Author: McKinley Noble

TUF 17: Watch Uriah Hall KO Bubba McDaniel in the Quarterfinals

Robert “Bubba” McDaniel never stood a chance against feared Ultimate Fighter phenom Uriah Hall.During Episode 11 of the latest season in the long-running MMA reality show, both fighters stood toe-to-toe in the fourth and final quarterfinals m…

Robert “Bubba” McDaniel never stood a chance against feared Ultimate Fighter phenom Uriah Hall.

During Episode 11 of the latest season in the long-running MMA reality show, both fighters stood toe-to-toe in the fourth and final quarterfinals match to round out the final four.

Hall had little trouble making quick work of Bubba, scoring another lethal KO victory.

Coming off a glove touch to start the first round, Bubba gauged the distance before immediately trying to dive in on Hall’s leg for what looked to be a takedown attempt. Hall responded with a hard right knee to the body, stunning Bubba in his tracks.

From there, Hall pushed off Bubba to gain some striking distance, and caught the Team Jon Jones fighter hard on his left eye with a crushing straight right.

Bubba quickly crumpled face-first to the mat, with Hall diving on him and landing two more punches to either side of Bubba’s head as referee Herb Dean jumped in to rescue the downed fighter.

Overall, the whole exchange took less than 10 seconds.

Uriah Hall weighed in later with an interview, stating his thought process in the match:

For a split-second, I saw his face and remember throwing a punch. I thought he shot in at me, still, and I sprawled. For a second, I looked, and I was like, “Is he out?” I was just kinda hitting [him] because I didn’t know what to do.

When I hit with him that shot, [I was like,] “F***, I hope he’s alright.” He was down there and it was like the Adam [Cella] incident again and I was like “F***, what have I done?” I can’t explain it, but I guess it’s something I have to work on. It’s more insulting to say “sorry”—I guess they’re right. It’s an emotional side that I’m trying to understand.

With the win, Hall scored a critical victory for Team Sonnen and moved on to the TUF 17 semifinals, where he faces last-pick Dylan Andrews of Team Jones.

Josh Samman, Hall’s rival throughout the season, will face Kelvin Gastelum (the youngest fighter in TUF history) in the other semifinals match. UFC president Dana White stated during the show that he expects Hall and Samman to meet up in the TUF 17 Finale card on April 13.

 

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist. His work has appeared in NVision, PC World, Macworld, GamePro, 1UP, MMA Mania & The L.A. Times.

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Transgender MMA Fighter Fallon Fox Set for Next Fight at CFA 11 in Florida

Arrangements are lining up for Fallon Fox and her next MMA bout, as she’ll reportedly face regional fighter Allanna Jones in the Championship Fighting Alliance on May 24.MMA Fighting recently spoke with the CEO of the Florida-based promotion,&nbsp…

Arrangements are lining up for Fallon Fox and her next MMA bout, as she’ll reportedly face regional fighter Allanna Jones in the Championship Fighting Alliance on May 24.

MMA Fighting recently spoke with the CEO of the Florida-based promotion, Jorge De La Noval, who stated that Jones didn’t immediately take the bout:

“Everyone’s following the story on Fallon obviously because of the controversy, but, the fact Allanna is stepping up and taking it is huge,” [Noval] said.

De La Noval said he has spoken with Jones several times in the past week as she weighed her decision. He said that she was always in favor of taking the bout, but first wanted to hear the concerns of her coaches and managers.

Outed as a 37-year-old male-to-female transgendered athlete, Fox’s name has been widely circulated around the Internet during the last few weeks.

Stemming from a Sports Illustrated article from veteran MMA journalist Loretta Hunt, the controversy around Fox’s original gender is well-known both inside and outside the sport.

Some argue that Fox has natural physical advantages due to growing up male and transitioning early in her 30s, while others debate the opposite due to the various heath risks involved with her physical changes.

Due to the unusual implications of Fox’s medical history and past paperwork, her fighter’s license is currently under review by the Florida State Boxing Commission.

The FSBC is expected to make a ruling soon, although Fox will not be barred from competition unless the commission decides to intervene.

Either way, De La Noval tells MMA Fighting that any sudden legal issues with FSBC won’t dramatically affect the CFA‘s next event, as the card has plenty of other talent available besides the company’s famous/infamous transgendered fighter.

To be honest, we’re not basing our next event on that specific fight. We have such a strong fight card that if it drops, well, we know we can’t base the card on one fight. It is what it is. If she gets licensed, she will fight. And if she doesn’t, she won’t. We have a very strong card.

