final 16:

FEATHERWEIGHTS
Diego Brandao
Dennis Bermudez
Marcus Brimage
Bryan Caraway
Dustin Neace
Steven Siler
Stephen Bass
Akira Corassani

BANTAMWEIGHTS
Josh Ferguson
John Dodson
Roland Delorme
Johnny Bedford
Dustin Pague
Louis Gaudinot
TJ Dillashaw
John Albert

For weekly recaps of The Ultimate Fighter, as well as fighter profiles, stay tuned to UFC.com.

Matt Hughes wasn’t going out like that. Not after two reigns as the UFC welterweight champion, not after beating a Who’s Who of 170-pound stars over the course of a career that landed him in the Hall of Fame even before he retired. No, the first round knockout loss to BJ Penn in November of 2010 wasn’t going to be his fighting epitaph.

So how does a 37-year old prizefighter find the desire to drag himself away from his family again for a grueling training camp to prepare for a younger fighter who would like nothing more than to hang his proverbial scalp on his wall of victims?

He doesn’t. At least not for eight weeks or more. Instead, Hughes split up his four weeks working in Salt Lake City, Utah with Jeremy Horn with a stay at home in Hillsboro, Illinois where he not only got his work in, but he got his family time, and some help from friends old, current, and unlikely.

Horn, Matt Pena, Robbie Lawler, and DaMarques Johnson have all been mainstays for Team Hughes, and the bond between them is evident. Especially important is Horn, who is not only one of the premier fighters of his era, but also one of the best strategists in the game. If you haven’t heard Horn call a bout for one of his fighters from Octagonside, you’re missing a Master Class in technique and strategy.

“He brings a lot of intelligence, but not only is he smart, but he breaks things down in a way that makes it easy to understand, and it’s the way that he passes information along that makes him so important to the team,” said Hughes of Horn. “And I’ve been in the position where he’s been on the outside of the cage and I’ve been on the inside and he’s walked me through steps and I’ve won fights because of his coaching through the fence.”

That’s the current friends department. For old friends, Hughes went back to his high school gym in Hillsboro and reunited with the man who set the standard for coaching back in the early Zuffa era – Pat Miletich. What trainers like Greg Jackson and Firas Zahabi are to the modern game, Miletich – a former UFC champion – was for a team that included Hughes, Horn, Lawler, Jens Pulver, Tim Sylvia, Tony Fryklund, and so many more UFC standouts.

“It had been years since Pat and I had worked together, probably since I left the gym, which was right after The Ultimate Fighter 6 in 2007,” said Hughes. “After that, me, Matt (Pena), Robbie (Lawler), and Marc Fiore – the coaches for my team – all came up with the gym concept. So it’s been that long. But Pat and I have always stayed in contact and he’s a brother of mine, there’s no doubt about that. So it was great to get my hands on him and wrestle with him, and the thing that wasn’t so great were his quick jabs and his standup. He’s got ferocious standup.”

So ol’ Pat’s still got it?

“He’s still got it, but he’s got it in certain time slots,” laughed Hughes. “He would not go three five minute rounds, but he can have a decent five minute go, take a few minutes off, then go again later. It was great getting back in there with him. I still knew what his strengths and his weaknesses were and where he didn’t like to be and what made him uncomfortable and I’m sure he knew what made me uncomfortable, but I was the guy who was in shape, so things kinda went my way a bit.”

That could have been enough right there in terms of having quality preparation for an important fight, but Hughes upped the ante when a new friend and old rival, Penn, returned the favor for Hughes helping him out for his training camp against Jon Fitch in early 2011. Yes, three fights later, Penn and Hughes had become training partners.

“A lot of people really raise an eyebrow when I say that BJ’s been training with me, but they might not know that I went out to Hawaii and helped BJ with his takedowns for Fitch,” said Hughes. “I found out a lot about BJ when I went out to Hawaii and started training with him. We are actually a lot alike personality wise, and sense of humor wise for sure. We have a ball together and I’ve got to watch out for him because he’s quick-witted. My brother (Mark) is very quick-witted as well, so I’ve just gotta stay on my toes. He’ll catch me a couple times, because I’m a little naïve. (Laughs) But we really have a lot of fun together and we’ve found out a lot about each other since the third fight.”

