For once, UFC president Dana White wasn’t over-embellishing just for the heck of it—that was an extremely grisly knockout.
In the second first-round fight of The Ultimate Fighter 17, series favorite Uriah Hall of Team Sonnen squared off against Team Jones’ No 6. pick, Adam Cella, with Cella looking like the clear underdog.
• Let’s get the big news out of the way first. Uriah Hall nearly broke Cella’s neck with a HARD spinning rear-hook kick to the skull. What’s especially scary is that Hall flicked it out from nowhere, like the attack was a simple jab. Cella eventually woke up but was sent to the hospital for a CAT scan.
• Hall vs. Cella started out kind of slowly for much of the first round, although Hall was the only fighter scoring knockdowns and trip takedowns. As the round was about to end, Uriah Hall spun a picture-perfect rear-hook kick right into Cella’s face, catching him completely off guard.
• Seriously, Cella’s hands were barely up. He took the full force of the blow, dropping to the mat like he’d been shot.
• Team Chael Sonnen now has a 2-0 lead on Team Jon Jones for Season 17, with Sonnen lining up Kevin Casey vs. Collin Hart next. Here’s the updated roster, with winners in bold, losers scratched off and the next competitors in italics:
Team Jones:
1. Clint Hester (7-3)
2. Josh Samman (9-2)
3. Robert “Bubba” McDaniel (20-6)4. Gilbert Smith Jr. (5-1)
5. Collin Hart (4-1-1)6. Adam Cella (4-0)
7. Dylan Andrews (16-4-1)
Team Sonnen:
1. Luke Barnatt (5-0)
2. Uriah Hall (7-2)
3. Zak Cummings (15-3)
4. Tor Troeng (15-4-1)
5. Jimmy Quinlan (3-0)
6. Kevin Casey (5-2)
7. Kelvin Gastelum (5-0)
• Just to reiterate, what made the KO so memorable was that both teams went silent went Cella hit the Octagon mat—and judging by the editing, it took a little while for Cella to wake up. Even Hall seemed shocked by what he’d done, later apologizing to Cella via the camera for hurting him so badly.
• Brrr. Suddenly, I fear for Josh Samman if Hall gets his hands on him.
• After Cella and Jon Jones were packed off to the hospital, White came into Team Sonnen’s locker room to congratulate Hall, telling his teammates that they may as well give up on earning the $25,000 cash prizes for “KO of the Season” now. Yeesh.
• Casey will be fighting up a notch with Hart. Bubba McDaniel made a point to whine about the match, saying that Casey was ducking him.
• So that seals it, right? Uriah Hall must be a finalist.
• Man, it’s going to feel like a long wait for Uriah Hall’s next fight on the show. Regardless, we’ll be back next week for another TUF 17 recap with Episode 4, but if you missed the play-by-play, check it out right here.
McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist and FightFans Radio writer. His work has appeared in GamePro, Macworld and PC World. Talk with him on Twitter.
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