Judging by the comments section on our TUF 17 Finale Aftermath, the majority of you felt that Travis Browne’s victory over Gabriel Gonzaga should have an asterisk next to it. Early in the fight, Gonzaga pressed Browne against the cage looking for a takedown. Browne unleashed a series of elbows to Gonzaga’s head that knocked him out just one minute and eleven seconds into the first round and earned Browne the Knockout of the Night bonus. However, as many fans have pointed out, it appeared that the elbows that ended the fight hit Gabriel Gonzaga directly in the back of the head.
Shortly after the fight, Gabriel Gonzaga’s manager, Marco Alvan, took to his Facebook page to inform fans that he would be appealing the outcome. Via Facebook:
Guys Gabriel Gonzaga is ok, thanks for the messages.
I need to review it to count how many illegal elbows but Its a fact that it was illegal.
I contacted Keith Kizer head of Nevada Athletic Comission and he told me to file a complaint and he would review it.
I true believe it was illegal. I never complaint about a losses who knows me know that I handle it good but illegal we can not accept.
In a follow-up post, Alvan also expressed his interest in setting up a rematch against Travis Browne:
Judging by the comments section on our TUF 17 Finale Aftermath, the majority of you felt that Travis Browne’s victory over Gabriel Gonzaga should have an asterisk next to it. Early in the fight, Gonzaga pressed Browne against the cage looking for a takedown. Browne unleashed a series of elbows to Gonzaga’s head that knocked him out just one minute and eleven seconds into the first round and earned Browne the Knockout of the Night bonus. However, as many fans have pointed out, it appeared that the elbows that ended the fight hit Gabriel Gonzaga directly in the back of the head.
Shortly after the fight, Gabriel Gonzaga’s manager, Marco Alvan, took to his Facebook page to inform fans that he would be appealing the outcome. Via Facebook:
Guys Gabriel Gonzaga is ok, thanks for the messages.
I need to review it to count how many illegal elbows but Its a fact that it was illegal.
I contacted Keith Kizer head of Nevada Athletic Comission and he told me to file a complaint and he would review it.
I true believe it was illegal. I never complaint about a losses who knows me know that I handle it good but illegal we can not accept.
In a follow-up post, Alvan also expressed his interest in setting up a rematch against Travis Browne:
This videois clear about the elbow [Author Note: This appears to be a video of the fourth and fifth elbows landed].
I very hope the commission look it carefully and make a correct decision about it. We respect Travis and his camp but it was a sad night. We hope this result can be fixed and get a new fight between them.
I don’t know who post it but thanks to clarify for all of us!
If you watch the ending again, you’ll see that the first two elbows landed cleanly to the side of Gonzaga’s head. The elbow that put Gonzaga out was possibly illegal, and the last three elbows clearly hit the back of the head. However, since Gonzaga was already out when they landed, they didn’t potentially affect the outcome of the fight. The NSAC’s ruling on the third elbow will more than likely decide the outcome of this case.
In the meantime, what do you think happened? Should Gonzaga get a rematch against Browne, or was he already out by the time he was hit in the back of the head?
(Anderson Silva’s knees and GSP’s shorts — no can defend. / Photo via Getty Images)
According to information released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the UFC paid out $708,500 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the 24 fighters who competed at the Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale on Saturday. Main-eventer Urijah Faber was the only fighter to crack six-figures. (If you don’t include end-of-night bonuses, he was also the only fighter to earn over $50,000 in show/win money.) Check out the full payout list below, and keep in mind that these numbers don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships or undisclosed “locker room bonuses,” or deductions from taxes, insurance, and licensing fees.
Kelvin Gastelum: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus; he also won a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and a glass thing)
def. Uriah Hall: $8,000
Cat Zingano*: $64,000 (includes $7,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
def. Miesha Tate: $78,000 (includes $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Travis Browne: $90,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus, $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)
def. Gabriel Gonzaga: $24,000
(Anderson Silva’s knees and GSP’s shorts — no can defend. / Photo via Getty Images)
According to information released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the UFC paid out $708,500 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the 24 fighters who competed at the Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale on Saturday. Main-eventer Urijah Faber was the only fighter to crack six-figures. (If you don’t include end-of-night bonuses, he was also the only fighter to earn over $50,000 in show/win money.) Check out the full payout list below, and keep in mind that these numbers don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships or undisclosed “locker room bonuses,” or deductions from taxes, insurance, and licensing fees.
