Matt Brown is happy to have been a part of Jesse Taylor’s camp leading up to his victory on “The Ultimate Fighter” (TUF) 25 Finale. It was Taylor who made the decision to train in Colorado with “The Immortal.” Brown explained to Flo Combat why Taylor felt the change was necessary: “It’s always nice to […]
Matt Brown is happy to have been a part of Jesse Taylor’s camp leading up to his victory on “The Ultimate Fighter” (TUF) 25 Finale. It was Taylor who made the decision to train in Colorado with “The Immortal.” Brown explained to Flo Combat why Taylor felt the change was necessary: “It’s always nice to […]
Jesse Taylor wants to lead by example. The road to success hasn’t been easy for “JT Money.” After being kicked out of the finals of “The Ultimate Fighter” (TUF) years ago, Taylor received another chance for the “Redemption” season. He fought through the house and defeated Dhiego Lima at the Finale last night (July 7). […]
Jesse Taylor wants to lead by example. The road to success hasn’t been easy for “JT Money.” After being kicked out of the finals of “The Ultimate Fighter” (TUF) years ago, Taylor received another chance for the “Redemption” season. He fought through the house and defeated Dhiego Lima at the Finale last night (July 7). […]
In the co-main event of tonight’s Ultimate Fighter Season 25 Finale (TUF 25 Finale), Jesse Taylor and Dhiego Lima went head-to-head to determine who would walk away with a UFC contract and the moniker of The Ultimate Fighter. Taylor came into the fight having lost three of his last five fights, while Lima was sitting […]
In the co-main event of tonight’s Ultimate Fighter Season 25 Finale (TUF 25 Finale), Jesse Taylor and Dhiego Lima went head-to-head to determine who would walk away with a UFC contract and the moniker of The Ultimate Fighter.
Taylor came into the fight having lost three of his last five fights, while Lima was sitting in the exact position. After their successful runs on The Ultimate Fighter, however, they got the opportunity to revitalize their careers and pounce on their second shot at the UFC.
Right out of the gate Taylor imposed his will on Lima with his wrestling, establishing dominant position and throwing up multiple submission attempts. After the conclusion of the first round, Lima shockingly opened up the second with a shot that dropped Taylor, however, it was Taylor who ended up in dominant position after a brief scramble.
Taylor was able to take Lima’s back and lock in a deep rear-naked choke, forcing Lima to tap and earning Taylor his first ever win under the UFC banner. You can check out the full fight video highlights here:
Dhiego Lima (12-6) couldn’t find an answer to Jesse Taylor’s (31-15) ground game when the two met in the TUF 25 finals in the co-main event of (July 7, 2017) The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 25 Finale from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Known for his grueling style of grappling, Taylor immediately went for a takedown […]
Dhiego Lima (12-6) couldn’t find an answer to Jesse Taylor’s (31-15) ground game when the two met in the TUF 25 finals in the co-main event of (July 7, 2017) The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 25 Finale from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Known for his grueling style of grappling, Taylor immediately went for a takedown and Lima landed strikes to try to defended it. “JT Money” held on to him and looked for the back. Taylor scored the takedown and was in full guard. He got the back of Lima and went for the choke, but couldn’t get it. He once again took the back and went for a choke, but unsuccessful. The round ended with Taylor raining down punches.
In the second round, however, Lima dropped Taylor with a left hand on the temple early. Taylor turned the tide quickly and took Lima’s back again. He locked in the rear-naked choke and forced the tap.
Taylor is the TUF season 25 winner.
Final Result: Jesse Taylor def. Dhiego Lima via submission (rear-naked choke) – R2, 0:43
The UFC’s Octagon has always been a cruel and merciless mistress. If a fighter doesn’t have what it takes to compete in the sports ultimate proving ground then they are generally weeded out in short order, more often than not in violent, and occasionally downright humiliating fashion. In this article we’ll go on the hunt
The UFC’s Octagon has always been a cruel and merciless mistress.
If a fighter doesn’t have what it takes to compete in the sports ultimate proving ground then they are generally weeded out in short order, more often than not in violent, and occasionally downright humiliating fashion.
In this article we’ll go on the hunt for 12 of the most disastrous debuts in UFC history, from the earliest years of the sport right through the present day.
These were performances so woefully inept or downright devastating that either the fighter was immediately shown the exit door, or they themselves came to the conclusion that the fight game was not for them after all.
So, without further ado, let’s take a look at 12 ex-UFC fighters who are members of a small, exclusive group that no-one wants to be part of – the ‘one and done’ club.
(Imagine this but 30 pounds heavier / Photo via Getty)
Chael Sonnen. Jim Ross. One night tournament. Holy shit. Are you ready for this?
