Another week down and another week of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series is in the books. This week the final two quarterfinal matches were decided with Kyle Watson taking on Aaron Wilkinson, while Michael Johnson battled teammate Alex Caceres for a spot in the semi-finals.
In the first bout, it’s the veteran Watson and the UK’s Wilkinson squaring off, and Watson draws first blood with a takedown in the opening minute. Wilkinson tries to stay close to force a re-start, but the Team GSP fighter keeps working as he looks for a submission. With the three minutes left, Wilkinson is briefly able to get back to his feet, but Watson puts him down again, this time ending up in the mount position. Wilkinson turns to escape, but gives up his back. Moments later, Watson sinks in a rear naked choke that produces a tap and ends the bout.
Following the bout, Team GSP coach Georges St-Pierre brings in another special guest to work with his squad, renowned boxing trainer Freddie Roach, the man behind Manny Pacquiao.
St-Pierre has made a decision regarding the final quarterfinal bout, opting to not corner either of his team members.
“Alex and Michael hate each other, and the best way to take care of that problem is to make them fight together,” said the welterweight champ.
A definite fan of Caceres is opposing coach Josh Koscheck, who tries to stir the pot by saying St-Pierre is using Caceres as the sacrificial lamb for his top prospect, Johnson. St-Pierre and Johnson laugh the barbs off though.
After some crisp exchanges to kick off the Johnson vs Caceres bout, Johnson scores a quick takedown. The fighters get back to their feet fairly quickly, and Johnson knocks Caceres’ mouthpiece out before putting his foe on his back again. Both fighters stay active, and in a scramble, Caceres stands and fires off some flurries. Caceres looks like he’s getting his rhythm, but as soon as Johnson gets him against the fence, he regains control. Caceres finishes the fast-paced round strong though.
Johnson gets the bout to the mat immediately in round two, and his superior wrestling is causing problems for Caceres. After pushing his opponent against the fence, Johnson works his ground strikes, giving Caceres enough space to get back to his feet, but only briefly. Another scramble finds Caceres on top, and he’s able to get some strikes off before the two stand, yet in the end, it’s Johnson with another takedown. With under a minute left, Caceres gets up, but he’s unable to mount a serious offensive charge, instead getting slammed to the mat and kept there to the bell.
Scores across the board were 20-18 for Johnson, who moves on to the semifinals.
To see who will square off in the semi-final matchups visit UFC.com.