With such an all-star lineup, you would think that nothing could go wrong for Hughes as he prepared for his 55th professional fight at UFC 135 on September 24th. And in the gym, nothing did. But on September 5th, UFC President Dana White tweeted “Diego Sanchez broke his hand. Looking for a replacement for Hughes.”

As the news broke on Monday night, Hughes was stepping on a plane to go to Utah to continue his camp after his stay in Hillsboro. Told by White that the UFC was looking at replacing Sanchez with either Josh Koscheck or Jon Fitch, Hughes agreed to either foe. By Tuesday afternoon, he had an opponent. It was Koscheck.

Not surprisingly, Hughes didn’t blink.

“I’ve never picked an opponent and I’ve never turned one down,” he said. “So whoever the UFC wants to put in front of me is what happens and whatever they think is a smart matchup, I trust them. Overall, Josh is a lot different than Diego, but in a few things he’s a lot like him. Of course for two months now, I’ve been training for a southpaw and Josh is a conventional fighter. I’ve also been training for someone who didn’t have the wrestling credentials I did and now I’m facing somebody who’s got better wrestling credentials than I had. But I do have to say I like it that it’s two and a half weeks out and he’s now taking the fight, where I’ve been training for three months when it comes fight time.”

That confidence that he will be the better prepared of the two, coupled with his usual belief in himself, makes Hughes a tough man to beat. But in Koscheck, he will not only be facing an opponent with legitimate knockout power in his right hand, but one of the few whose wrestling credentials surpass those of the former Eastern Illinois standout. And those are two attributes Sanchez wasn’t packing with him for Denver.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever faced anybody with credentials as good as he’s had,” admitted Hughes. “I’ve faced people who’ve said they were better than me in wrestling, but it didn’t work out that way in the Octagon. So I’m just gonna go in there with the same mindset, that I’m gonna do whatever I want to do, and we’ll see how the gameplan turns out.”

And if beating a younger contender who has stellar wrestling and a knockout punch isn’t enough to get Hughes primed and ready for battle, Koscheck has opened up the verbal floodgates with talk that the welterweight great ducked fights in the past with Koscheck and his American Kickboxing Academy teammates Fitch and Mike Swick.

“I just think he’s trying to build the fight, to be honest,” said Hughes. “He did the same thing with GSP (Georges St-Pierre) on the reality show, which didn’t turn out too well for him in the actual fight (at UFC 124). I don’t pay attention to what he’s saying, I don’t really know what he’s saying, and I don’t care to know what he’s saying. He is who he is and that’s who I’ve gotta fight.”

Are those the words of a 37-year old who has seen it all over the course of a 13-plus year career and has gotten jaded, or is it just Hughes looking at such antics as wasted energy when you need all you can get on fight night?

“I can usually turn people off and ignore them, and I would imagine I’ll do the same thing with him,” he said. “I’ve had some real silly guys try to get under my skin in the past, and I’d say he (Koscheck) is not top of the list of being the biggest jackass out there that I’ve faced. (Laughs) I do find some of it amusing though.”

And hey, when you take away all the talk, you still have to fight. That’s Matt Hughes’ forte and what he is planning on doing once again this Saturday night.

“I’m working hard because I definitely want to own the middle of the second round all the way to the end of the fight,” he said. “I want to make sure that’s my time, no doubt about it. I know Koscheck, as a wrestler, is gonna have some heart and he’s always gonna have that will to finish strong, so it is motivating me to get in shape and be a hundred percent ready. I’m gonna be pushing the pace and definitely putting the striking on, looking for Koscheck’s tendencies, and I think I get my hand raised at the end, I really do.”

There are plenty of fans who wouldn’t think of sending a Christmas card to Josh Koscheck. Whether it’s his confidence, his smack talk, or his ability to poke and prod potential opponents until they’re tempted to punch him in the mouth for free, the welterweight contender is, shall we say, a polarizing figure.

But if there’s one undeniable fact about “Kos,” it’s that he’s a true fighter, one of those anyone, anytime, anywhere guys. But even he went above and beyond the call of duty last December in Montreal, when his championship rematch against welterweight boss Georges St-Pierre went sour early thanks to a broken orbital socket and plate that he suffered in the first round.

