LAS VEGAS — The stakes are high any time a fighter steps into the Octagon, but there was a little something extra on the line for the showcase bouts atop the card at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale.
A welterweight tilt between Jake Ellenberger and Stephen Thompson filled the headlining slot for Sunday’s card in Las Vegas in a fight that would determine who would remain a contender in the heated 170-pound mix. In the card’s co-main event, Hayder Hassan and Kamaru Usman squared off to determine whether it would be Team Blackzilians or American Top Team who would receive the $300,000 bonus that was on the line in the most recent season of TUF.
Two fights with two entirely different circumstances—but crucial collisions nonetheless.
The Juggernaut has been among the divisional elite for the past several years, but a recent rough patch put his elite-level status in jeopardy. The Omaha native was able to get back into the win column in his last outing against Josh Koscheck, but he needed a victory at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale to ensure his place in the welterweight upper tier would be secure.
Thompson went into his bout with Ellenberger on a different trajectory, as the South Carolina native was looking to take the next step on his ascension up the 170-pound ranks.
Wonderboy was once a highly touted prospect with a decorated kickboxing resume, an impressive four-fight winning streak brought him to the doorstep of a coveted top-10 ranking. A win over a perennial contender such as Ellenberger would guarantee his passage to the next level, but a loss against the former Marine would send him right back down the divisional ladder.
It was a high-risk, high-reward situation for both men at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and it was the phenomenal striking arsenal of Thompson that made the difference. While a powerful right hand from Ellenberger dropped the South Carolina native early, Thompson was able to regain his footing and swing the momentum of the fight with a pair of spinning heel kicks.
The first one took away Ellenberger’s senses, and the second turned out his lights as he went crashing to the canvas. With the victory, Thompson will not only catapult up the rankings but continue to live up to the hype surrounding him.
Let’s take a look at the good, bad and strange from The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale.
The Good
Stephen Thompson’s striking is something every other welterweight in the UFC needs to be concerned about. If that wasn’t the case prior to his bout with Jake Ellenberger at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale, it certainly will be. Wonderboy destroyed the Omaha native with a series of brutal head kicks. Even though the perennial contender was able to sting Thompson with a big shot early, the Simpsonville native weathered the storm and jumped right back into the fight.
While his decorated kickboxing background speaks for itself, being able to bounce back from adversity and knock out a top-10 opponent in spectacular fashion shows Thompson is absolutely ready to face the best the 170-pound division has to offer. He’s worked diligently to shore up the holes in his wrestling game, and while he wasn’t necessarily tested in that department against Ellenberger, it’s all but guaranteed as his journey through the welterweight ranks continues.
Going toe-to-toe with someone as versatile and dangerous on their feet as Thompson is an unenviable task, and one his future opponents are likely to avoid. Then again, every fighter currently ranked in the divisional top 10 are as game as it gets in MMA, and there will be plenty of exciting matchups involving Thompson in the future.
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It was no secret Kamaru Usman was going to come and use his wrestling against Hayder Hassan, and that’s exactly what he did to secure the victory for his Blackzilians team at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale. From the onset of the fight, the Nigerian Nightmare put his wrestling skills to work as he neutralized and controlled the American Top Team powerhouse. Usman’s grind was clearly weighing on Hassan throughout the opening round, and it forced the Hulk to coming out swinging in the second.
While Hassan stung Usman early in the second round, Usman responded by taking the action to the canvas. Once the fight was back in his realm, Usman worked toward an arm-triangle choke that ultimately secured victory and put a definitive stamp on the most recent season of TUF.
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It doesn’t matter which weight class Jorge Masvidal competes in because he’s going to bring his signature brand of violence. Even though Gamebred has been a major player in the lightweight division for the past two years, the American Top Team fighter decided to leave the weight class behind and move up to compete at 170.
The Miami-based striker’s first challenge came against Cezar Ferreira at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale, and Masvidal knocked out Mutante in punishing fashion on his welterweight debut.
Masvidal remained true to form with a signature slow start, but once he locked into the fight at hand, it was all but over for his Brazilian opponent. With the win, the street fighter turned mixed martial artist has now won four of his past five outings. Had his bout against Al Iaquinta gone his way on the judges’ cards, as many believed it should have, the scrappy knockout artist would be on a five-fight winning streak.
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Michelle Waterson went into her official UFC debut surrounded by a fair amount of buzz, and the Karate Hottie lived up to those expectations at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale. The Jackson/Winkeljohn-trained fighter put on an exciting performance against Angela Magana, showcasing every bit of her versatile skill set en route to victory.
Where Waterson is primarily known as a stand-up fighter, the former Invicta atomweight champion overpowered her larger opponent at every turn before she locked in a rear-naked choke in the final round to pick up the win.
Waterson is an exciting addition to the women’s strawweight division. It will be interesting to see if the UFC will put her on the fast track to title contention.
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It took a few fights for Maximo Blanco to find his groove inside the Octagon, but Maxi is starting to build some momentum in the featherweight division with his recent winning streak.
The Venezuelan striker picked up his third straight victory under the UFC banner with a first round knockout over Mike De La Torre to kick off the main card at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale. Blanco clipped the MMA Lab representative with a clean shot that sent De La Torre to the canvas and brought an end to the fight. Referee Yves Lavigne’s questionable stoppage will cast a strange shadow over the win, but it was still Blanco’s crisp combination that sparked the beginning of the end.
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Josh Samman is rapidly developing into a special type of fighter, and his momentum will only amplify after he put Caio Magalhaes away in the opening round of their bout on the preliminary portion of Sunday’s card.
The 27-year-old Floridian went into the bout fresh off his highlight-reel knockout over Eddie Gordon in his most recent showing, then stopped the highly touted Brazilian’s momentum cold via rear-naked choke. It was another great performance for Samman, and one he kept classy, even after Magalhaes spit blood and sour grapes in his direction after the fight.
