Author: Riley Kontek

The Ultimate Fighter just ended their preliminary house fights, with Team Faber taking the early 5-3 lead over Team Cruz. Friday will bring us the first two quarterfinal fights, as well as the possible explanation of how Dominick Cruz tore his ACL. 

The tearing of Cruz’s ACL has put a hold on his title fight against Urijah Faber, leading to the possibility of an interim championship in the meantime. 

After the conclusion of last week’s fight, Dana White talked to the fighters via satellite to inform them of the first two matchups of the quarterfinals.

The first will have Team Faber member and Joe Lauzon student, Joe Proctor, taking on Team Cruz’s James Vick. Also, Team Faber’s resident grinder Michael Chiesa will take an underdog role into the fight against Team Cruz’s Justin Lawrence.

Let’s take a closer look at the quarterfinal bouts. 

 

Joe Proctor vs. James Vick

Joe Proctor looks to be one of the best fighters on this season, as the submission specialist has looked impressive thus far.

Outside of the show, Proctor is 7-1, winning four of those bouts by submission. Anybody who trains with Joe Lauzon is going to have a dangerous submission attack, as Proctor has already proven this season.

To get into the house, Proctor defeated one of the toughest guys in the preliminary fights in Jordan Rinaldi. With only one round to work, Proctor locked in a tight guillotine choke which ended the fight at just over two minutes.

Proctor ended up being the fourth pick for Team Faber, which was good for the eighth overall pick. He has showed a good work ethic, which he has obviously picked up outside the house from Lauzon.

He then was picked to fight Team Cruz’s Chris Tickle. Tickle impressed in the prelims, knocking out his opponent quickly. This would be a dangerous fight for Proctor.

The fight would go down, and Joe Proctor would show why he was highly touted by Urijah Faber. Proctor would eventually get the fight to the ground towards the end of the first round and secure the win with a rear naked choke.

Meanwhile, James Vick has made an unlikely run thus far in the series.

Vick is young in his MMA career, holding just a 4-0 record. At 6’3″, he is the tallest fighter on the show with a good wingspan.

To get into the house, Vick beat the highly touted and much talked about (for different reasons) Dakota Cochrane by split decision. It was not much of a fight, as Cochrane continually shot for takedowns and Vick shook him off the entire time.

Vick would be the fifth pick of Dominick Cruz, which was the ninth overall pick. He would have a quick turnaround and be picked to fight first by opposing coach Faber.

He was chosen to fight Daron Cruickshank, who was heavily favored and very experienced. The fight was moving slowly until Cruickshank shot for a takedown and ate an inadvertent knee from Vick, knocking him unconscious.

This matchup will be a solid striker in Vick versus a skilled submission fighter in Proctor. Proctor is too aggressive and skilled to not get Vick down for the submission, which is how the fight will go, pushing Proctor into the semifinals.

Winner: Joe Proctor via submission

 

Michael Chiesa vs. Justin Lawrence

Michael Chiesa has faced hardship during this show and overcome thus far, losing his father to death but continuing to fight.

Chiesa is a perfect 7-0 in his career, with five of his wins coming by submission. He even beat notable Charon Spain in his pro MMA debut.

To get into the house, Chiesa beat Johnavan Viasante with rear naked choke in just over two minutes. He showed impressive wrestling and top control in that fight.

Chiesa would end up being the fifth pick on Team Faber, which was the 10th overall pick. It was after the preliminary fights to get into the house that Chiesa’s father would pass away.

From there, he was picked to fight Jeremy Larsen of Team Cruz. This would be a classic striker versus grappler match and was important because Team Faber needed to keep control of the fights.

During the fight, Chiesa hit Larsen with an illegal knee in the first round. The rest of the fight saw Chiesa control Larsen on the ground en route to a unanimous decision victory.

On the other hand, Justin Lawrence has been the favorite this season since he showed what he was capable of.

Lawrence is young in his MMA career, holding just a 3-0 record. He trains at Blackhouse, which has refined his all-around game.

For his first fight to get into the house, Lawrence defeated respected veteran James Krause in brutal fashion. Lawrence battered Krause with flashy strikes before he eventually knocking him out with a brutal combination. 

Lawrence was the first overall pick in the selection process, ending up with Team Cruz.

He was chosen to fight Cristiano Marcello, a dangerous grappler, in the opening round. He would stand up with him the entire fight before nailing him with a one-punch knockout that rattled Marcello’s jaw.

This matchup is interesting, as Chiesa is the much larger fighter with a high motor. Lawrence will have to defend the takedown the entire fight, but will eventually pick his spots and earn the victory.

Winner: Justin Lawrence via decision 

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