He still had four more to go. But he gritted his teeth through the pain and fought all 25 minutes against the best 170-pound fighter in the world. The result, a five round decision win for St-Pierre, may have been a foregone conclusion after the injury, but the lasting image of the bout was Koscheck’s courage in defeat.

“I had no other choice,” said Koscheck of his decision to fight on. “Us as fighters, we go and we want to fight no matter what. I felt that if I could just get one good one on his chin, I felt like I could put him to sleep. But it was a tough fight. My depth perception was way off. I remember at one point, I took a shot and I wasn’t even close to him. He was like ten feet to the left. (Laughs) But it is what it is, and I just tried to grind out the fight.”

When it was over, he didn’t just have a loss to deal with in what was probably going to be his last welterweight title shot for a while, but also the painful injury that only got worse after the adrenalin rush of the fight wore off.

“It was definitely a horrible injury,” he said. “I remember being in the hospital begging for morphine. It would wear off and I’d be like ‘hey nurse,’ – I’d track down anybody I could ‘hey guys, can you shoot me up again? The pain’s coming back.’”

He can joke about it now, the usual reaction from a fighter after the injuries heal and he’s able to move on, train, and be normal again. So the answer is no surprise when you ask whether he ever questioned his vocation after the worst injury of his 22 fight pro MMA career.

“Not at all,” said Koscheck. “I’m not one to just sit back and think negatively about my life and what I’m doing. Obviously I’m doing this for a reason. I don’t know what the reason is yet (laughs), but God has put me in this position, I’m here, I’m fighting, and it’s an opportunity for me to provide for myself and my future family. So right now I’m just gonna do what I gotta do, continue investing in properties after every fight, and keep putting my money away so that someday, I can say I had a nice, good run, I had a lot of fun doing this, and now I gotta look at the next chapter in my life.”

Don’t get the rocking chair out for the 33-year old Koscheck just yet. Yes, the injury has kept him sidelined for all of 2011 thus far, but that doesn’t mean he just sat around waiting. For the first time in a long time, he got to refresh his mind and live like the regular folks for a bit.

“I definitely got to do a lot of things that I haven’t got to do in a while,” he said. “With having this much time off, it was kind of nice. I got to focus on spending time at my house, actually drive my car around for a while, and just get to do things that you don’t usually get to do because you’re so focused on training and fighting. It was a nice layoff, that’s for sure. It got me revived a little bit.”

As soon as he got the green light from his doctor to resume training though, he was back in the gym and ready for whatever the UFC was going to throw at him. He even made it clear that he was prepared to step up to the middleweight division if that’s where the fights were.

Middleweight?

“I keep my weight pretty much around 190,” he said. “I don’t usually get too much heavier than that. Even though I had to take a lot of time off after the St-Pierre fight, I never let myself get out of hand. I was looking to go to 185 because I wanted bigger fights, I wanted bigger names, and I just wanted to come back and have a good opponent on my comeback.”

He got one, and at welterweight to boot, as an injury to Diego Sanchez brought a phone call for Kos to step in to face UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes in this Saturday’s UFC 135 co-main event in Denver. Short notice? No problem.

“I prefer to not have long training camps,” said Koscheck. “Training camps suck. (Laughs) I’m in shape all year round and I’m ready to fight, so why not just put it in overdrive for a couple weeks and fight? I’m just looking for fights. I don’t think I have too much longer in the sport. I’ll be turning 34 this year, and I just want to have big fights from here on out, fight bigger names and Matt Hughes was an opportunity where the UFC needed somebody to fill in and I felt that it was a great opportunity for me. I’m already in great shape, so why not take the fight?”

Why not, indeed. And the fact that Koscheck has been looking for a fight against the pride of Hillsboro, Illinois just adds to the motivation factor.

“When he was on top, it was said that he wouldn’t give any of the AKA guys (Koscheck, Jon Fitch, Mike Swick) a shot at him,” said Koscheck. “He didn’t want to give us an opportunity and he called us all kids and was totally disrespectful. But this isn’t a personal fight, this is just a fight that the fans wanted to see for a long time, and now we’re getting the opportunity to do it.”

