TUF 17 Finale discussion *spoilers*

What did everyone think? I didn't see the preliminary fights, so I can't comment on them, but your thoughts on the main card fights?

All in all I was very entertained. The Tate/Cingano fight was great to watch...I was super impressed with Kelvin nullifying Hall. But having said that I don't think that Uriah ever showed up to the fight. Don't really know what his problem was...he never threw more than one or two punches at once, never looked like he wanted to try to finish the fight. I think we all had the impression that he could finish it at any given time...all he had to do was unload and put on a dazzling striking combo that we all know he's capable of, but he'd throw one punch at a time. Heck even the times he was pulling the Anderson Silva matrix moves to avoid punches he wasn't countering. HUGE hats off to Kelvin for the non stop pressure and nice takedowns. I think it'll be good to give Uriah a loss...show him that defensive fighting won't win him fights.

Yeah, I commented on a different thread last week, that Urijas biggest weakness is that he never throws combinations.
That fight was really close, and I honestly had no idea who was going to win that fight.

Those elbows to Gonzaga were just nasty. The standing elbow KO from Clint was fantastic as well. I did enjoy the camel toe during the Taint fight.
Uriah looked as good as ever at bantam.

I saw your comment actually but figured I'd start a new thread.

See I didn't see the fight as all that close...I thought it was pretty clear cut that Kelvin won the fight. He was pressing forward the whole time..never laid off a second and had some nice takedowns. IMO the only thing that Kept Uriah in the fight was he had some nice reversals and transitions on the ground...but I think he really only had Kelvin in danger maybe one time...coming from "the meanest guy in TUF history" vs the youngest, most inexperienced last pic...that's not saying much for Uriah.

I didn't see the Clint fight, I'll look for it, I'd like to see that KO. Yeah I've never seen someone knocked out the way Gonzaga was KO'd...that was horrible brutal. I see now they're protesting the legality of the elbow.s

yeah...the elbows to gonzaga look a bit suspect...there was more than 1 to the back of the head for sure.....

From what I read I gather that Travis knew that too...he said he dropped one when Gonzaga's head starting slipping, and when the ref didn't say anything he dropped two more.

Yeah the first two elbows were clean, but the third one was straight to the back of the head, and that's the one that KO'd him. Just goes to show why they are illegal.


I thought the same thing about Hall; he just looked like he wasn't firing on all cylinders. I actually picked Kelvin to win the fight, but once it started and got going, I thought Hall could've won if he would just capitalize on some things. He just looked really tentative. I figure he will get his shit together in his next fight when Dana inevitably pairs him up with another striker.


So now does Urijah Faber get another fucking title shot?

That would suck if Browne got his win taken away from him like that. He was landing the elbows clean, and a guy turns his head a little as elbows are dropping, and then all of a sudden it's illegal? That just sucks.

I hate when a guy gets a takedown stuffed and all the rules protect him from taking any damage.

Yeah I'm not saying Browne did it on purpose or anything, but when Gonzaga takes two legal elbows and doesn't falter at all, then takes one illegal elbow and drops like a ton of bricks, it makes it pretty clear why those strikes are illegal.

I'm pretty sure that the blow that ko'd him was clean and the one following wasn't. Behind the ear doesn't equal back of the head. I saw one illegal blow and possibly 2 but not before Gonzaga was on his way out.

Here's a gif... IDK I could be wrong...

Also, I have to call bullshit on all the people claiming that all the elbows were 12-6 elbows. Either alot of folks don't know how to tell time or they don't fully understand the rule... those elbows are clearly 11-5/11-4. I will say one is questionable though, which also happens to be the one that is illegal after the KO.

Still looked illegal to me, man.
It's tough to tell by the angle in that gif, but the point of Browne's elbow on that 3rd blow connects with the back of Gonzaga's head, slightly to the left side of it. it looks like it's gonna be clean, but then he pulls it in towards his own body right at the end.

And yeah, those weren't 12-6. They were more side-to-side than they were up and down.

Finally watched the Hester KO...that was one of those times where I said to myself FINALLY someone did that! I've always wondered why more guys don't go for standing elbows like that...I assume it's because it requires them to be closer in than a jab or a punch, but wow so much more effective.

Chrom wrote:

Also, I have to call bullshit on all the people claiming that all the elbows were 12-6 elbows. Either alot of folks don't know how to tell time or they don't fully understand the rule... those elbows are clearly 11-5/11-4. I will say one is questionable though, which also happens to be the one that is illegal after the KO.

Are 12-6 elbows even illegal anymore? My wife and I were discussing that recently. It seems like everyone does it now and its no longer called.

I actually thought Hall won the fight. I think im in the minority. I did think it was razor close though so no real complaint about the decision. I just hate the way takedowns are scored in the UFC. If you take someone down and dont do anything with it that should only be the deciding factor if the rest of the round was close. I thought Hall was trying to do damage from bottom and Kelvin wasnt really do much at all. Again i didnt think it was enough to argue with anyone about just my opinion.

I agree. Kelvin definitely controlled the pace of the fight and controlled Hall for the most part.... likely why he got the win.
However, I am always one to put more emphasis on damage and rocking blows. I think Hall won that particular piece of the scoring easily.

Like I said in a previous post though, I really had no idea how the judgers were going to score that fight.

I agree with how it sucks that takedowns are scored so heavily...but inversely, I don't think Uriah did a fraction of what Kelvin did in that fight....not only from the standpoint of takedowns but with constant pressure and work. Not trying in the least to argue...just saying I thought it was a clear cut case of Kelvin winning the fight.

I thing part of it is being so damn dissapointed that Uriah didn't show up...based upon how he fought in all of his fights on the season plain and simple Uriah Hall did not fight on Saturday. Some guy that looks like him that has self esteem issues and let his own self get in the way is who fought Kelvin on Saturday.

You almost have to wonder if Uriah lost intentionally, haha. Ok that is a bit too conspiracy theorist, but in all honesty losing was probably the best thing that ever happened to him.

The show is really for middle of the road fighters to land a contract and have some success. Uriah became on star on the show. Now he isnt locked into that TUF 6 "six figure deal" I saw an interview the other day with Stehpan Bonnar and when he fought Anderson Silva he was still on his TUF contract, because they have some kind of clause about reupping the deal or something. I know Bonnar is no superstar, but he was pretty hyped for a bit and has had a few decent runs. I am sure he could of been making more than 40k per fight if he wasn't locked into that deal and how many years later is it now!?!

I am willing to bet anything that Uriah gets a much higher contract than Kelvin now because he is not locked in.

Never looked at it that way...well, never knew to look at it that way.

If nothing else this loss can show Uriah that he's not indestructable...he'll come out a better fighter for sure.

Yeah its kind of like Adam Lambert on American Idol. He was the runner up on the show and ended up making millions because he cut his own deal with a record label and the winner of the show got roped into a much less lucrative deal.

Uriah Hall- The Adam Lambert of MMA

Yeah, they should probably just give the winner like $50K or something. Make it unrelated to any contract deal.
I suppose the winner could still refuse to sign a contract though, and try to negotiate their own deal. Unfortunately, the rookies are likely not the best businessmen though.