The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale Results
by Robert Sargent
In what was almost certainly the best season finale show to date, Mac Danzig was crowned the winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 6, and Roger Huerta came back from the brink of defeat to submit Clay Guida.
Danzig may finally get a measure of the respect that he has sought for years, and can now look forward to a bright future in the UFC.
Roger "El Matador" Huerta vs Clay "The Carpenter" Guida
Guida dominated the first two rounds of this fight, and seemed well on his way to a victory on his 26th birthday, but a knee early in the third round was the beginning of the end, and Huerta locked in a rear naked choke soon after."Big" John McCarthy was the referee for this main event, which will be the final match of his refereeing career. He will be joining the broadcast team of The Fight Network and has quietly retired from the UFC. Bruce Buffer mistakenly announced the fight as a welterweight contest, but corrected himself later.
Huerta came out in the southpaw stance to begin the first round, attempting a high kick with little success. After a brief exchange, Guida took Huerta down and Huerta defended briefly by attempting a guillotine choke. Huerta quickly worked back to his feet, but Guida slammed him right back down and pushed him against the cage. A brief scramble led to Huerta attempting a kneebar, but Guida reversed and took his back. Huerta reversed again and landed a knee to Guida's head. Guida retaliated, but Huerta's knee was down, so it was an illegal strike. McCarthy stopped the action to warn Guida. A striking exchange saw Guida land a series of punching combinations, while Huerta retaliated with a head kick and punches of his own. Guida scored another takedown and got Huerta's back once again, sunk in both hooks and worked for a rear naked choke. Huerta escaped and got Guida's back, but Guida reversed position again and survived Huerta's last-second armbar and omoplata attempts.
A brief back-and-forth striking exchange began round two, but Guida once again handily took Huerta down. A scramble led to Guida landing a solid punch. Back on the feet, Huerta landed high kicks and Guida retaliated with more punching combinations. As Huerta peppered Guida with kicks, Guida went for another takedown and landed some strikes from top position. Huerta scrambled and Guida took his back once again. Yet again, Huerta scrambled free, but Guida put him right back down. Back on the feet, both fighters exchanged punches until Guida landed two hard shots and sent Huerta backwards, where Guida followed up with another takedown. Huerta was visibly frustrated as Guida punished him with elbows and took his back again. Another scramble took the action back to the feet, where Huerta got the better of the striking until both he and Guida went for a takedown at the same time. Before Huerta could get back to his feet, Guida nailed him with a huge right hand that badly rocked Huerta and sent him to his back. Huerta recovered, however, and weathered the storm of punches and elbows which followed. Guida landed one more hard shot and followed it up with double hammerfist strikes just before the bell.
Both fighters came out striking in round three, with each connecting with one solid punch. Guida went in for a shot, but Huerta countered with a hard knee that began the end for Guida. Huerta ran in for another knee, then landed a series of strikes. Guida was badly dazed and went for a takedown, but Huerta reversed position, took Guida's back and locked in a rear naked choke. Huerta comes back from the brink of defeat in round two and is ruled the winner by Submission (rear naked choke) at 0:51 of round three.
TUF 6 Welterweight Finale
Mac Danzig vs Tommy "The Farmboy" Speer
Though Danzig, a natural lightweight, was badly undersized in this battle, he made short work of the wrestler Speer.A brief striking exchange led to a clinch war, where both fighters landed knees and Danzig went for a quick takedown. After getting Speer down, Danzig worked straight into mount and landed a series of unanswered punches. Speer was cut multiple times in the exchange. After Speer rolled over to avoid further punishment, Danzig quickly sunk in a rear naked choke for the victory. In just two minutes, Speer had been cut five times - twice below each eye and once more beside his right eye. A very dominating performance for Danzig, who may now finally get the respect that he has deserved for quite some time. Maz Danzig is the winner by Submission (rear naked choke) at 2:00 of round one and is ruled the winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season Six.