We certainly weren’t (and judging by the sparse attendance, nobody else was either) The event was probably one of the most “freakshow-ish” events of the entire year, and we loved every second of it. Here’s a brief recap of the festivities!
The tournament, which was in the welterweight division, started off with Trey Houston vs. Jesse Taylor. Taylor took Houston down early and after a period of inactivity on the ground Houston managed to grab Taylor’s arm and lock in an armbar. Check out the GIF (this and others via Zombie Prophet/Fansided):
(Imagine this but 30 pounds heavier / Photo via Getty)
Chael Sonnen. Jim Ross. One night tournament. Holy shit. Are you ready for this?
We certainly weren’t (and judging by the sparse attendance, nobody else was either) The event was probably one of the most “freakshow-ish” events of the entire year, and we loved every second of it. Here’s a brief recap of the festivities!
The tournament, which was in the welterweight division, started off with Trey Houston vs. Jesse Taylor. Taylor took Houston down early and after a period of inactivity on the ground Houston managed to grab Taylor’s arm and lock in an armbar. Check out the GIF (this and others via Zombie Prophet/Fansided):
In the next quarterfinal bout, Roan Carneiro took on Randall Wallace. Carneiro took Wallace down immediately and out-classed him on the mat. He mounted Wallace, then took his back, and then scored a brutal armbar, the second of the night.
In the fight CagePotato viewed as the main event, Cody McKenzie fought Brock Larson. McKenzie looked awful physically. He sported a sizeable beer guy, channeling his inner Chuck Liddell. Despite his physique, he nearly managed to sink a guillotine in toward the end of the first round. But in the second, Larson’s strength prevailed. Overpowered McKenzie on the ground, passed his guard, and submitted him with an arm triangle choke.
The last quarterfinal took place between Joe Ray and Luigi Fioravanti. Fioravanti started the fight by pressing Ray up against the fence. This ended up working to Fioravanti’s disadvantage as Ray landed a knee in the clinch that hurt Fioravanti. Then Ray landed an additional pair of knees which floored Fioravanti, who turtled up.
After the semifinals, there was an interlude. A dude who as 16-23 took on a guy who was making his pro debut. Ugh. The 0-0 guy won. Moving on…
Two young featherweight fighters in Zac Church and Ryan Hayes met one another in a great scrap. The first round had some surprisingly technical scrambles between the two relatively inexperienced fighters and some decent striking exchanges as well. Unfortunately, this torrid pace didn’t continue and the fight slowed down by the end. Zac Church was awarded with a unanimous decision victory.
In semifinal one, Trey Houston met Roan Carneiro. Carneiro controlled the first, taking Houston down and mounting him. He wasn’t able to get the finish though. Carneiro landed a HUGE hook in the second that made Houston limp. Carneiro took Houston down off the punch and ultimately scored a TKO finish via ground and pound.
The next semifinal pit Joe Ray and Brock Larson against one another. Larson controlled the first, taking Ray down and cutting his nose open with an ‘accidental’ headbutt. Ray reversed his fortunes in the second. He managed to take Larson, the wrestler, down and stay on top of him in side control. Ray attempted a D’Arce choke that appeared to be sunk in but he couldn’t finish it. Larson controlled the last round with some serious lay and pray up until a fruitless flurry in the last few seconds. Larson won a unanimous decision. There weren’t any highlights from this to GIF, really.
So the finals were between Roan Carneiro and Brock Larson.
An interlude bout saw bantamweights Tyler Shinn fight Chris Gutierrez. This bout was pretty forgettable and wasn’t that great, in all honesty. Gutierrez was awarded with a split decision win.
Finally, the FINALS of the tournament. Roan Carneiro controlled the first round by pressing Larson against the fence, something we expected Larson to be doing to be honest. The second round saw much of the same and was pretty lackluster, to be honest. No fighter had any real offense, which was understandable as they were depleting from fighting twice already. Carneiro nearly finished the job in the start of the third round. He dragged Larson to the mat immediately, took his back, and started landing ground and pound. Larson, fighting off instinct, managed to regain half guard and then later full guard. Carneiro coasted on top for the rest of the round to win the fight via decision, as well as the entire tournament.
Overall:
We give this event a B-. I was certainly fun but it was plagued with pacing issues later on. The problem was that each tournament fighter had to have a 30-minute rest period after their tournament bouts. That killed the pacing in the last half of the card and made it run to an inconvenient time to those on the east coast. An earlier start date would work wonders. The tournament overall was intriguing, fun, and a refreshing change. It was a bit of a bummer that the final wasn’t terribly exciting.
And, of course, there was Chael Sonnen and Jim Ross on commentary. They started off pretty shaky but managed to pull it together and did a wonderful job. Chael was composed and very informative. JR did great as well, and had some great zingers too.
To us, the event was worth the $20. Let’s hope Battlegrounds survives to do a second event.
