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CagePotato Stats: A Brief History of ‘Ultimate Fighter’ Winners and Their First Post-TUF Fights

("Congrats buddy, here’s your piece of jagged f*cking glass." Photo courtesy of UFC.com)
MMA Junkie reported yesterday that TUF 11 winner Court McGee will return to the Octagon at UFC 121 (October 23rd, Anaheim) against Ryan Jensen. In doin…

Court McGee Ultimate Fighter TUF 11 Dana White trophy
("Congrats buddy, here’s your piece of jagged f*cking glass." Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

MMA Junkie reported yesterday that TUF 11 winner Court McGee will return to the Octagon at UFC 121 (October 23rd, Anaheim) against Ryan Jensen. In doing so, the well-bearded Utah native follows a proud tradition of Ultimate Fighter winners who take on middling veterans directly after winning their six-figure contracts, and beat them (most of the time) before eventually dropping in weight (some of the time). As a helpful reference, we decided to put together a timeline of those first post-TUF fights, as well as some relevant statistics. Starting at the beginning…

Season 1 light-heavyweight winner: Forrest Griffin
First post-TUF opponent: Bill Mahood (0-0 in the UFC at the time)
Result: Griffin via submission (rear-naked choke), round 1
Is Mahood still in the UFC? No, the fight against Griffin was Mahood’s only Octagon appearance.
Does Griffin still compete at light-heavyweight? Yes

Season 1 middleweight winner: Diego Sanchez
First post-TUF opponent: Brian Gassaway (0-0 in the UFC at the time)
Result: Sanchez via submission (strikes), round 2
Is Gassaway still in the UFC? No, the fight against Sanchez was Gassaway’s only Octagon appearance.
Does Sanchez still compete at middleweight? No. Sanchez immediately dropped to welterweight after the show, and has spent the majority of his UFC career there.

Is TUF 13 Hinging on Anderson Silva Beating Chael Sonnen?

("Why do they keep pitting me against Brazilians? It’s tougher to smash the faces of my fellow countrymen.")
TATAME is reporting that the UFC is planning to hold its second event in Brazil in 2011 and that the promotion could possibly do a Br…

("Why do they keep pitting me against Brazilians? It’s tougher to smash the faces of my fellow countrymen.")

TATAME is reporting that the UFC is planning to hold its second event in Brazil in 2011 and that the promotion could possibly do a Brazilian-only version of The Ultimate Fighter next year as well.

Looking at the current UFC roster and taking into account the SPIKE TV series’ penchant for (except in a few cases) pitting the two coaches against each other at the end of each season, I’m guessing they are looking at Anderson Silva opposite either Vitor Belfort or Demian Maia as the coaches for the show.

Matt Hamill Reveals he had Broken Hand, Staph Infection, in Bout with Keith Jardine

So unless you were dipping real hard into bath tub gin last night (just to reach out to our ‘fiscally challenged’ readership that can’t afford ‘corporate’ alcohol), you likely noticed the ‘WTF is that?’ mark on Matt Hamill’s lower back, during the broadcast of the TUF 11 Finale. It certainly captivated our interest here for several moments, but as the fight turned into one damn, entertaining and somewhat gory slugfest, naturally our attention to that specific detail wandered.

Now, if you didn’t see last night’s card, yes, you missed out, and you may also be unaware that Hamill outscored Keith Jardine for the MajorityDecision victory (and FYI-Court McGee tapped out Kris McCray to become the latest “Ultimate Fighter”). While Jardine’s face was a bloody mess by the fight’s end, Hamill also took his share of lumps during the tilt, including an inadvertent thumb in his right eye that cost Jardine a point. After the bout, Hamill appeared to be completely spent while talking to color man Kenny Florian, and according to a report from MMA Junkie, there’s some pretty good reasons for that. Not only did the light-heavweight break his hand in the first round, get poked in the eye, and fight a gruelling three round fight, remember that odd looking mark?

“I have a staph infection,” Hamill said. “I’ll get put on antibiotics tomorrow.”