Kelvin Gastelum: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus; he also won a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and a glass thing)
def. Uriah Hall: $8,000
Cat Zingano*: $64,000 (includes $7,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
def. Miesha Tate: $78,000 (includes $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Travis Browne: $90,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus, $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)
def. Gabriel Gonzaga: $24,000
Daniel Pineda: $76,000 (includes $13,000 win bonus, $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
def. Justin Lawrence: $8,000
* Note:Cat Zingano‘s $7,000 to-show salary was $1,000 less than the lowest-earning male fighters on the lineup. In other words, a main-card fighter who was potentially one fight away from a title shot against Ronda Rousey was guaranteed 87.5% of the salary of TUF 17 castmembers like Kevin Casey, Collin Hart, Gilbert Smith, and Jimmy Quinlan, who will likely be released after losing their fights on Saturday. It’s hard to avoid thinking about the gender wage gap when an undefeated female prospect is conspicuously paid less than everybody else. (Here’s the part where you call me a liberal pussy, girls are lucky to be on the card in the first place, Joe Rogan Podcast all day.)
They were brutal, they were effective, they were thrown with a remarkable amount of force from a very short range and they earned Travis Browne an extra $50,000 in walking-around money, but were they legal? That’s the question that many, inc…
They were brutal, they were effective, they were thrown with a remarkable amount of force from a very short range and they earned Travis Browne an extra $50,000 in walking-around money, but were they legal?
That’s the question that many, including Gabriel Gonzaga’s camp are wondering in the aftermath of Browne’s brutal elbows-to-the-head knockout from Saturday’s TUF 17 Finale fight card.
The fight was brief. Browne opened with an attempted high kick, which Gonzaga avoided and then shot for a single leg and the two scrambled to the fence. Gonzaga, with Browne’s back against the cage, then worked for a single-leg takedown. The ill-advised attempt put Gonzaga’s head on the hip of Browne, giving Browne a perfect shot at the side of Gonzaga’s head with his elbow.
Browne saw that opening, took it and turned the lights out for Gonzaga, ending his night at the 1:11 mark of Round 1.
Watching the video, you can see that the initial elbows that put Gonzaga out and effectively ended the fight were legal, but as Gonzaga’s consciousness fades and he begins to slide down the legs of Browne on his way to the mat at least one of the Browne’s elbows hit the back of the head of Gonzaga, making those strikes illegal.
That fact was noted by Gonzaga’s manager, Marco Alvan, who posted the following on his Facebook page: “I contacted Keith Kizer head of Nevada Athletic Comission and he told me to file a complaint and he would review it. I true believe it was illegal. I never complaint about a losses who knows me know that I handle it good but illegal we can not accept.”
Browne was asked about those elbows at the post-fight press conference, “I remember hitting him with one and the referee was right there and he didn’t say anything so I hit him with two more.”
It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. At least one elbow hit the back of the head of Gonzaga, but he was already out when that elbow made impact.
Does that fact make the blow any less illegal? Should every fighter be held accountable for every strike they throw? Is the referee to blame for a potentially late stoppage?
There are a lot of questions that will need to be answered of Gonzaga’s camp do file a complaint.
Every UFC main event has to be about something, and when there aren’t any titles on the line, things tend to get pretty creative. Leading up to the main event of the TUF 17 Finale, the talk surrounding the bout focused on the friendship between competitors Urijah Faber and Scott Jorgensen and how it may affect the bout. Whether the two were actually the close friends that the media made them out to be was completely irrelevant; which is good, because Jorgensen revealed during fight week that they weren’t.
What we were left with was a bout between the number two and number seven ranked bantamweights that played out as expected. This isn’t to say that the fight wasn’t entertaining (it was), but Jorgensen was outgunned early and often by Faber before “The California Kid” sank in the fight ending rear-naked choke in the fourth round. It was closer than the gambling odds indicated it would be, but not exactly a close fight, and though Jorgensen managed to mount some offense of his own, he never appeared to be any real threat to Faber.
The bantamweight division is very top-heavy, which perhaps more than anything explains why Urijah Faber is seemingly always one fight away from a title shot. The gap between the top five guys and the rest of the division is wider than most fans would care to acknowledge, and it showed last night. Still, I’d rather watch Urijah Faber fight Michael McDonald than watch him get crammed into yet another title fight. I doubt I’m in the minority here – at least among hardcore fans.
Photo Courtesy of Getty Images.
Every UFC main event has to be about something, and when there aren’t any titles on the line, things tend to get pretty creative. Leading up to the main event of the TUF 17 Finale, the talk surrounding the bout focused on the friendship between competitors Urijah Faber and Scott Jorgensen and how it may affect the bout. Whether the two were actually the close friends that the media made them out to be was completely irrelevant; which is good, because Jorgensen revealed during fight week that they weren’t.
What we were left with was a bout between the number two and number seven ranked bantamweights that played out as expected. This isn’t to say that the fight wasn’t entertaining (it was), but Jorgensen was outgunned early and often by Faber before “The California Kid” sank in the fight ending rear-naked choke in the fourth round. It was closer than the gambling odds indicated it would be, but not exactly a close fight, and though Jorgensen managed to mount some offense of his own, he never appeared to be any real threat to Faber.
