ULTIMATE FIGHTER CHAMP #11 CROWNED
Las Vegas, NV– Court McGee, 185, Orem, UT SUB 2 Kris McCray 185, Woodbridge, VA. Although both guys come from wrestling backgrounds, it appeared that McGee’s (9-1, 2 KOs, 4 SUBs) superior wrestling made the difference as he was able to control position throughout the fight. In the second round, McCray (5-1, 1 KO, 4 SUBs) found himself in several bad positions and was eventually finished off by a rear naked choke. It also didn’t hurt that McGee is a very strong middleweight and although McCray looked to be in top shape, he was no match for Court McGee, the Ultimate Fighter Season 11 winner.
“DEAN OF MEAN” NOT MEAN ENOUGH!
Matt Hamill, 205, Loveland, OH MD 3 Keith Jardine, 205, Albuquerque, NM. In a great slugfest that had both men giving and taking, Hamill (9-2, 6 KOs) walked out with the majority decision after three hard fought rounds. Although I expected a Hamill win, he didn’t do it the way one would have expected—by wrestling. All but a few seconds of the bout were on the feet, with both men landing their fare share of strikes. In round two, Jardine (15-8-1, 7 KOs, 2 SUBs) had a point taken away for an unintentional eye poke. The point wouldn’t have changed the final result as it only would have made it a split decision win as opposed to a majority for Hamill.
Chris Leben, 186, Portland, OR TKO 2 Aaron Simpson, 186, Phoenix, AZ. Simpson (6-1, 1 KO) started strong and was able to control most of the first round, but Leben kept coming and landing shots. By the middle of the second round, it seemed Leben’s (20-6, 11 KOs, 4 SUBs) power was wearing his opponent down. After being dropped once, Simpson fought to keep his wits about him, but after several more shots the fight was stopped as Simpson went reeling across the ring trying to stay on his feet. A great win for Leben to keep himself in the middleweight picture.
Dennis Siver, 156, Mannheim, Germany UD 3 Spencer Fisher, 156, Davenport, IA. Siver (16-7, 5 KOs, 8 SUBs) was in an uphill battle from early on after a clash of heads caused a nasty cut over his left eye in the first round which helped Fisher (23-6, 11 KOs, 8 SUBs) control the round. Between rounds the corner did a good job of putting a stop to the bleeding and the back and forth stand up battle sustained with Siver starting to find his range in the second. Seemingly all square by the third stanza, the two men continued to strike on their feet in a close round. In the end the judges saw it for Dennis Siver with scores of 30-27 and 29-28 twice.
Rich Attonito, 186, Madison, NJ TKO 2 Jamie Yager, 185, Huntington Beach, CA. Jamie Yager (2-2, 2 KOs) has all the physical attributes you could ask for, but he doesn’t seem to have the knowledge or heart needed to be an upper level fighter. Attonito (8-3, 4 KOs, 2 SUBs) was forced out of competition in the Ultimate Fighter 11 due to breaking his hand in his first fight but made his presents felt at the finale by stopping the cocky Yager in two. After starting strong, Yager began to fad and the savvy veteran in Attonito began to break him down midway through the second round. Once Attonito got his opponent to the ground, he pounded him out until referee Steve Mazzagatti stepped in to stop the assault.
OTHER RESULTS!
Chris Camozzi (4 KOs, 5 SUBs) UD 3 James Hammortree (5-2, 5 KOs)
Kyle Noke 17-4-1, 7 KOs, 5 SUBs) TKO 2 Josh Bryant (10-1, 4 SUBs, 4 KOs).
Brad Tavares (5-0, 2 KOs, 2 SUBs) UD 3 Seth Baczynski (11-6, 3 KOs, 8 SUBs)
BROCK LESNAR COMES BACK IN JULY!
Don’t forget in just two weeks on Fourth of July weekend, sparks will be flying as heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar (4-1, 2 KOs, 1 SUB) returns from his layoff due to illness to face interim heavyweight champ Shane Carwin (12-0, 7 KOs, 5 SUBs) to unify the heavyweight strap. Both men were interviewed on Saturday night’s telecast and both stated they have had great camps and were ready to go to war. Don’t miss it live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Saturday, July 3rd on Pay-Per-View!
Matt “All Meat” Grizzle