Yeah, that’s nasty, real nasty, and apparently doctors decided before the fight that the infection would not punt the bout. Oh yeah, the Junkie report also added that Hamill limped into the post-fight presser; now that’s one hard fought win no?

‘TUF 11’ Finale Aftermath: All the Right People Win Bonuses; Hamill Overcomes Staph, Broken Hand, Eye-Poke to Beat Jardine

("The best part is, stick this baby in the freezer and it’ll keep your drinks cold on a hot summer day." PicProps: UFC.com)
Matt Hamill fought and defeated Keith Jardine on Saturday night with a staph infection he didn’t know he had as …

("The best part is, stick this baby in the freezer and it’ll keep your drinks cold on a hot summer day." PicProps: UFC.com)

Matt Hamill fought and defeated Keith Jardine on Saturday night with a staph infection he didn’t know he had as well as a broken hand suffered early in the fight round and blurred vision from getting poked in the eye during the second, according to statements made at the "TUF 11" Finale post-fight press conference. That makes it a bit more noteworthy that their three-round battle rightfully claimed “Fight of the Night” honors.

“I thought I was going to be blind and deaf. Enough handicaps,” Hamill joked at the press conference about getting a thumb in the eye that caused Jardine to lose a point in the second stanza. Any laughter caused by that comment could probably best be described as “uneasy.”

Other post-fight bonuses – each amounting to $25,000 – went to Chris Leben for his come-from-behind knockout of Aaron Simpson and Court McGee for choking out Kris McCray in the “TUF” championship. As for the infection – which caused the nasty-looking lesion on his back you may have noticed during the broadcast – Hamill said he planned to get started with some antibiotics ASAP. Yeah, you might want to get on that. After the jump, a picture of Hamill’s foulness.

Heads-Up: ‘TUF 11 Finale’ Live Results This Saturday Starting at 9 p.m. ET

(Props: Hamill the Movie on Vimeo)
If for some reason that hot date of yours falls through this Saturday night, why not swing by CagePotato.com, as our weekend editor Chad Dundas will be running the liveblog of the Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale. The …

(Props: Hamill the Movie on Vimeo)

If for some reason that hot date of yours falls through this Saturday night, why not swing by CagePotato.com, as our weekend editor Chad Dundas will be running the liveblog of the Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale. The show starts at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Spike TV, so check your local listings and be wary of spoilers. (And join a MMA FightPicker pool if you haven’t already!)

Speaking of the finale, co-headliner Matt Hamill is now the subject of an inspirational biopic called Hamill, which follows the athlete’s life and career; you can check out the trailer above, and learn more about the film at hamillthemovie.com. The actor who plays Matt is Russell Harvard, who you may remember as the "bastard from a basket" in There Will Be Blood. Plus, Rich Franklin is in the flick as some sort of disapproving wrestling coach, I guess. Now if they would only make a movie based on Court McGee’s life…

‘The New Keith Jardine’ Ready for Rebirth Against Matt Hamill

Filed under: UFCWith wins over Forrest Griffin, Chuck Liddell and Brandon Vera on his resume, one would think Keith Jardine was past the “coming into his own” stage of his career.

With three straight losses – and four in his last five – heading into …

Filed under: UFC

With wins over Forrest Griffin, Chuck Liddell and Brandon Vera on his resume, one would think Keith Jardine was past the “coming into his own” stage of his career.

With three straight losses – and four in his last five – heading into his Saturday fight against Matt Hamill on “The Ultimate Fighter” live season finale in Las Vegas, it would be natural to think the UFC light heavyweight was frustrated or even concerned about his future. But Jardine chalks the losses up to a simple slump.

“I’ve been going through some growing pains and I’ve been in a little bit of a funk,” Jardine said Wednesday on a media call for Saturday’s fight. “And I needed to go through those pains to get to here. I’ve showed glimpses of greatness. I knew two years ago, I beat Forrest, I beat Liddell, I beat those guys. But I knew I wasn’t the fighter I wanted to be. I knew I wasn’t ready to carry the UFC torch yet.”