Jared "J-ROC" Rollins vs Jon "War Machine" Koppenhaver
In what was unquestionably the best fight of the night, and arguably the best fight in TUF finale history, Rollins and Koppenhaver had an enthralling battle that was mostly contested on the ground but which was action-packed with striking exchanges from beginning to end.Rollins led out with a takedown, but Koppenhaver quickly stood back up and returned the favour by taking Rollins down. Koppenhaver landed strikes from the top while Rollins worked for an armbar and began launching the first of his dozens of elbow strikes of the fight, all from bottom position. Koppenhaver continued to try to land strikes from the top, but Rollins replied with a series of elbow strikes to the top of Koppenhaver's skull. Koppenhaver's elbows from the top eventually opened up a cut on Rollins's right eye, but Rollins promptly split the top of Koppenhaver's head open with a vicious series of elbow strikes of his own. Koppenhaver was gushing blood from the top of his head after the elbow strikes, which seemed to be the most damaging strikes of the round even though Rollins was on the bottom.
Rollins got the better of the striking early in the second round, landing a series of hard punches and a knee. Rollins then went for a takedown, but Koppenhaver reversed and took top position. Rollins countered with another long series of vicious elbows to the already opened cut on Koppenhaver's head and Koppenhaver answered back with strikes from the top. At this point, there is blood all over the cage and all over both fighters, mostly from the cut on Koppenhaver's head. Back on the feet, Rollins attempted a flying knee and knocked Koppenhaver down soon after, landing big shots from the top. A visibly tired Koppenhaver defended well from the bottom, but Rollins refused to let him up. Rollins got Koppenhaver's back, but Koppenhaver escaped. Rollins attained mount, but Koppenhaver rolled to escape and Rollins took his back once again. Koppenhaver rolled back over and Rollins landed a series of big punches and hammerfists that momentarily looked like they may be enough to put Koppenhaver away. The bell rang to end the round, and Rollins did enough to get to 1-1 in round scoring going into the final stanza.
Rollins went for a takedown to begin round three, but an exhausted Koppenhaver managed to reverse and landed some massive elbows from the top. Rollins, equally tired, countered with more elbow strikes from bottom position. After the fight was stood back up, Koppenhaver went for a slow takedown, but Rollins countered and landed a knee that sent Koppenhaver down. With his last bit of energy, Koppenhaver swept and took mount, where he landed two elbows and a series of brutal punches that knocked Rollins out. An absolutely amazing fight that ends with Koppenhaver as the winner by KO (strikes) at 1:59 of round three.
Troy "Rude Boy" Mandaloniz vs Richie "The Dirty Samurai" Hightower
This fight began with a striking exchange which, surprisingly, Hightower got the better of. Hightower took Mandaloniz down, but Mandaloniz quickly returned to his feet, where another striking exchange took place. Mandaloniz landed a huge punch and Hightower simply shrugged it off. In the clinch, Hightower landed knees and other strikes. Another striking exchange saw Mandaloniz land more punches and Hightower landing kicks and knees. Hightower seemed to tire as Mandaloniz pressed forward, and both fighters exchanged knees in the clinch. Hightower landed more strikes, but Mandaloniz countered with a very stiff jab that sent Hightower crashing to the mat. Mandaloniz followed up with strikes and is the winner by TKO (strikes) at 4:17 of round one.Billy "The Kid" Miles vs George Sotiropoulos
Miles came out like a shot to begin the fight, pressing forward with strikes that put Sotiropoulos against the cage. Miles went for a takedown, but Sotiropoulos countered and landed a series of hammerfists. A scramble led to Sotiropoulos taking Miles's back. Shortly thereafter, following another series of hammerfists, Sotiropoulos sunk in a rear naked choke and is the winner by Submission (rear naked choke) at 1:35 of round one.Ben "Killa B" Saunders vs Dan Barrera
Saunders opened with kicks and Barrera replied by attempting a takedown and pressing Saunders against the cage. Saunders repeatedly avoided being taken down and landed knees in the clinch. Barrera continued to attempt a takedown and Saunders briefly went for an Anaconda Choke. Saunders quickly took Barrera's back, sunk in both hooks and went for a rear naked choke. He then transitioned into a Kimura attempt, followed by an armbar attempt, but Barrera escaped. Barrera held top position, but was unable to do anything as Saunders landed elbows from the bottom for the remainder of the round.Barrera secured a takedown to begin round two and quickly took Saunders's back. Saunders rolled over and landed more elbows from the bottom while he worked for a shoulder lock on Barrera's left arm. Both fighters exchanged strikes and Saunders went for occasional armbar attempts. The fight was stood back up and Saunders went for a flying knee, which narrowly missed. Barrera tried for a takedown, but Saunders reversed and took his back. Saunders rolled into an armbar, but Barrera countered and got back into guard. Back on the feet, Saunders dropped Barrera with a high kick and peppered him with punches for the remainder of the round.
