The TUF season isn’t over, but Kelvin Gastelum and “Bubba” McDaniel may have guaranteed $25,000 in their pockets for fight of the season. A fight that had a plethora of back and forth sweeps, also saw an heavy favorite tap to the underdog. Despite having a significant experience and striking disadvantage, Team Sonnen was confident that Gastelum would surprise Team Jones with an upset.
More than likely, the majority of fans expected Bubba to pick apart Gastelum on the feet, and counter strike every time he came forward. However, that not at all what happened. It was an extremely competitive first round, both on the feet, and on the ground. Gastelum always initiated the takedown, but several time Bubba was able to sit up and reverse the position, giving him top control. Again though, Gastelum would scramble and find himself on top. The round ended with Gastelum landing punches on top, which may have been enough for the judges to score it in his favor. However, I can see Bubba getting the round due to the time he had back control. Either way, extremely close round.
With the uncertainty of who took round one, both fighters came out with a sense of urgency. They exchanged leg kicks and again, the fight went to the ground. Gastelum dropped back for a guillotine choke, but Bubba escaped and took top control. You could hear the constant shouts from Sonnen for Gastelum to improve his position after putting himself in such a compromising one. He did just that, and took the back of Bubba. It wasn’t long before Gastelum sunk in a deep rear naked choke, and forced the tap.
Team Sonnen regains control, and I guarantee in Gastelum’s next fight he won’t be taken so lightly. After a victory over one of the more promising and experienced competitors, he’ll have all the fighters looking at Gastelum as a serious contender.
This TUF season has easily been one of the more exciting seasons. To keep the excitement going, next week’s fight will feature the bout between Team Sonnen’s, Tor Troeng, and Team Jones’, Josh Samman. If Team Jones wants to have a fighting chance, Samman will need to secure a victory one way or another.
– Ryan “Fight Freek” Poli
@FightFreek