TUF 10 Finale Predictions: The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale Preview

The preview & predictions for The Ultimate Fighter's Season 10 finale

The Ultimate Fighter 10 wrapped up on Wednesday night as we saw Roy Nelson and Brendan Schaub advance to the TUF 10 Championship with the two fighting for the 6-figure contract from the UFC. The TUF 10 finale will be broadcast live on Spike TV on Saturday, December 5 at 9 pm at The Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada. For the complete TUF 10 finale results, look to ProFighting-fans.com, the leader for UFC news online.

TUF 10 Preliminary Fight Predictions:

Mark Bocek vs. Joe Brammer

Veteran Canadian lightweight Mark Bocek (7-2) will welcome UFC newcomer Joe Brammer (7-0-1) into the UFC’s octagon at The Ultimate Fighter 10: Heavyweights Finale on December 5th in a preliminary card bout.

Joe “The Hammer” Brammer, 26, enters the UFC after stints in the XKK, Midwest Cage Championship, and Glory FC organizations spanning over the last four-plus years. The Iowa-based fighter has six stoppages throughout his eight career bouts, five of which are submission finishes. In 2009, Brammer has won both of his fights, submitting Micheal Johnson in March and then winning a unanimous decision against one-time WEC competitor Chris Mickle.

Mark Bocek, a 28-year old American Top Team fighter, won all four of his pre-UFC bouts with 1st round stoppages while fighting for TKO, APEX, and King of the Cage promotions. His UFC career got off to a bumpy start, going 1-2 after his first eight months, however he has rebounded with back-to-back wins over the last year. He submitted Alvin Robinson at UFC 91 last November and then returned in April at UFC 97 to submit David Bielkheden via 1st round rear naked choke.

Prediction – Bocek over Brammer via submission

John Howard vs. Dennis Hallman

Dennis “Superman” Hallman (42-12-2) returns to fight in the UFC for the first time in over four years at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale when he takes on 26-year old Boston-native John “Doomsday” Howard (12-4) in a welterweight bout on the preliminary card.

Howard debuted over five years ago and has steadily improved during his rise through the minor league circuit. Prior to his octagon debut, “Doomsday” won three in a row fighting in the Ring of Combat and International Fight League organizations. He arrived in January 2009 at UFC 94 with a tight split decision victory over Team Quest’s Chris Wilson and then defeated Tamdan McCrory at UFC 101 in August with another split decision.

Dennis “Superman” Hallman is a twelve-year veteran with over 55 professional fights to his credit. Well traveled throughout his career, Hallman fought four times inside the octagon from December 2000 through October 2005. He registered a victory once in four UFC fights, defeating Matt Hughes in his debut at UFC 26 and then losing to Jens Pulver (for the lightweight title at UFC 33), Frank Trigg (UFC 48) and Jorge Rivera (UFC 55) in his return trips. He is currently on a five-fight win streak that has seen him submit four opponents while fighting in the IFL, USA MMA, Strikeforce, and SRP organizations.

Prediction – Hallman over Howard via submission

Darrill Schoonover vs. James McSweeney

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A pair of Team Rashad teammates will go at it as Darrill Schoonover (10-0) takes on James McSweeney (3-4) in a bout that will be placed on the preliminary card of The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale.

Although a constant target of opposite coach Rampage Jackson’s insults, Schoonover was able to land a position on the TUF 10 undercard. The 24-year old Texas-native fought and won twice already in 2009. He will be re-assigned back into the US Army and deployed to Afghanistan shortly after his bout. His trek to the finale took him through Zak Jensen via 1st round submission. His momentum was stopped when he lost via 1st round KO to Marcus Jones in the quarterfinal round.

James McSweeney, a 29-year old British fighter, was the 1st overall pick for Team Rashad during the taping of TUF 10. Although he didn’t have an encouraging start to his pro MMA career, he showed promise in The Ultimate Fighter 10 house. The Jackson’s Submission Fighting fighter defeated Wes Shivers via majority decision in the preliminary round before stopping Matt Mitrione with a 1st round submission in the quarterfinal round. In the semifinals, however he was stopped via TKO by one of the two finalists, Roy Nelson.

Justin Wren vs. Jon Madsen

Team Rashad fighters Justin Wren (8-1) and Jon Madsen (2-0) will be part of the undercard at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale.

Jon Madsen, a South Dakota-based fighter and HIT Squad representative, won his first fight on the initial episode of the tenth season. He defeated Abe Wagner and then moved on to the quarterfinals where he was defeated via 2nd round KO of Brendan Schaub.