CFA 11 will be held at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables, Fla., featuring a match between Strikeforce veterans Mike Kyle and Valentijn Overeem.

There will also be a continuation of CFA‘s all-women’s tournament, which will also award the winner with the company’s 145-pound women’s championship title and a $20,000 cash prize. Aside from Fox and Jones, the semifinals also include Peggy Morgan vs. Ashlee Evans-Smith.

CFA originally announced Fox vs. Jones on April 1 via Twitter, but the bout has only recently been reconfirmed in the wake of Fox’s license issues.

Notably, Allanna “Hands of Stone” Jones will be the most experienced fighter that Fallon Fox has faced so far, carrying a 2-1 professional MMA record and 6-2 amateur ledger. By contrast, Fox is undefeated at 2-0 with a single amateur victory.

 

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist. His work has appeared in NVision, PC World, Macworld, GamePro, 1UP, MMA Mania & The L.A. Times.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

TUF 17 Semifinals: Uriah Hall Faces Dylan Andrews, Josh Samman Gets Gastelum

Middleweight titan prospect Uriah Hall may have to wait just a little bit longer before he get his hands on rival TUF competitor Josh Samman.All they have to do is win one more fight each.Following four monster performances in the quarterfinals, H…

Middleweight titan prospect Uriah Hall may have to wait just a little bit longer before he get his hands on rival TUF competitor Josh Samman.

All they have to do is win one more fight each.

Following four monster performances in the quarterfinals, Hall and Samman, along with Dylan Andrews and Kelvin Gastelum, have officially made it to the final four in Season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter.

For simplicity’s sake, here’s how the bracket stands so far:

Semifinal Bout 1

Josh Samman (9-2, Team Jones) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (5-0, Team Sonnen)

Semifinal Bout 2

Uriah Hall (7-2, Team Sonnen) vs. Dylan Andrews (16-4-1, Team Jones)

Whoever wins those bouts will be the fighters who get to compete at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale in Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center on April 13, where a six-figure UFC contract and a custom Harley-Davidson motorcycle on the line.

That match will be part of a stacked main card headlined by former WEC champion Uriah Faber vs. Scott Jorgensen, in addition to the second-ever female bout in the UFC starring Miesha Tate and Cat Zigano.

As noted in our Episode 11 recap of TUF 17, Uriah Hall stamped his ticket to the semifinals with a face-breaking knockout victory against Bubba McDaniel, who was rushed to the hospital with what looked like a fractured orbital bone.

Meanwhile, Josh Samman grounded out Jimmy Quinlan with an aggressive technical knockout, using his patented double-fisted punching tactics to get the stoppage.

Now, UFC president Dana White is betting on both of them to make it to the finals.

Fans will get find out if Hall and Samman manage to line up their heated rivalry in the season finale on FX, as The Ultimate Fighter 17 airs its final episode on Tuesday, April 9 with both semifinals bouts.

 

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist. His work has appeared in NVision, PC World, Macworld, GamePro, 1UP, MMA Mania & The LA Times.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

TUF 17, Ep. 11 Recap: Uriah Hall vs. Bubba, Samman vs. Gastelum End in Huge KOs

After 10 more episodes in the most talent-packed season of The Ultimate Fighter, we now have the semifinal matches set for the final episode.Uriah Hall vs. Dylan Andrews and Josh Samman vs. Kelvin Gastelum will mark the final four, with the rivalry bet…

After 10 more episodes in the most talent-packed season of The Ultimate Fighter, we now have the semifinal matches set for the final episode.

Uriah Hall vs. Dylan Andrews and Josh Samman vs. Kelvin Gastelum will mark the final four, with the rivalry between Hall and Samman getting one more obstacle that needs to be crossed.

(Read the full episode play-by-play for all the details.)

• Good Lord, Uriah Hall is a frightening man. If he’s not nearly killing guys with spinning heel kicks, then he’s laying them out with short punches.

• And sure, maybe he won’t look as impressive in the UFC, but against guys like Bubba McDaniel (who barely showed up to fight), Uriah Hall looks like the goddamned Superman.

• It’s rare that a TUF fight ends too quickly for play-by-play, but that’s exactly what happened. Bubba bull-rushed Hall right at the start, and just as Hall prophetically stated, he landed a clean shot at the first opening.

• Bubba was out on his face for what must’ve been a good few minutes. As usual, the gym went dead silent as doctors checked Bubba, and if Dana White‘s been truthful, that’s what’s in store for Hall’s next opponent. Thankfully, Bubba’s eye looked like it was intact.

• Seriously, even Carlos Condit looked spooked. He’s probably hoping that Uriah never cuts down to welterweight.

