Another match, another surprising upset by an underdog fighter.
After the sixth bout of this season’s Team Sonnen vs. Team Jones competition on The Ultimate Fighter, Clint Hester joins Bubba McDaniel and Tor Troeng on the “shocking upset” list as Jimmy Quinlan nets a solid victory for his crew.
There’s quite a bit that happened this week, so let’s get to the recap.
(Read the full episode play-by-play here.)
• Plenty of MMA fans like to complain about the poor quality in MMA judging, but tonight was a clear case of the first round score depending on how you rate takedowns. From the opening bell, Quinlan had no problem taking down Hester over and over, including some really impressive slams.
• However, the takedowns were really the extent of Quinlan’s offense, as he mostly held on to double-leg and single-leg attempts while Hester hit him with big elbows and short punches. Even Chael Sonnen himself said that Hester probably won the first round, which is pretty honest.
• Fortunately for Quinlan, it’s nearly impossible to score a knockout blow while grappling, and the minute he took Hester’s back, his game suddenly opened up. Even with the cage fence helping him stay off his back, Hester was lost on the ground, eventually giving up his back and tapping out to a rear-naked choke in the second round.
• That’s another major blow to Team Jones, and for Jon Jones himself. It had to be especially distressing to see his No. 1 pick get beaten in the first round brackets. If Dylan Andrew doesn’t do something spectacular in his upcoming match against Zak Cummings, this season’s next set of fights is going to be pretty lopsided in Team Sonnen‘s favor.
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)
[Note: Winners are in bold, losers are scratched off the list and the next competitors’ names are in italics.]
• Man, it must suck to be Uriah Hall. Judging by the editing, he’s pretty much turned himself into the house pariah, and it’s not going to get any easier for him as the season goes on. But maybe that’s not really the case. He seems pretty happy sitting in the crowd at UFC events.
• Is it just me, or does it seem weird that the coaches’ challenge involves driving a big, huge destructive vehicle? That just screams “horrible accident waiting to happen”—especially with Jones behind the wheel.
• Nah, I’m kidding. Jones should be fine under supervision.
• Still looks dangerous though. Not kidding.
• Honestly, it’s been so long that I don’t even remember how Dylan Andrews looked in the qualifying rounds to get into the TUF house. It couldn’t have been anything special, since he was picked dead-last.
• With that last fight in the bag, it’s going to be interesting to see who gets picked for the wild card. Both Sonnen and Jones get to make one pick, and the general assumption is that Jones will choose his training buddy, Bubba McDaniel. Given how he lost, Bubba arguably doesn’t deserve it, but maybe that’s what the big twist is about. For Team Sonnen, it’s a toss-up between Kevin Casey or Tor Troeng—both of them have major drawbacks.
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