Saunders led out in the striking exchange to begin round three, getting Barrera down on his stomach and landing a series of punches. Saunders took Barrera's back and went for a rear naked choke. Saunders continued to land strikes as he waved to the crowd, while an immobile Barrera could not break out of the body triangle. Saunders maintained control for several minutes until Barrera finally reversed position and landed a few strikes from the top. The fight was stood back up with one minute remaining and Saunders landed a strong body kick which caused Barrera to turtle once again. Barrera rose back to his feet once more, but was unable to get Saunders down and Saunders landed strikes to Barrera's back for the duration of round three. Saunders is ruled the winner by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).
Matt "No Regard" Arroyo vs John Kolosci
Arroyo landed a good punch in the opening seconds and quickly took Kolosci's back, where he landed a series of elbow strikes. Arroyo quickly moved into a guillotine choke, but Kolosci escaped. Shortly thereafter, Arroyo went for a combination shoulder lock and armbar on Kolosci's right arm, but Kolosci powerbombed out of it. Not to be deterred, Arroyo locked it in again, this time in a straight armbar, but Kolosci again narrowly escaped. Back on the feet, Kolosci went for a takedown, but Arroyo countered with another guillotine choke. Kolosci again escaped, but Arroyo went for another straight armbar a minute later and Kolosci tapped out. Arroyo wins by Submission (armbar) at 4:43 of round one.Roman Mitichyan vs Dorian Price
This fight was over in a hurry, as Mitichyan immediately scored a takedown, stayed in Price's open guard for a few seconds and then dropped back and locked in an ankle lock for the quick submission victory. Mitichyan wins by Submission (ankle lock) in just 23 seconds. It would have been interesting to see how well he would have fared on the show had he not been injured and unable to compete.Paul Georgieff vs Jonathan "The Road Warrior" Goulet
Goulet, a veteran Canadian fighter who was not a part of TUF 6, made fairly short work of Georgieff. The two traded weak strikes for the first few minutes before Goulet scored a takedown and landed some ground and pound strikes to the face. Georgieff worked back to his feet and landed a solid left, but Goulet scored another takedown. After landing strikes from the top, Goulet got Georgieff's back and locked in a rear naked choke. Goulet wins by Submission (rear naked choke) at 4:42 of round one.
Later in the night, Dana White made a "huge announcement" (which had been promoted all evening) that Season 7 of The Ultimate Fighter would be completely revamped from past seasons, and Forrest Griffin - the Season 1 winner - would be one of the coaches. The other coach will be announced tomorrow night at the pre-taped Video Game Awards, but White appeared to give it away during his announcement. Griffin was labelled as the "#1 contender" for the UFC Light Heavyweight title, and White said Griffin would fight the other Season 7 coach at the end of the season.
This implies that Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will be the other coach, which would make sense, as Jackson is recovering from a hand injury and will not be able to fight until next year anyway. Regardless, not exactly the "huge" announcement it was made out to be, but if next season's finale is as good as this season's, that would be a good start.