Justin Wren, an Art of War, Masters of the Cage, and C3 Fights veteran, was chosen third for Team Rashad and sixth overall throughout the course of the selection process. He defeated Wes Sims in the preliminary round via 1st round technical submission by way of an arm triangle choke. In the quarterfinal round he lost to Roy Nelson via majority decision after two rounds.

Prediction – Wren over Madsen via TKO

Brian Stann vs. Rodney Wallace

UFC rookie and former wrestler Rodney Wallace (9-0) will make his debut at the TUF 10 Finale against established striker and former WEC Light Heavyweight Champion Brian “All American” Stann (7-2).

Stann began his career in 2006 with six straight TKO/KO victories, five of which came while fighting in the WEC. At WEC 33 in March 2008, Stann became the WEC Light Heavyweight Champ with a 1st round KO of Doug Marshall; however his reign was short-lived as he was defeated in his first defense at WEC 35 against Steve Cantwell. Eight months after losing the belt, he was transferred into the UFC LHW division where he lost his UFC 97 debut via kimura against Krzysztof Soszynski. He has since rebounded for his first UFC victory in September with a unanimous decision victory at a UFC Fight Night in Oklahoma City against Steve Cantwell in the pair’s third match-up.

Rodney Wallace, an undefeated North Carolina-based Team ROC/Fight Legion fighter, has posted nine professional victories in his 1½ year career. The former Division III all-star running back has appeared in Revolution Fight League, M-1 Challenge and Vendetta FC organizations. Wallace is 5-0 in 2009, including three consecutive victories in a one-night Vendetta FC tournament in Aruba defeating tough opponents like Canadian Gregory Milliard, former IFL’er Aaron Stark, and former The Ultimate Fighter contestant Antwain Britt.

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TUF 10 Main Fight Predictions:

Frank Edgar vs. Matt Veach

Undefeated H.I.T. Squad fighter, Matt Veach (11-0), will take a huge step up in competition while filling in for the injured Kurt Pellegrino as he goes head-to-head with top-tier lightweight Frankie “The Answer” Edgar (10-1), who may only be a victory away from a title shot, in a main card bout at the TUF 10 Finale.

Edgar, 28, didn’t spend much time in the minors, winning all five of his pre-UFC fights, including wins over notables such as current UFC lightweight Jim Miller and current WEC fighter Deividas Taurosevicius. He continues his undefeated streak by winning his first three UFC bouts, posting victories against Tyson Griffin, Mark Bocek, and Spencer Fisher. His UFC Fight Night 13 decision loss against Gray Maynard stopped his winning streak at eight, however after back-to-back victories against Hermes Franca (Fight Night 14) and Sean Sherk (UFC 98), he re-establishes himself as one of the divisions best.

Three year professional, Matt Veach, came into the UFC off the strength of ten stoppages in eleven bouts. He won all four of his fights in 2008 while competing in the Maximum FC, Xtreme Fighting Organization, Pro Battle MMA, and Capital City Cage Wars promotions. He was successful in his February 2009 UFC Fight Night 17 debut with a 1st round TKO of Matt Grice, looking cool, calm, and collected with his striking skills.

Prediction – Edgar over Veach via decision

Marcus Jones vs. Matt Mitrione

The Ultimate Fighter 10 heavyweights, Marcus Jones (4-1) and Matt Mitrione (0-0) will go head-to-head in a main card bout for the possibility to secure another fight inside the octagon.

Marcus Jones is a six-year veteran of the NFL (Tampa Bay Bucs), where he was a 1st round draft choice of the Tampa-based team. After debuting in mixed martial arts in 2007, Jones would go on to win four of his five fights, all in the state of Florida. Jones has some trouble getting adjusted to the TUF 10 house, but when he finally did, he was successful, defeating Mike Wessel and Darrill Schoonover in a preliminary and quarterfinal bout respectively. In the semifinals, he was defeated by finalist Brendan Schaub, who worked his striking on his way to a KO victory.

Matt Mitrione, aka “Meathead,” is another former NFL player who turned to mixed martial arts. Mitrione is based in Indianapolis, IN at the Integrated Fighting Academy alongside UFC welterweight Chris Lytle. He was chosen second to last by Team Rashad, however surprised many when he pulled out the victory against veteran fighter Scott Junk in the preliminaries. In the quarterfinals, Mitrione lost to Team Rashad teammate James McSweeney.

Prediction – Jones over Mitrione via TKO

Matt Hamill vs. Jon Jones

The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale’s Main Event features two rising light heavyweights who are trying to take the next step into a serious contender role as Matt “The Hammer” Hamill (6-2), coming off back-to-back victories, will try and hand undefeated Jon “Bones” Jones (9-0) his first career defeat.