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There wasn’t anything pretty about Trevor Smith’s victory over Dan Miller, but it was the workmanlike performance that was enough to get the job done. Hot Sauce was able to put the gritty New Jersey native on the canvas throughout the majority of the three-round affair, during which he dropped elbows and short punches from the top position. The end result was a lopsided, unanimous-decision victory on the judges’ scorecards, as Smith picked up his second win in his past three showings.
The Bad
There wasn’t much room for error where Jake Ellenberger was concerned going into The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale.
The Juggernaut snapped a three-fight skid by defeating Josh Koscheck back in February, but he needed another victory to keep his place on the competitive divisional hierarchy in the welterweight fold. Unfortunately for the former Marine, Wonderboy’s dangerous arsenal of kicks was simply too much for him to handle. The five-times world champion kickboxer put those skills on display as he knocked out Ellenberger in the first round of their main event bout.
In addition to having dropped four of his past five showings inside the Octagon, the loss against an up-and-coming prospect will cost Ellenberger the top-10 ranking he worked years to obtain.
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Hype is a difficult thing to carry in combat sports, and Cezar Ferreira has been crumbling under the weight of expectation as of late. The Brazilian powerhouse appeared poised to do big things after winning the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil. Being tagged as the next Vitor Belfort only served to bolster the buzz surrounding him. Yet all the talk doesn’t mean anything if the wins don’t come, and Ferreira has certainly struggled in that department over the past year.
Losses in two of his last three fights and a debilitating back injury forced Ferreira to drop down into welterweight waters. Suffering a first-round knockout at the hands of Jorge Masvidal on Sunday was the worst possible outcome for the once touted Blackzilians representative. While back-to-back losses certainly sting, getting dusted for the third time in four fights will erase any hype that remained around Ferreira.
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Angela Magana will likely be facing some rough waters following her submission loss to Michelle Waterson on Sunday night in Las Vegas. While the 31-year-old New Mexico native made a solid attempt to build her personal brand with her Your Majesty persona and social media presence, any attention she’s garnered outside the cage has failed to translate into anything substantial inside the Octagon, as she’s dropped both of her showings under the UFC banner.
Even though consecutive losses don’t typically warrant a release from the UFC, Magana’s current situation will create a make-or-break scenario should another opportunity to compete on the biggest stage in MMA present itself.
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Fighting inside a cage requires an individual to be able to tap into their non-civilized side when needed, but that doesn’t mean sportsmanship has to go completely out of the window. While there have been cases in the past—Paul Daley’s post-fight cheap shot against Josh Koscheck comes to mind—the move Caio Magalhaes pulled after losing to Josh Samman was as low as it gets.
There’s no doubt the Brazilian was upset after a rear-naked choke brought his four-fight winning streak to an end, spitting at Samman was completely unnecessary.
And with said spit actually being blood, it ratchets up the grossness of it all. However, just the act of spitting on another human being is entirely out of line. You can’t imagine the UFC will just sit back and give Magalhaes a pass for his actions, and it wouldn’t come as a shock to see him fined or suspended for the stunt.
The Strange
In a bit of non-important breaking news, the MGM Grand Garden Arena became the setting for the next installment of The Hangover film franchise. That’s not even remotely true, but that was certainly the feeling upon returning to the scene where the sensational chaos that was UFC 189 had unfolded just 24 hours earlier.
After scores of Irish fans turned Saturday night’s event into their own personal playground as one of the best main cards in the 20-plus year history of the UFC went down inside the Octagon, there was no way The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale was going to carry on the vibe that pulsed throughout Las Vegas for the past week. There’s no possible way it could, and just knowing that cast the same feeling one experiences when retracing their steps after a memorable evening.
Nevertheless, there were fights to be had on Sunday. The competitors involved were going to step into the cage and lay it all on the line, hoping to take the all-important next step in their respective careers. A handful of the bouts on Sunday’s card in Las Vegas even had additional circumstances attached to them, which is when things get interesting.
Having experienced the back-to-back, face-punching goodness that came with UFC 175 and The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale in 2014, I knew what to expect returning to media row on Sunday. Yet as solid as UFC 175 and all the action that unfolded between Chris Weidman and Lyoto Machida in their middleweight title bout was, it wasn’t even in the same ballpark as what went down at UFC 189.
Bodies were hitting the floor at a rapid rate on Saturday night in Las Vegas, with a handful of moments reaching epic status that will be imprinted in the minds of fight fans for years to come. Again, when things go the way they did at UFC 189, following something of that magnitude is impossible, but the UFC still had to try to get things done on Sunday afternoon.
As for any strangeness that did or didn’t occur at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale, the most curious happening on Sunday was the UFC’s decision to announce next season’s coaches during the main card on Fox Sports 1. In all honestly, it’s not the fact they made the announcement but more so their decision to make Conor McGregor and Urijah Faber the two opposing coaches for the upcoming season.
The Dublin native’s performance at UFC 189 shot him to superstar status, and the buzz surrounding his eventual unification fight with featherweight king Jose Aldo is already the most talked about thing in MMA. Allowing McGregor to fall out of public view for a bit and letting the heat continue to build would have been a great move, but putting him on the reality-based fighting program also makes sense in a strange sort of way.
Right now, there’s simply nothing or no one bigger in the sport than the Notorious one, and his presence on TUF will provide a much-needed boost to the show. That said, the random scuffle that went down between the interim featherweight champion and Faber just before the weigh-ins for UFC 189, which Fox Sports 1 just so happened to get the footage of, now looks a bit suspect. Just a little bit.
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained first hand unless noted otherwise.
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