• Josh Samman may come across as weasel-like villain on-camera, but there’s no denying his drive. Even though Jimmy Quinlan had top position for most of their fight, Samman was beating him up from his back and constantly working for space. The resulting TKO win wasn’t a shock, especially as Quinlan gassed. With that match done, here’s how the semifinals look.

Semifinal Bout 1

Josh Samman (9-2, Team Jones) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (5-0, Team Sonnen)

Semifinal Bout 2

Uriah Hall (7-2, Team Sonnen) vs. Dylan Andrews (16-4-1, Team Jones)

• It’s interesting that Chael Sonnen and Jon Jones both tried to campaign for Uriah and Samman to fight in the semifinals, especially since it’s clear that their rivalry could fuel a major TUF 17 finale card if they both win. Thankfully, Dana White decided that was stupid.

• To tell the truth, it’s kind of nice that the coaches have been a afterthought this season, although that’s really a testament to the quality that Fox and FX pumped into the show. Additionally, it’s good that the UFC scouted better talents.

• No matter how you slice it, Bubba McDaniel looks like “The Ultimate Loser” after this episode. When he wasn’t shown skipping training due to aches, he was complaining about the show’s producers and everyone else conspiring against him to make his fight harder matches.

• Maybe it’s editing, but it seems like Bubba did little but whine, whine, whine. He needs to change condiments, because that weaksauce doesn’t cut it.

• One more thought on Bubba—doesn’t it seem unusual for a Greg Jackson’s MMA guy to look so bad in three TUF fights? Who on Earth did he beat to get to 20-6 on the regional circuit.

• Overall, this has shaped up to be a really good season. It’ll be fun to look forward to the next episode. Needless to say, everything seems to hinge on Uriah Hall and Josh Samman winning their bouts. That could be the difference of 100,000 viewers on FX for the season finale.

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The Ultimate Fighter 17: Watch UFC Champ Ronda Rousey Spar vs. Uriah Hall

During Episode 10 of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen, Ronda Rousey paid a visit to Las Vegas to give Chael Sonnen’s crew a judo lesson.Unsurprisingly, the UFC women’s bantamweight champion and former Olympian had no problem putting “Te…

During Episode 10 of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen, Ronda Rousey paid a visit to Las Vegas to give Chael Sonnen‘s crew a judo lesson.

Unsurprisingly, the UFC women’s bantamweight champion and former Olympian had no problem putting “Team Darkside” on their backs.

And that included Uriah Hall.

Although the hard-hitting middleweight bruiser outweighed Rousey by a good 50 pounds, even Hall couldn’t stop Rousey from locking in armbars during a friendly sparring match.

While their full training session wasn’t aired during the episode’s broadcast, the UFC and FX have now released the full tape.

Rousey was impressed that everyone on Team Sonnen “kept their cool” during their sparring sessions, despite the fact that she was armbarring plenty of people left and right:

A lot of the guys I roll with, I call it “testosterone poisoning”—where I get a couple of [moves] on them and they try to rough me up back because they get frustrated.

[Team Sonnen] kept their composure and it’s a quality that’s very valuable in fighters. If you can’t keep your composure in practice against some chick, if you’re in a ring with some dude swinging at your head, you’re not going keep your composure there, y’know?

Hall was impressed by the women’s champion, stating that the only defense against Rousey‘s “legit” armbar was to simply tap before it was even locked.

Overall, Rousey caught Hall into two armbar submissions using judo flips and some high-paced scrambles on the mat, although Hall was able to last much longer on the second attempt.

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The Ultimate Fighter 17, Ep. 11 Live Play-by-Play: The Return of Uriah Hall

Season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter continues Tuesday (9 p.m. PT/ET on FX) with the middleweight tournament between Team Jones and Team Sonnen, and the quarterfinals will come to end as four of the season’s top picks square off.With D…

Season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter continues Tuesday (9 p.m. PT/ET on FX) with the middleweight tournament between Team Jones and Team Sonnen, and the quarterfinals will come to end as four of the season’s top picks square off.

With Dylan Andrews and Kelvin Gastelum winning their way to the semifinals in Episode 10, Uriah Hall vs. Bubba McDaniel and Josh Samman vs. Jimmy Quinlan are next up to bat.

(Check out the team rosters and the list of quarterfinalists.)

Both winners of those matches will join Andrews and Gastelum in TUF 17‘s final four.

UPDATE: Check out the full episode recap and results right over here, with full impressions and thoughts on the Hall vs. McDaniel and Samman vs. Quinlan quarterfinals matches.

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