And though Koscheck expects a fight from the 170-pound legend, he doesn’t expect to leave Colorado with a loss either.

“Everybody’s dangerous when it comes time to fight,” he said. “This guy (Hughes) has been training for a long time for Diego Sanchez, and I think everybody can be dangerous. In the sense of getting knocked out by Matt Hughes, I don’t think that’s gonna happen, but I definitely think he has the potential to get a submission or takedowns, so he’s definitely a dangerous fighter and I’m taking him very seriously. I’m going to have a great gameplan for this fight, I just have to stick to the gameplan, and I should come out a winner.”

Oh yeah, Koscheck’s back.

NEW ORLEANS, September 17 – Lightweight standout Evan Dunham got back in the win column after two straight losses to Sean Sherk and Melvin Guillard, pitching a punishing three round shutout victory over The Ultimate Fighter 13 alum Shamar Bailey in UFC Fight Night action at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Saturday night. Watch post-fight interview

Scores were 30-27 across the board for Dunham, who improves to 12-2; Bailey falls to 12-4.

The standup was fast-paced and crisp, with Dunham the more effective of the two. Bailey wasn’t far behind though, as a thudding shot to the head reddened Dunham’s forehead. Dunham’s 1-2s mixed in nicely with his kicks though, and despite a late takedown from Bailey, it was the Oregon native’s round.

There was no let-up from both men in round two, with Bailey starting strong and Dunham roaring right back.  Two minutes in, Dunham’s attack looked to be wearing on Bailey, whose Octagon movement began to slow, making him a more stationary target. Yet despite taking many flush shots, Bailey’s chin wouldn’t dent, and he stayed in the fray, even though his takedown attempts were coming up empty. By the end of the round, Bailey was dealing with a cut over his eye, adding to his woes.

Energized by the minute’s rest, Bailey’s work rate increased as the final round began, with Dunham remaining calm as he picked his shots and shook off the occasional flush punch to the head that landed. What soon became the storyline though, was how Bailey was still standing under the increasingly ferocious assault of Dunham, who picked things up even more as the crowd roared. Even a final guillotine choke attempt by Dunham wasn’t enough to take Bailey out, and while the Indiana vet didn’t win the fight, he earned plenty of respect for his gritty effort.

McKENZIE vs. ROCHA

Vagner Rocha evened his UFC record to 1-1 with stellar groundwork against Cody McKenzie, winning the lightweight bout via second round submission. Watch post-fight interview

“I worked a lot since the last fight,” said Rocha, whose late-notice UFC debut against Donald Cerrone in June resulted in a decision loss. “I still made some mistakes, but my jiu-jitsu’s always there.”

McKenzie’s customary rush into the battle came with a little restraint at the bell, but after drawing an imaginary line in the Octagon and daring Rocha to cross it, the old McKenzie was back and ready to go. Through it all, Rocha didn’t lose his cool, getting in a couple hard shots before shooting in for the takedown. McKenzie immediately tried to lock on his patented guillotine choke, but Rocha easily pulled loose, and after the two scramble for position, it was the Brazilian looking for the submission and almost catching McKenzie’s arm and neck. Finally, with less than a minute left, McKenzie broke free and got back to his feet, where he landed some solid punches before the round concluded.

With the crowd chanting his name, McKenzie took the fight to Rocha as the second round began, but after landing some strikes, his second guillotine attempt also came up empty. Rocha’s submission attempts were looking a lot more ominous, and his busy ground attack had The Ultimate Fighter alum always guessing. And finally, Rocha struck paydirt, sinking in a rear naked choke that prompted McKenzie to tap at 3:49 of round two.

With the win, Rocha ups his record to 7-2; McKenzie falls to 12-2.

BENOIST vs. RIDDLE

Unbeaten welterweight newcomer Lance Benoist battled through blood and the punches and knees of Matt Riddle to do enough good work in the first two rounds to take a razor-thin unanimous decision victory. Watch post-fight interview

All three judges saw it 29-28, a result that was roundly booed by the fans in attendance. Both men were awarded $55,000 for putting on what was named the Fight of the Night.

