TUF 8 Results & Fight Reviews

A recap of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF 8) Finale

Congratulations to Ryan “Darth” Bader and Efrain Escudero for winning the 6-figure contracts. Both have a tremendous future and will be very successful in the UFC.

Looking back at The Ultimate Fighter Season 8, there are many things that standout; the hypocrisy of Dana White, the talent and future of Ryan “Darth” Bader (TTC picked to win the show) and how depleted the depth of talent is on the show.

Dana White spends most of his media time criticizing other promotions, boxing (http://mmamania.com/2008/12/07/dana-white-oscar-de-la-hoya-vs-manny-pacquiao-a-bad-day-for-boxing/) and even training teams of UFC fighters (http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/11/20/dana-white-declares-war-against-the-american-kickboxing-academy/). White rarely if ever handles situations like a President of a company is expected too. Instead, he goes straight to the media with an onslaught of profanities directed at the target of his rage. Professional? Hardly. Jon Fitch and the American Kickboxing Academy certainly deserve much better than that.

When Kimbo Slice was defeated by Seth Petruzelli; rumors soon followed insinuating EliteXC instructed and possibly even paid Petruzelli to stand up with Slice as not to expose his weak ground game. Almost immediately, White was in the press pounding his chest, exclaiming how he has done so much to fix the image of the sport, how much damage this would do, et. al. No one can downplay the importance of Dana White to the sport of MMA. However he has certainly done his share of damage to the image of the sport.

How do fighters in a house acting like feral hogs help promote the sport? Maybe the fact that a few decided to urinate in each other’s food helps create a greater image of the sport and its athletes. Incredible… White did everything in his power to give Junie Browning undeserved camera time only to create drama to the show. The fact is Ryan Bader, Vinnie Magalhaes, Efrain Escudero, Phillipe Nover, and Krzysztof Soszynski earned and deserved to be featured, not Browning.

Many of the TUF viewers only familiarity with the contestants is what they see on the show. The fact is each of the fighters has competed under some promotion prior to applying for The Ultimate Fighter. Do not let the hype fool you; the 16 contestants selected (32 invites) are not the cream of the crop, far from it. Going back to how in his mind, White “protects and harvests” the image of the sport, quite the opposite. White and his staff select 6-8 really good fighters and then go for stories,drama and easy wins. Junie Browning, David Kaplan and Jules Bruchez are prime examples of that.

Bruchez is not a UFC level fighter. He isn’t even a main event fighter on a low-level promotion. Dave Kaplan is a mediocre competitor at best. Then there is Junie Browning. Browning hails from Lexington, KY. Trust me on this one; Browning is thought of as a complete joke in all MMA circles in the Kentucky-Indiana-Oho area. I personally have witnessed several fighters in the area who would destroy Browning. Junie may now grow into a legitimate fighter as he is training with the best of the best. Does that warrant him being on TUF and taking a slot from well deserving athletes? The fact is Browning is a nut case and White loves it. He wanted Junie Browning for one reason; to draw in Non-MMA fans from a reality junkie nation. In one of the many instances where White “considered” kicking Browning off of the show, he stated to the rest of the contestants, this is not reality TV like Survivor, Oh really? At the risk of sounding like ESPN’s Mark Jackson, Come on Dana, you are better than that.

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The premise of The Ultimate Fighter is still alluring. The underdog from nowhere gets to make it on TV and compete for a contract; a very compelling story with outstanding production from SpikeTV draws viewers by the millions. In my opinion, the storyline has significantly changed. As stated earlier, the drama filled athletes are selected over deserving applicants. The other issue is the likes of Ryan Bader, Vinnie Magalhaes and Krzysztof Soszynski were training with the best-known training teams in the nation prior to TUF, Arizona Combat Sports and Team Quest. Those athletes already have a good chance of making it into UFC. This process is equivalent to having a Major League Baseball show where elite AAA players compete for a contract. They are already on the fast track to the big show.

My suggestions for The Ultimate Fighter:

Get rid of drama garbage and bring in hungry, hard working competitors who are not training with well known teams and fighters. To do this, have scouts scour the country observing events and training sessions The scouts compile lists, compare notes and videos then bring in the finalists for training sessions and interviews. The deciding factors should be:

• How bad does this fighter want to make it
• Can he win the contract

It shouldn’t matter that is father didn’t give him enough hugs, he drinks too much, he beat up a cop; none of the drama-reality TV show garbage should matter. Dana, leave that to the WB, VH1 and MTV.

By Scott Dryden
ProFighting-fans.com Staff Writer

The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 Finale Results:

• Ryan Bader defeats Vinicius Magalhães via TKO (Punches) - Round 1 @ 2:18 - Bader wins TUF Season 8 Light Heavyweight Championship
• Efrain Escudero defeats Phillipe Nover via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) - Escudero wins TUF Season 8 Lightweight Championship
• Junie Browning defeats Dave Kaplan via Submission (Armbar) Round 2 @ 1:32 - Lightweight bout
• Anthony Johnson defeats Kevin Burns via KO (Kick) - Round 3 @ 0:28 - Welterweight bout
• Wilson Gouveia defeats Jason MacDonald via Submission (Strikes) - Round 1 @ 2:18

The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 Preliminary Fight Results:

• Rolando Delgado defeats John Polakowski via Submission (Guillotine Choke) - Round 2 @ 2:18 - Lightweight bout

• Shane Nelson defeats George Roop via Split Decision (29-28,29-28,28-29) - Lightweight bout

• Tom Lawlor defeats Kyle Kingsbury via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) - Light Heavyweight bout

• Eliot Marshall defeats Jules Bruchez via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) - Round 1 @ 1:27 - Light Heavyweight bout

• Krzysztof Soszynski defeats Shane Primm via Submission (Kimura) - Round 2 @ 3:27 - Light Heavyweight bout