My Thoughts On The TUF Finale

Well the UFC treated us to a FREE night of MMA, and I must say that I'm very satisfied with the fight card. We got to see submissions, highlight reel KO's, and just good MMA overall. Let's get right to the fights:

Browning/Kaplan-I kinda expected Junie to win the fight, I suppose I picked Kaplan out of hoping that Junie would lose. I'll admit that Browning looked really good, albeit against a guy that probably doesn't belong in the UFC right now. I was kinda of surprised that he didn't buckle under the pressure of fighting on the big stage. It'll be interesting to see what they decide to do with Browning, meaning who will they match him up with next. I like the fact that he apologized to Frank Mir, but I wish he would have apologized to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira as well.

Marshall/Bruchez-Marshall completely owned Bruchez.

Gouveia/MacDonald-Gouveia proved that he was the superior striker(we all knew that). He also showed some great takedown defense. Gouveia never let the fight get into the later rounds so that MacDonald could take advantage of his suspect cardio. MacDonald did a good job of trying to survive the onslaught, but Gouveia was relentless with the GnP once MacDonald went down. Gouveia is a very good fighter and could make some noise in the MW division if he learns how to make weight. I don't know if those extra pounds had anything to do with the outcome of the fight. However, as a professional fighter you can't come into a fight 4 pounds overweight. I suppose MacDonald will be brought back since he just re-signed with the organization, and he's a good gatekeeper for the division.

Burns/Johnson-DAYUM! What highlight reel KO! I thought this was a very good fight as both guys like to bang. Johnson showed good takedowns and some decent GnP. I like the fact that he did try to pass Burn's guard, but Burns has a pretty good defensive guard. Both of these guys would be a good fight for anybody in the WW division. I need to see Johnson vs. Swick like right now.

Bader/Malgahaes-Damn! I didn't see that coming and I think it's safe to say that nobody did. Bader hit Vinny in the perfect spot to knock his equilibrium off and the referee stopped the fight. I think Bader is a decent fighter, but I really don't see him doing much in the LHW division. I dunno maybe he'll evolve into something down the road. It'll be interesting to see how they choose 'build' Bader in such a stacked division. I think they'll give Vinny another shot, his stand up did look improved from the show.

Soszynski/Primm-For Soszynski to have so much MMA experience, he doesn't impress me much. Maybe I'm not giving Primm enough credit for being tough. Soszynski did manage to finish Primm with a nice kimura, and it'll be interesting to see what the UFC does with him. I expect that's the last we'll see of Primm, but he did give it his all.

Nover/Escudero-Great fight. Nover looked visibly nervous prior to the fight starting, and Escudero called on the edge in experience he had over Nover. Nover needs to find some take down defense in a hurry. Escudero was dropping him quicker than narcolyptics taking ambien on those take downs. Great win for Escudero and he will also aid the UFC's expansion into Mexico with the Latino fan base. Nice of Escudero to win the TUF championship in honor of his late father. Nover will be back, and with some take down defense could pose some problems for folk in the LW division.

So we got to see 7 fights on a 3 hour broadcast, so the pacing of the show was on point. As I mentioned earlier, we got to see submissions, highlight reel KO's, and upsets with good MMA in general. My picks for this show sucked asswipes, but I guess I'll have to let ou guys win sometimes :). I thought Escudero/Nover was a great way to end the show, and it was interesting the UFC let the lightweights be the final fight. A very good show for the UFC, and they'll try to close out 2008 with a bang at UFC 92. Damn, I can't wait for that card. What are you thoughts on the show?