The Ultimate Fighter Semi-finals Episode Recap

The final episode of the 12th season of The Ultimate Fighter begins with Georges St-Pierre declaring to his fighters that he won’t corner either Jonathon Brookins or Kyle Watson, so as not to show favoritism. He advises them to be selfish and pick up all of the training that they can in order to succeed.

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In the Yellow Team’s training session, Josh Koscheck appears to be slacking in his coaching duties. He is shown laughing and joking around with Daniel Cormier and playing with his cell phone. Several of the fighters on the Yellow Team feel let down, and this sentiment is made most known by Marc Bryant. Back in the fighter house, Marc is doing his best impressions of Koscheck, poking fun of Koscheck’s texting during practice, unfocused training sessions, and even his “hard work pays off” mantra. Little does Marc know, Koscheck drops in for an unannounced visit and hears part of Marc’s impression. Koscheck laughs it off and says “alcohol makes people act differently.” It speaks volumes to me that Marc is the one voicing his opinions as he seemed to be Koscheck’s right hand man as the two both have a wrestling background and seem to have a similar attitude. Koscheck implores his fighters, except Nam Phan who has a fight coming up, to do shots with him. After having some drinks, Koscheck tries to goad Cody McKenzie into badmouthing GSP, but Cody only says positive things about his coach.

As mentioned in previous weeks, Jonathon Brookins expresses his desire to be left alone in the house. He seeks out quiet time for himself to think deep thoughts, but his time is always interrupted by others. He mentions the similarities between his game and that of Kyle Watson and says that he wants to be quicker than Kyle in every aspect of the fight.

Never one to hide his feelings, Marc mentions that he doesn’t like Nam Phan talking to the Red Team. Lots of other guys in the house air the same grievances, even Jonathon Brookins, who appears to be close with Nam. Brookins says he doesn’t know what kind of intentions Nam has and wonders if Nam talks about him behind his back like he does to others.

It is finally fight day, and Kyle Watson is being cornered by Michael Johnson and Marc Bryant, while Jonathon Brookins is cornered by Alex Caceres, Nam Phan, and Andy Main.

Round 1 Kyle Watson vs. Jonathon Brookins

Steve Mazzigatti is the referee for this semifinal match. Kyle takes a southpaw stance, while Jonathon is orthodox. Kyle opens the fight with some crisp striking and a nice knee to the face. Jonathon shoots and scores a takedown, but only briefly maintains control. Jonathon presses a standing Kyle Watson into the cage and Kyle throws another Muay Thai knee to the face on the break as he works his way free. Jonathon scores another takedown against the cage, but he looks exhausted and doesn’t throw any strikes for an extended period of time. Both fighters work for better position, and Jonathon starts dropping heavy punches to Kyle’s face. The round ends and I scored the round 10-9 for Jonathon.

Round 2

Jonathon shoots for a quick takedown, but Kyle sprawls and bounces back to his feet. With Kyle pressing into him, Jonathon immediately executes a lateral drop, a move that has become synonymous with his name. As soon as he hits the ground, Kyle rolls and looks for a kneebar, but Jonathon is defending well. Kyle gets into butterfly guard and mule kicks Jonathon off. While Kyle is attempting to stand, Jonathon flies back at Kyle and nearly takes his back. Kyle eats some elbows and eventually gains guard. Just as round 2 ends, there is a furious scramble and Kyle escapes to his feet. I scored round 2 10-9 for Jonathon as well.

Round 3

Kyle lands yet another Muay Thai knee from the Thai clinch to the head of Brookins. Jonathon scores yet another takedown and seems to be content to play the waiting game. Jonathon looks to be waiting for Kyle to make a mistake, but the experienced Watson doesn’t oblige him. Kyle momentarily regains his feet before Jonathon takes him down again. Kyle gains guard and the uneventful round ends. 10-9 Jonathon.

After watching the fight, it is not a surprise to see that Jonathon earns the unanimous decision 30-27 and will move on to the finals to face the winner of the next semifinal fight. This fight was a true display of grappling and jiu-jitsu, with both fighters displaying a talent for what they do.

