A historic 14th season of "The Ultimate Fighter" kicks off tonight.
As we've long known, "TUF 14," which is the final season to air on Spike TV, features bantamweight and featherweight fighters for the first time in the reality series' near-seven-year history.
UFC middleweight contender Michael Bisping and ex-Strikeforce fighter Jason "Mayhem" Miller serve as coaches.
In our season debut, the group of "TUF" hopefuls is whittled down from 32 to an official cast of 16. In tonight's season premiere, we get all 16 elimination-round fights.
The intros
Unlike past seasons, this year's elimination-round fights take place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, not the UFC Training Center.
All fighters make their way to the cage, where UFC president Dana White wants the competitors to get a sense of the stakes and the magnitude of the opportunity. He also sweetens the deal by announcing that fans will vote on the season's best fight, best knockout and best submission, which are worth $25,000 each.
White then introduces the coaches, wishes the fighters good luck, and then allows the competitors to start their warm-ups for the round of fights.
The fights
It's soon fight time.
The results include:
135 pounds: Josh Ferguson (7-3) def. Casey Dyer (5-1) via first-round TKO (punches). Ferguson unloaded a quick barrage of lefts, dropped Ferguson with a right, and then pounced on him for the amazingly quick and efficient win.
145: Diego Brandao (13-7) def. Jesse Newell (6-1) via first-round KO (punches). After some initial exchanges and a ground scramble, Newell ate a left hook, and then Brandao followed him to the mat with a flying forearm smash to force the stoppage. As "Mayhem" points out, the violent ending was similar to Dan Henderson's finish of Bisping at UFC 100.
135: John Dodson (11-5) def. Brandon Merkt (11-0) via first-round TKO (punches). Merkt never found his range and was picked apart with punches and kicks. A nasty punch to the gut set up Dodson's stoppage victory.
145: Dennis Bermudez (7-2) def. Jimmie Rivera (8-1) via second-round TKO (punches). Bermudez ate some early punches and staggered to a knee in a daze. Rivera took his back on two occasions, and his rear-naked choke was cut short by the end of the first round. But in the second, Bermudez staggered Rivera with a quick left, tagged him with a knee, took his back, and forced the stoppage with a barrage of punches from back mount.
135: Roland Delorme (6-2) def. B.J. Ferguson (6-2) via first-round submission (triangle choke). After initial exchanges, Delorme smoothly moved from a kimura to an armbar to a triangle choke to get the tap-out. The Ferguson brothers now have been split up with Josh having advanced and B.J. suffering a loss.
145: Marcus Brimage (3-1) def. Bryson Wailehua-Hansen (6-1) via second-round TKO (strikes). Wailehua-Hansen was close to a first-round rear-naked choke, but Brimage closed out the round with a sustained attack of punches and kicks to the iron-chinned fighter. The assault continued in the second, and though Wailehua-Hansen never fell or quit, the ref was forced to halt the bout due to the mounting shots.
135: Johnny Bedford (17-9-1) def. Carson Beebe (6-1) via first-round submission (neck crank/guillotine choke). After a few competitive minutes, the grinder Bedford connected on some solid punches and then forced the tap-out via neck crank/guillotine choke once on the mat. The tourney's loss of Beebe (the brother of ex-WEC champ Chase Beebe) comes as a surprise to the coaches.
135: Dustin Prague (10-3) def. Tateki Matsuda (6-2) via majority decision (19-19, 20-18, 20-18). After some entertaining early exchanges, including a steady stream of head kicks from Matsuda, Prague dragged the fight to the mat in the first but couldn't capitalize on the position. Matsuda then got the takedown in the second, but Prague eventually took top position. Despite two close rounds and an apparent need for a third, two judges gave Prague both rounds for the majority-decision win.
135: Louis Gaudinot (5-1) def. Paul McVeigh (18-6) via third-round TKO (strikes). The action-packed and back-and-forth fight was shown only in highlights form. After two close rounds, Gaudinot took control in the third with some solid elbow strikes and punches to set up the TKO upset over one of the show's early favorites.
145: Bryan Caraway (15-5) def. Eric Marriott (20-5) via unanimous decision (20-18, 20-18, 20-18). In a fight shown in highlights form, Caraway used his wrestling skills and a controlling top game to earn a decision victory. White and the coaches felt was on the safe side but understood his win-first game plan.
145: Dustin Neace (22-17-1) def. Josh Clopton (4-0-1) via unanimous decision (20-18, 20-18, 20-18). Clopton controlled the early parts of the round, though Neace did some damage toward the end of them. White and the coaches felt a dejected Clopton won the fight, but Neace got the decision.
135: Matt Jaggers (20-7) vs. T.J. Dillashaw (4-0) via first-round TKO (strikes). In a wrestler-vs.-wrestler matchup, the fighters let their hands fly before Dillashaw scored a takedown, postured up and rained down punches. Jagger escaped and scored some solid punches, but Dillashaw scored another takedown before the round's end and unloaded a nasty barrage of forearm strikes just before the horn sounded.
145: Steven Siler (18-9) def. Micah Miller (17-4) via third-round submission (guillotine choke). As White pointed out, Siler looked beaten before the fight even started because of his tough opponent. Siler landed some heavy punches but attempted a takedown and nearly got tapped out. Miller then shot, but Siler pulled off the upset with the guillotine choke.
135: John Albert (6-1) def. Orville Smith (11-3) via first-round submission (rear-naked choke). Albert landed some nice combinations and had his opponent in trouble. And despite inexplicably pulling guard, Albert pulled out of the rear-naked choke to quiet the doubters.
145: Stephen Bass (10-0) def. Karsten Lenjoint (7-1) first-round submission (triangle choke). In a back-and-forth fight that was played out on the feet and on the mat, Bass chipped away at a fading Lenjoint. But Bass ended up on his back and cinched the fight-ending triangle choke.
145: Akira Corassani (9-3) def. Brian Pearman (7-1) via first-round TKO (punches). The fighters traded leather early, but Pearman soon got the better of it and scored a takedown. He then locked on a D'Arce choke and delivered punches once Corassani got back to his feet. The fighters traded again and fought from the clinch, where a bleeding Corassani delivered the punches, elbows and knees he needed to get the TKO.
The results
The tournament's opening 16 fights resulted in eight knockouts and five submissions.
Needless to say, White and the coaches were pleased.
"Let me start by saying just say I'm overly impressed with what I saw today," he said to the official cast of 16. "Don't get all big-headed and [expletive] cocky. But we really liked what we [expletive] saw today."
After White's official introduction to "TUF," the entertaining season debut comes to an end.
Next week, the real tourney commences, and the teams are chosen.
Source - MMA Junkie
