The Ultimate Fighter season 17 concludes this Saturday with the crowning of another winner. It will either be Uriah Hall or Kelvin Gastelum. Another question entering Saturday is who has the most to gain on the card. The first name that jumps off the p…
The Ultimate Fighter season 17 concludes this Saturday with the crowning of another winner. It will either be Uriah Hall or Kelvin Gastelum. Another question entering Saturday is who has the most to gain on the card.
The first name that jumps off the page is Miesha Tate.
Tate defended her Strikeforce championship against Ronda Rousey in March of 2012, and the build-up to the fight took the mixed martial arts world by storm. It is one of the key fights in the short history of female MMA.
If she defeats Cat Zingano, she will not only earn a rematch against Rousey, but she will also become the other coach on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter. That is significant. However, I think that’s too easy of a choice for who has the most to gain. Yes, a title shot and coaching gig would be huge for Tate, but the bantamweight division is not exactly stacked with talent. She could easily get on a small win streak and be back in the same position.
The bantamweight main event features Urijah Faber and Scott Jorgensen, but the winner does not alter his position in the division that greatly. Jorgensen stands to benefit more, but a win does not put him in title contention.
But the fighter with the most to gain is Hall.
Hall was a virtual unknown entering The Ultimate Fighter, but that quickly changed with devastating finishes. The UFC promoted his knockouts via social media and made it can’t-miss television. Hall earned a host of fans, and media quickly took to writing articles about him.
He has only lost twice in his MMA career: back-to-back losses to Chris Weidman and Costa Philippou. You may have heard of those guys. Two top-five middleweights.
If Hall looks impressive in defeating Gastelum at the finale, his stock will continue to skyrocket. The hype behind him, and the praise of coach and former No. 1 contender Chael Sonnen will almost demand that Hall be placed in a significant fight for his first non-TUF matchup.
Hall could be looking at a quick trip to relevancy in the middleweight division, but only if he wins.
If he loses, fans will view him as just another TUF-alum who was edited well and isn’t a top fighter. A loss would send him from a highly touted prospect to scraping by on the undercard. His skills are still there, but it is public perception that ultimately drives one to the top of the card.
A Hall victory and a violent win will have fans clamoring to see more of the middleweight.
His performance on The Ultimate Fighter has already earned him a spot on the UFC roster win or lose, but a win would make him one of the freshest faces in the division. As many of the upper-echelon fighters begin to age, Hall is in a place to become one of the new faces of the division.
He has a lost to lose in this fight, but he has so much more to gain.
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