In his post-fight interview, Jonathon says he wants to be great, but wants to stay humble as well as great. Kyle wants to remember what he was taught and use the experience to make him a better fighter.

Meanwhile back at the house, the Yellow Team has some downtime and they mention that Nam Phan takes quite long showers. They speculate what he may be doing in there, and decide to burst in on him. Led by Sevak, Aaron, and Marc, they burst in to find Nam enjoying the company of himself in the shower. Nam is obviously embarrassed and just wants to be left alone to focus on his upcoming fight.

Red Team Coach GSP tells Michael Johnson that Nam is the better striker and jiu-jitsu specialist, but Michael has the edge as far as athleticism and being a martial artist is concerned. Back at the house, finalist Jonathon Brookins feels that it is a bit harsh, the way Nam is being treated. Nam goes in to the training center to train alone as he comments that his coaches are doing their own thing and his teammates “had a late night” and he didn’t want to disturb their rest. When the rest of the team joins Nam at the gym, Koscheck pokes some fun at Nam and what he has heard from the Yellow Team, but quickly points out that Nam is the only remaining fighter for the Yellow Team. Nam compares his fighting style to that of a Honda Civic: he’s not the biggest, strongest, or fastest car on the lot, but he is efficient on gas. The longer the fight goes, the more it is in Nam’s favor.

Before the fight, Boston Celtic Glen “Big Baby” Davis stops in to meet the fighters and wish them luck. As a Cavs fan, I wish Davis would have taken some shots to the body as a warmup, but that wasn’t in the cards. Nam appears to be unable to focus as his teammates are chattering. Koscheck asks them to keep the noise down, and the level of noise drops a bit. One can’t help but feel for Nam as this is just another example of his teammates disrespecting him.

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Round 1 Michael Johnson vs Nam Phan

Michaels storms out of the gates and scores two quick takedowns within the first 35 seconds, but is unable to hold Nam down for any amount of time. Nam has some sharp kickboxing, and appears to be loading up a right head kick. Michael shoots and scores another blast double leg and rains down punches on Nam. With some heavy shots, Michael splits open Nam’s right eye and blood is pouring down Nam’s face. Nam throws a few more nice kicks as the round ends. I scored that round 10-9 for Michael Johnson.

Round 2

Nam is breathing very hard in his corner, but seems to regain his wind once the round begins. Michael presses Nam into the cage and is looking very fresh. Nam circles off of the cage and throws a nice combination that finishes with a left hook to the body of Johnson. Michael has seen enough of that and shoots for a takedown. Nam sprawls to defend the takedown and squashes Johnson to his back. Nam lands some sharp strikes before Michael can regain his feet. Once on their feet, Nam again lands a crisp body shot and Michael still keeps coming forward. Both fighters have an excellent flurry of boxing as the round ends. Nam Phan really turned it around and took the round in my eyes 10-9.

Round 3

In the final round, Michael shoots in and scores a takedown. Once on the ground, Nam immediately looks to sink in a triangle, but is unable to do so. Nam is furiously landing elbows to the head of Johnson before he can sneak back up to his feet. Again, Nam lands a heavy hook to the body, taking the total of nasty body shots to 3. The toughness of Johnson is really shining through, as Phan’s body shots probably would have dropped most any other fighter. Michael scores another takedown and the fight ends. I scored the round 10-9 for Michael Johnson. I had the fight 29-28 for Michael Johnson, and 2 of the judges do, too. Michael Johnson wins by Split Decision (29-28x2 and 28-29) over Nam Phan and will move on to face Jonathon Brookins in an all-Red Team Finale on Saturday, December 4 th.

Thanks for following my recaps of this season of The Ultimate Fighter, and make sure to tune in to the TUF Finale on Spike TV, where either Michael Johnson or Jonathon Brookins will join the likes of Forrest Griffin, Diego Sanchez, Michael Bisping, Rashad Evans, and Roy Nelson as the winner of The Ultimate Fighter.