Benoist (6-0) jarred Riddle with the first right hand he landed, but the Pennsylvania native quickly recovered. After a swooping head kick missed its mark, Riddle decided to close the gap and tie his opponent up, but a low knee from Benoist brought a brief halt to the action. Upon resuming, Benoist went back to work, only to have a knee get caught by Riddle and turned into a takedown. With 1:45 left in the round, Benoist reversed position and used the advantage to score some points with ground strikes until the bell sounded.

The two southpaws kept it standing for much of the first 90 seconds of round two, with Riddle (5-3) breaking the pattern with a takedown. After scrambling to their feet, Benoist turned the tables with his own takedown, and with blood streaming down his face from his nose, he began opening fire. Riddle did some good work from the bottom, landing an upkick and attempting a submission, and at the bell, the crowd roared in appreciation for the rapidly heating up action.

Riddle came out fast in the third, getting the bout to the mat, where he landed knees from side control and kept firing strikes from his opponent’s guard. It was to be where the bout remained until the final bell, as Riddle controlled the final frame impressively, but not impressively enough to sway the decision in his favor.

STONE vs. WALKER

After back-to-back knockout losses to Eddie Wineland and Scott Jorgensen, the third time was the charm for Ken Stone, as he earned his first Zuffa victory with a first round submission of Donny Walker. Watch post-fight interview

Stone’s ground game was on point from the start, as he got Walker to the mat and immediately went to work. Eventually, he got Walker’s back and sunk his hooks in. Next came the rear naked choke, and while Walker resisted for as long as he could, he soon went to sleep, forcing referee Myron Gaudet to halt the bout at the 2:40 mark.

With the win, Stone improves to 10-3; Walker falls to 14-8.

BACZYNSKI vs. HARVISON

Seth Baczynski made an impressive return to the UFC, using his striking game to set up a second round submission win over Clay Harvison in a meeting of welterweight alumni of The Ultimate Fighter series. Watch post-fight interview

Season 11’s Baczysnki (14-6) appeared to have some issues with Harvison’s movement as the bout opened, but as the round moved on, the “Polish Pistola” began to score effectively with knees to the head and body, as well as a hard elbow from close range that kept Harvison on the defensive.

Things didn’t get much better for season 13’s Harvison (9-4) in the second round, as he was dropped by a right uppercut, submitted to some thudding ground strikes and then finished off with a rear naked choke that forced a tap at 1:12 of the frame.

WALDBURGER vs. STUMPF

Talented Texan TJ Waldburger secured his second UFC victory in three tries, submitting late replacement Mike Stumpf in the first round. Watch post-fight interview

A kick to the leg that caused Stumpf to lose his balance as the bout opened was all Waldburger needed to capitalize, as he took Stumpf down and then took his back. Stumpf quickly recovered, but Waldburger wasn’t letting go as he got the hooks in on his foe. The patient Stumpf soon found daylight though, getting to his feet briefly before Waldburger took him back to the mat. After a wild scramble that included a flying knee attempt by Stumpf, Waldburger got the bout to the mat and almost got caught in a guillotine, but the slick submission artist made some magic of his own, catching Stumpf in a triangle choke that produced a tap out at 3:52 of the opening frame.

With the win, Waldburger improves to 14-6 and also received a $55,000 bonus for Submission of the Night; Stumpf, who came in on short notice to replace the injured Daniel “Ninja” Roberts, falls to 11-3.

PERALTA vs. LULLO

Octagon newcomer Robert Peralta spoiled the featherweight debut of Mike Lullo, scoring a three round unanimous decision victory over the Illinois native. Watch post-fight interview

Scores were 30-27 twice and 29-28.

Peralta’s kicks and knees scored early and often in the first round, prompting Lullo to pull his foe to the canvas. Peralta (15-3) immediately rose, looking to keep his scoring run going. Soon, Lullo’s legs reddened, bringing back memories of the low kick assault he took in his UFC debut against Edson Barboza at UFC 123 in November of 2010. Lullo fired back with his own punches and kicks, but the crowd erupted when Peralta responded with a kick-punch combination to the body and then pressed the action even more with overhand rights, more leg kicks, and a flash knockdown.

As the second round opened, Lullo (8-3) had a huge knot on the left side of his head, but he kept throwing both punches and kicks. The only thing was, they didn’t appear to have any effect on Peralta. As the round approached the two minute mark, Lullo rushed in for a takedown, but had to settle for pinning his foe to the fence. Eventually, Peralta broke free, but Lullo was the busier of the two fighters as he looked to even up the scoring.