The bantamweight division is very top-heavy, which perhaps more than anything explains why Urijah Faber is seemingly always one fight away from a title shot. The gap between the top five guys and the rest of the division is wider than most fans would care to acknowledge, and it showed last night. Still, I’d rather watch Urijah Faber fight Michael McDonald than watch him get crammed into yet another title fight. I doubt I’m in the minority here – at least among hardcore fans.
Of course, the “friendship” angle between Faber and Jorgensen wasn’t the only storyline from last night to abruptly fall apart. After Anik’s interview with Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen, it’s safe to say that any possibility of the UFC marketing these two guys as bitter rivals/sworn enemies/anything other than apathetic about fighting each other is off the table. Judging by the comments on last night’s liveblog, I may be the only person who actually enjoyed the segment, but I digress. Oh, one more obvious storyline fell apart last night, too.
Elsewhere on the card…
– Throughout this season of The Ultimate Fighter, it seemed obvious that Uriah Hall was destined for stardom. He steamrolled his way through his competition on the show, impressed us with flashy, Tekken-inspired kicks and appeared ready to make an immediate impact on the UFC middleweight division. On paper, Hall’s co-main event clash with Kelvin Gastelum for this season’s championship was strictly a formality, as Gastelum was no threat to actually win this fight, right?
Not quite. Gastelum surprised many – including Hall – by being more than willing to press the action against the feared striker, and earned takedowns throughout the course of the bout. Even though Hall managed to reverse some of Gastelum’s attempts, in the end Gastelum took the fight – and this season’s championship – by way of split decision.
Perhaps it’s fitting that the most interesting season of The Ultimate Fighter in recent memory ended with an underdog winning it all, but don’t be quick to dismiss Kelvin Gastelum. Gastelum may not have the resume that Hall has, but a good wrestler who doesn’t get gun-shy has unlimited upward mobility in the UFC. As the youngest TUF champion in the history of the show, Gastelum has the potential to make quite the impact on the middleweight division. Likewise, don’t give up on Uriah Hall just yet. The close loss may be a product of Hall having the Octagon jitters, something that happens to many fighters the first time they fight in the UFC. Time will tell how Hall bounces back from this defeat.
– The $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus rightfully went to Cat Zingano and Miesha Tate for their three round brawl. Although Zingano kept the bout close, Tate’s wrestling earned her the edge on the judge’s scorecards heading into the third round. However, Zingano was in complete control in the third round, earning a takedown and landing strikes at will against Tate. After catching Tate with a knee during a scramble, Zingano kept swinging until Kim Winslow stopped the bout. Cat Zingano earned a coaching slot on The Ultimate Fighter 18 alongside Ronda Rousey – as well as a title shot at the end of the season – with the victory.
Fights are virtually guaranteed to end in controversy whenever Kim Winslow is in the cage, and this fight proved to be no exception. After the event, Miesha Tate expressed her anger over the stoppage, claiming that Winslow waived things off too soon. “She told me, ‘Show me something,’” said Tate. “I don’t know what you want. I sat up, I shot a double, I got back to my feet. I took some damage because of that, because I was trying to listen to the referee, and she fucking stopped the fight.” Despite Tate’s argument that the stoppage was early (for what it’s worth, I didn’t think it was), it was a great fight that further demonstrated why women belong in the UFC.
– Travis Browne is certainly one of the most creative strikers in the UFC, but I know I can’t be the only person who thought “not this again” when he started his bout against Gabriel Gonzaga with a wild high kick that completely missed its target. Throughout the next minute of the fight, it was obvious that Gonzaga wanted nothing to do with Browne’s striking. During the last six seconds of the fight, it was obvious why. Despite Gonzaga’s best efforts to neutralize Browne’s dynamic stand-up, Browne only needed a few standing hellbows to shut out Napao’s lights, earning himself the $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus.
– If you didn’t like watching Bubba McDaniel thoroughly outclass Gilbert Smith on his way to a third round triangle choke victory, you’ll possibly take comfort in knowing that he didn’t win the $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus for his efforts. Instead, the honor went to Daniel Pineda, who kicked off the card with a first round victory by kimura over Justin Lawrence.
– As for the $25,000 End of the Season awards, Fight of the Season went to Dylan Andrews and Luke Barnatt for their back-and-forth quarterfinal fight that Andrews eventually won by TKO, Submission of the Season went to Kelvin Gastelum for his rear-naked choke victory over Josh Samman during the semifinals, and I think it’s pretty obvious who took home Knockout of the Season.