Hamill, who was introduced to the UFC faithful as a participant on The Ultimate Fighter 3, only had one professional fight to his credit before appearing on the Spike TV fight series. He overcame an injury on the show in order to win his first three official bouts inside the octagon, defeating Jess Forbes, Seth Petruzelli, and Rex Holman. He hit a rough patch, losing two of his next three against Micheal Bisping and Rich Franklin, two of the top light heavies at the time. Since his September 2008 loss to Franklin, Hamill has put together back-to-back victories, using strikes to TKO Reese Andy at UFC 92 and then a perfectly place head kick to KO Mark Munoz at UFC 96 in March.

Jon “Bones” Jones, one of the youngest fighters in the UFC at 22 years old, won his first six fights (5 stoppages) while competing for mid-level organizations such as Battle Cage Xtreme, Ice Fighter, and World Championship Fighting. “Bones” surprised many with his unanimous decision victory over Andre Gusmao at UFC 87, working his takedowns and unique striking to neutralize his opponents’ dangerous bombs. His last two UFC wins came against big name light-heavies, Stephan Bonnar (UFC 94) and Jake O’Brien (UFC 100). Jones, formerly of Team Bombsquad in New York, has recently been linked to Albuquerque-based Jackson’s Submission Fighting where he is working with MMA guru, Greg Jackson.

Prediction – Jones over Hamill via TKO

Houston Alexander vs. Kimbo Slice

Houston “The Assassin” Alexander (9-4) will give it one more try to break his octagon losing streak, now at 3, when he takes on former internet fighting legend, Elite XC headliner and current TUF 10 heavyweight, Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson (3-1) in a Finale main card bout set at a catch-weight of 215–pounds.

Alexander, a popular 37-year old Nebraska-based radio DJ, won six consecutive bouts, including a victory over former Elite XC heavyweight Jon Murphy, to earn his UFC debut. He continued his hot streak by winning his first two bouts inside the octagon, knocking out Keith Jardine and Alessio Sakara each within the 1st round. However, after three straight stoppage defeats by Thiago Silva, James Irvin and Eric Schafer, he finds himself on shaky ground with the organization. In fact, he had to go outside of the UFC, easily defeating Sherman Pendergarst at Adrenaline 4, in order to get another chance in the light heavyweight division.

Slice, 35, began his MMA career after winning a handful of “street fights” that garnered him attention and caught the eye of the upstart Elite XC organization in 2007. He won one exhibition bout and then was placed as the headliner on four consecutive bouts for Elite XC. Bo Cantrell, David “Tank” Abbott, and James Thompson all went down in succession as Kimbo began to grow in popularity and helping to gain the attention of CBS and millions of fans around the world. His loss to Seth Petruzelli in his fourth bout in October 2008 sent his career and the company in a tailspin, eventually leading to bankruptcy and the end of Pro Elite. His career has been resurrected, however with his stint on The Ultimate Fighter 10, where he lost his only bout against Roy Nelson (2nd round TKO) but gained more fans with his humble attitude and relentless training methods. Now training at American Top Team in Florida, Kimbo will look for a much-needed UFC victory that should help legitimize him as a true mixed martial artist.

Prediction – Slice over Alexander via TKO

Roy Nelson vs. Brendan Schaub

The Ultimate Fighter 10 “Heavyweights” season will conclude when a tournament champion is crowned between Team Rashad teammates, Roy “Big Country” Nelson (13-4) and Brendan Schaub (4-0) with a six-figure contract at stake.

Nelson was 6-1 prior to debuting in the International Fight League, a place where he rose to become the leagues’ heavyweight champ. He was also 6-1 in the year and a half that he was with the promotion. His recent two-fight losing streak didn’t prevent him from earning a chance in the TUF 10 house where Nelson defeated Kimbo Slice in his first preliminary bout via 2nd round TKO. He moved on to the quarterfinals where he earned a majority decision victory over Justin Wren and then after defeating James McSweeney in the semifinals was rewarded with a chance to earn the UFC contract at the Finale.

His opponent, Brendan Schaub is a Denver, Colorado native who has four victories in four chances, three coming in the Ring of Fire organization and one in the UWC promotion. His last official victory was in April when he used strikes to TKO Bojan Spalovic at the Ring of Fire 34 show. In the TUF 10 house, he defeated Demico Rogers, Jon Madsen and Marcus Jones in succession on his way to the Finale.

By Nick Russell
ProFighting-fans.com Senior MMA Staff Writer