Both fighters came out busy for the final round, with Lullo breaking up the striking pattern with a takedown attempt that Peralta was able to avoid, but the two again remained pinned to the fence with Lullo in control. Finally, with less than 90 seconds left, Lullo got his takedown, but only for a brief moment, as Peralta sprung to his feet. Another takedown followed with 30 seconds left, but it wasn’t enough for Lullo to get the judges’ nod.

EDWARDS vs. LOPEZ

A third round surge wasn’t enough for highly-touted welterweight prospect Jorge Lopez to get the win in his bout with The Ultimate Fighter 13’s Justin Edwards, who instead took the close unanimous decision victory. Watch post-fight interview

Scores were 29-28 across the board for Edwards, who improves to 8-1; Lopez falls to 11-2.

Edwards closed the distance quickly and efficiently against Lopez, and his grappling prowess and strength was evident as he almost locked in a guillotine choke early. Lopez fought free and had some success when keeping his distance, but at close range, Edwards scored with short elbows and controlled the lockups. As the round progressed, Lopez got his licks in, but whenever he would move in to capitalize, Edwards usually got the better of the action.

The fighters traded kicks as round two commenced, with Edwards scoring a takedown moments later and then attempting another guillotine choke that Lopez broke out of before getting back to his feet. A second trip to the mat saw Edwards score with a series of punches before Lopez shot back to a standing position, but the Wanderlei Silva-protégé was unable to get back in the scoring column before the round ended.

Lopez secured his first takedown of the fight in the opening minute of the third, but Edwards immediately went to work on his arm. Lopez kept his cool, and when he got loose, he jumped into the mount position and then took his opponent’s back. Edwards turned out of trouble, but into some more as Lopez held side control. With two minutes left, the two got back to their feet, but only briefly, as Lopez scored another takedown. Edwards almost took Lopez’ arm in the closing seconds, but the Las Vegas resident was able to escape before the bell.

NEW ORLEANS, September 17 – It was almost a no win situation for Jake Ellenberger, fighting longtime welterweight star Jake Shields in the UFC Fight Night main event Saturday after Shields’ decision to fight on after his father Jack passed away on August 29th. But with Shields’ decision to carry on with business, it meant that Ellenberger had to do the same, and in just 53 seconds, the Omaha power puncher ended an emotional night at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center with a first round TKO of Shields that put him squarely in the title picture. See post-fight interview

“I can’t explain how I feel right now,” said Ellenberger, who handed Shields his first knockout loss in over a decade. The finish earned him $55,000 for Knockout of the Night.

After shooting out some jabs to start the fight, Shields began looking for the takedown, but he came up short twice. After the two locked up again, Ellenberger scored with a flush right knee to the head. Shields hit the deck, and for a second it looked like he was reaching for Ellenberger’s ankle, but “The Juggernaut” wasn’t fooled. He knew Shields was hurt and he finished matters with a series of unanswered strikes, forcing referee Kevin Mulhall to stop the fight at the 53 second mark of the opening round.

As the bout was stopped, Shields, unaware of what was going on, actually grabbed Mulhall’s leg, thinking the fight was still on. But it was over, and Ellenberger had the biggest win of his career while Shields will have to regroup.

“I’m just frustrated,” said Shields, who was coming off a five round decision loss to Georges St-Pierre in a UFC 129 championship bout. “He caught me. I thought I still had some fight left, but the ref thought it was time to stop it.”

Ellenberger ups his record to 26-5 with the win; Shields falls to 26-6.

McGEE vs. YANG

The Ultimate Fighter season 11 winner Court McGee used a ferocious late assault to put an exclamation mark on a grueling three round unanimous decision win over South Korea’s Dongi Yang. See post-fight interview

The judges saw it 30-27, 30-28 and 29-28.

The action was tense in the early going, with each fighter throwing single shots in an effort to open up some more consistent opportunities. Two minutes in, McGee briefly jarred Yang with a right hand, and though Yang’s return fire bruised McGee up under the left eye, “The Crusher” finished the round as the busier of the two.