Full Results:
Main Card:
Urijah Faber def. Scott Jorgensen via submission (rear-naked choke), 3:16 of Round Four
Kelvin Gastelum def. Uriah Hall via Split-Decision
Cat Zingano def. Miesha Tate via TKO (knees & elbow), 2:55 of Round Three
Travis Browne def. Gabriel Gonzaga via KO (elbows), 1:11 of Round One
Bubba McDaniel def. Gilbert Smith via submission (triangle choke), 2:49 of Round Three
Preliminary card:
Josh Samman def. Kevin Casey via TKO (knees), 2:17 of Round Two
Luke Barnatt def. Collin Hart via Unanimous Decision
Dylan Andrews def. Jimmy Quinlan via TKO (punches), 3:22 of Round One
Clint Hester def. Bristol Marunde via KO (elbow), 3:53 of Round Three
Cole Miller def. Bart Palaszewski via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:23 of Round One
Maximo Blanco def. Sam Sicilia via Unanimous Decision
Daniel Pineda def. Justin Lawrence via submission (kimura), 1:35 of Round One
Travis Browne delivered a barrage of lethal elbows to end Gabriel Gonzaga’s night at the 1:11 mark of the opening round of their heavyweight contest at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale.Browne missed a high kick right out of the gate, and Gonzaga immediat…
Travis Browne delivered a barrage of lethal elbows to end Gabriel Gonzaga‘s night at the 1:11 mark of the opening round of their heavyweight contest at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale.
Browne missed a high kick right out of the gate, and Gonzaga immediately went for a takedown. Browne then found himself pressed up against the cage, worked his left under hook to fend off the takedown attempt and with his free hand, delivered the lethal array of elbows to get the finish and “Knockout of the Night” bonus.
What we will remember about this fight
Nothing too memorable in a fight that only lasts a little over a minute, but we are reminded that in the heavyweight division, any fighter’s night can end in an instant. Browne struck first and struck hard to end Gonzaga’s two-fight win streak.
What we learned about Travis Browne
We learned that Browne’s left leg was fully recovered from the hamstring injury he suffered during the Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva fight, and that he lacked no confidence in it after immediately opening the fight with a left high kick.
Browne proved that he is still one of the better heavyweights in the UFC—and if not for the loss to Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva—could already be ranked in the top 10 of the division.
He needed a win and went out and got it done in exciting fashion, earning an extra $50,000 in the process.
What we learned about Gabriel Gonzaga
We learned that Gonzaga sold out for too long on his takedown attempt of Browne, and it cost him dearly. He did look great in winning his first two fights back under the UFC umbrella, but once up against stiff competition, we are reminded now that his best days are clearly behind him.
What’s next for Travis Browne
An asterisk most likely needs to be placed next to his loss vs. “Bigfoot” Silva. That being said, he still has to earn his way into the upper echelon. A fight against the winner of StipeMiocic vs. SoaPaleli, Roy Nelson vs. Cheick Kongo or Pat Barry vs. Shawn Jordan sounds about right.
What’s next for Gabriel Gonzaga
If he doesn’t receive a pink slip—which is highly likely even after one loss nowadays—maybe he gets another fight against the loser of the fights mentioned above, Phil De Fries or the loser of Shane Del Rosario vs. Dave Herman.
On Saturday night, The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale brought fans a memorable night of fights. As is the tradition, the UFC awarded $50,000 bonuses for the best knockout, submission and fight of the night.Competition for each of the awards were fierce, as…
On Saturday night, The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale brought fans a memorable night of fights. As is the tradition, the UFC awarded $50,000 bonuses for the best knockout, submission and fight of the night.
Competition for each of the awards were fierce, as most fights were brought to a competitive halt before the judges rendered a decision. Heading into the main event, fans were treated to eight stoppages, which included three submissions and five knockouts.
As if that weren’t enough, former WEC champion Urijah Faber ended the night on a bang when he choked out Scott Jorgensen in the evening’s headliner.
Submission of the Night, however, was not given to “The California Kid.” Instead, that award was given to Daniel Pineda, who wasted little time in defeating Justin Lawrence via kimura. The stoppage came 95 seconds into the evening’s opening contest.
Winning a Knockout of the Night award was even tougher. Despite excellent finishes from Cat Zingano, Josh Samman, Dylan Andrews and Clint Hester, it was heavyweight Travis Browne who fattened his bank account with a bonus check.
Browne knocked out Gabriel Gonzaga with a series of elbows while his Brazilian opponent was hunting for a takedown against the cage.
Fight of the Night went to Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano for their back-and-forth battle that was too close to call heading into the final round. Zingano ultimately earned the stoppage after rocking Tate with face-crushing knees.
Stay tuned to Bleacher Report for post-fight analysis on the TUF 17 Finale, as well as preview pieces for the hotly anticipated UFC on Fox 7 and UFC 159 cards.
