The main event at the Ultimate Fighter 15 finale resulted in an upset as Martin Kampann finished Jake Ellenberger with a second round TKO after landing a short counter right hand and following up with knee strikes. In typical Kampmann style, he was knocked down by a huge Ellenberger right hand in the first round but managed to survive a difficult spot to come back and earn the victory. Most of Kampmann’s fights end with both competitors wearing the evidence of a back and forth striking battle and last night’s installment was no different. The opening round of the fight started with both fighters wary of the other’s dangerous striking. Ellenberger landed the right hand half way through the round and pounced on Kapmann in an attempt to end the fight. Kampmann was aware enough to defend against the ground and pound barrage that ensued forcing Ellenberger to slow down to avoid burning himself out. Kampmann was more aggressive to begin the second round and started to hurt Ellenberger with counter punches. A quick counter right hand that was almost imperceptible sent Ellenberger stumbling toward the cage and Kampmann moved forward patiently to finish the fight. He landed two big knees that dropped his opponent and would have continued his attack on the ground had the fight not been stopped. Initially, the stoppage seemed quick but Ellenberger wasn’t upset with it and the replay showed that he was not in a defensive position. For Ellenberger, this is a step back after years of climbing the welterweight ladder. With losses to current interim 170 pound champion Carlos Condit and Kampmann, he will have to put together a few victories in a row to get back into the title picture. For Kampmann, he has taken one step closer to a title fight. The most likely fight after last night’s results seems to be a contender fight with Johnny Hendricks who recently defeated Josh Koscheck.
Charles Oliveira earned his second consecutive victory at 145 pounds when Jonathan Brookins tapped to a second round guillotine choke. Oliveira was clearly the better fighter throughout the fight with Brookins only gaining an advantage when he was briefly able to draw Oliveira into wild brawling exchanges. For most of the fight, Oliveira stayed on the outside landing punches and leg kicks while occasionally closing the distance with combinations. Oliviera put Brookins on his back in the second round and took advantage of his opponent’s attempt to stand up by latching on to a guillotine choke and submitting Brookins. We may have seen Brookins’ ceiling in the fight and while he can provide interesting fights going forward, he will probably never be a title contender. Expect to see him get a more winnable fight in his next cage appearance as the UFC looks to protect its former Ultimate Fighter winner. For Oliviera, this was one more step toward what looks to be an inevitable rise to the upper echelon of the featherweight division. The question for the UFC is how fast to move him along because if they put him in with a top competitor too quickly, his relative inexperience at age twenty two could lead to a loss. However, he has established that mid tier fighters will not provide any competition so feeding him two or three more easy fights may not be the best decision either.
In the other non TUF related fight on the card, Max Holloway dominated Pat Schilling. At just twenty years old, Holloway was impressive and his development over the next few years will be interesting to watch. After being outclassed by Dustin Poirier in his first UFC fight, Holloway was able to display his full arsenal against Schilling. He brutalized Shilling’s body with punches that left his opponnent barely able to get back to a standing position by the end of the fight. Holloway showed excellent poise in following his gameplan, which was clearly not to engage with Schilling on the ground and keep the fight on the feet. The only time he was in any danger was when Schilling latched on to a kneebar at the end of the first round. From that point, Holloway refused to go to the ground even after dropping Schilling with punches. He made his opponent stand up and continued his assault on the feet. The only way he could have been more impressive was to finish the fight but considering his age and striking acumen, Holloway is on the right track toward becoming a factor in the 145 pound division.