Yang and McGee reversed roles in round two, with Yang landing the more solid punches over the course of the frame. For a twist, McGee attempted to grapple with Yang, presumably in search of a takedown, by “The Ox” wasn’t having it, and he eluded the mat.

The crowd began getting restless in round three, yet while there wasn’t a sustained slugfest going on, the action was still intriguing, and with 3:15 left, a left hook rocked McGee. McGee survived the follow-up by Yang, whose bloody nose was worsening, and with fatigue now an issue, both fighters began to make a final charge. For McGee, that meant getting his first takedown with a little over a minute remaining, and the crowd roared at this new development. And though Yang got back up quickly, a second takedown followed, with McGee pounding away with strikes before a final guillotine choke attempt.

With the win, McGee improves to 13-1; Yang falls to 10-2.

KOCH vs. BROOKINS

It wasn’t the way featherweight up and comer Erik Koch wanted to get his fourth consecutive victory, but he’ll take it, as he oupointed The Ultimate Fighter season 12 winner Jonathan Brookins in a bout marred by long periods of Brookins pinning his opponent to the fence in search of a takedown. See post-fight interview

Scores were 30-27 twice and 29-28 for Koch, who ups his record to 13-1; Brookins falls to 13-4.

When not pinned and smothered against the fence by Brookins, Koch had some solid moments while striking from long range, but it was the takedown seeking Floridian who dictated where the bout was taking place for much of the opening five minutes.

After more of the same for the first half of round two, Brookins finally got Koch to the canvas for a moment, only to have “New Breed” immediately get back to his feet. Unfortunately for the Wisconsin product, Brookins was not letting him go. Koch soon reversed position and got loose, and his striking remained sharp until he got pushed to the fence again. With a minute left, Brookins got the takedown, with Koch getting back to his feet fairly quickly.

There was little change to the pattern in round three, other than Koch getting a little more time to work his strikes. But when Brookins closed ranks and pushed Koch to the fence again, the crowd began getting restless and they let their feelings known after the disappointing conclusion to the bout.

BELCHER vs. MacDONALD

After more than 16 months out of the Octagon due to two surgeries for a detached retina, middleweight contender Alan Belcher made a triumphant return to active duty with an emphatic first round finish of veteran Jason MacDonald. See post-fight interview

“I’m so emotional right now,” said Belcher. “The past 16 months have been up and down. I know tonight that this is what I want to do. I want to pursue that belt. I’m back baby.”

MacDonald was after the takedown from the opening bell, but when he finally got the bout to the mat, it was with Belcher in the top position. For a submission artist like MacDonald, that wasn’t necessarily the worst news in the world, but given Belcher’s punching power, it soon turned into that, as ground strikes stunned the Canadian. Finally, after a steady barrage of unanswered blows, MacDonald verbally submitted, with referee Dan Miragliotta calling a stop to the bout at the 3:48 mark.

With the win, Belcher improves to 16-5; MacDonald falls to 26-15.

A key element of any fighter’s repertoire, confidence is one of the biggest factors in the success of welterweight contender Jake Ellenberger thus far. Fight-changing power and a solid ground and pound attack helps too, but without that steely stare that allows him to look through opponents and dare them to make him take a backward step from the imaginary line he’s drawn in the center of the Octagon, you get the impression that he wouldn’t be half the fighter he’s turned into.

It’s not a cockiness though; instead, Ellenberger has gone through enough over the course of his career and his life to realize that if he doesn’t seize the moments he is given, they may not ever be coming back again.

“I have a number of motivators in my life,” said the Nebraska native, who headlines this Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card in New Orleans against Jake Shields. “First of all, I love to compete. My twin brother Joe really got me into the sport and I started training and started winning and then I really developed a passion for it. But some of the things that have happened to me over the last couple years, like my brother being diagnosed with a bone marrow disorder, and things like that, I think those things really made me focus on what I’m trying to do and where I’m going in my life. It kinda just made a more clear picture. We’re not really guaranteed anything in this world, and I’m trying to spend all my time getting to that goal and getting that world title shot. It’s a passion and a fire inside that’s hard to explain.”

He doesn’t need to. It’s written on his face every time he fights. The first time UFC fans saw it was two years ago to the day, when he made his debut in the promotion against former WEC champion Carlos Condit. Already a standout on the local circuit who paid his dues before getting the call to the big show, Ellenberger immediately made an impression in a first round where he hurt Condit a number of times and sent him sprawling to the canvas. Many referees would have stopped the fight, but this time, the bout continued and the resilient Condit made it to the bell ending the round. Ellenberger should have been elated at his strong start, but he wasn’t.

“I remember exactly how I felt between rounds in that fight,” he said. “I was trying to finish him, and I was throwing everything I had. I was so tired and I don’t ever want to feel like that again in a fight. I did a pretty good job of disguising it, but I’ve never been so tired.”

Condit rebounded over the next two rounds to eke out a close split decision. It was a loss on Ellenberger’s record, but one that prompted him to take a new approach to the game.

“That really sparked a fire, and I don’t know where I’d be without that fight,” he said. “I went through that, I learned from it, and I don’t ever want that to happen again. I needed that to move forward.”

So he and Condit are now exchanging Christmas cards?

“I wouldn’t say that,” laughed Ellenberger. “There’s a good chance we will meet again.”

He’s right. Winner of four in a row, Ellenberger won’t get a shot at the only man to beat him in the UFC just yet, as Condit has his own business with welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre in October, but with a decision victory over Carlos Eduardo Rocha and stoppages of Mike Pyle, John Howard, and Sean Pierson, the 26-year old certainly earned the right to call out former world title challenger Shields, and that’s just what he did earlier this year. And it worked.

“I was surprised that with him coming off the fight with GSP that they matched us up, but I was pleasantly surprised and I was excited once I heard about it,” said Ellenberger. So what was it about Shields that made him go on the offensive to get the fight?

“It wasn’t so much his style,” he explains. “I just wasn’t sold that he was the top welterweight in the world. He’s extremely good at what he does, that’s for sure. But as far as an opponent for me, he’s a guy I’ve wanted to fight for some time now. And it’s crazy, but it’s a reality now and I’m honored to fight him.”

With his first UFC main event also comes the responsibility to promote it with more interviews and media appearances than ever before. That’s never a bad thing for an up and coming fighter, but when Shields’ father Jack passed away on August 29th, it added a new dimension to an already intriguing fight. Ellenberger admits that he, like many, thought Shields would pull out of the fight.

“I was expecting him to pull out, to be honest, but he’s clearly ready to go and that’s respectable for him to stay in and fight like that,” said Ellenberger. “It’s sad about his dad passing away. That’s completely separate from fighting, that’s personal, and I’ve been through a lot of similar situations and it’s tough, it really is. So I really feel bad for him and what he’s going through.”

Yet what makes fighters who they are is the ability to put such feelings aside for 15 minutes or less on fight night. Ellenberger must not feel emphatic toward Shields during the fight, and Shields can’t dwell on one of the toughest moments of his life with an opponent trying to knock him out. That’s what the fight game is all about.

“I think the hardest part is being able to turn the switch on and turn it back off,” said Ellenberger. “There are such big fights in the UFC and so many things are just gonna keep your heart rate high and your adrenalin going and it’s really being able to turn that switch off and get your mind occupied or do something else. I really haven’t had a hard time doing that, but once you get in there, I guess it’s the way I’ve always fought – when the switch is on, it’s time to work.”

And after more than six years as a pro, that work is starting to pay off for Jake Ellenberger. That means he has to step it up a notch, and that’s never been an issue for him, especially not now, as he sees Saturday night’s bout as the beginning of the next chapter of his career.

“I keep improving each fight, and I’ve always just been taking it one fight at a time, but I really feel that this is my time,” he said. “I’ve worked really hard to get where I’m at right now, and it’s really just the beginning of my career. I’m excited each day to get up and get better, and to make myself a better person. It’s humbling and an honor to be a main event for the UFC, and making a dream come true, it’s really fascinating to see. I think in the last two, three years, I really started taking it a lot more seriously, and it’s been a pretty emotional rollercoaster. A lot of good things have happened for sure, but instead of just fighting because I love to compete, I’m fighting for a purpose, and I know I have to dedicate my life one hundred percent if I want to be a world champ. So all I’ve been focusing on is getting to that goal.”