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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The Ultimate Fighter returns for its seventeenth season tonight with promises of revamped production and a legitimately talented cast of middleweights. Tonight's two-hour broadcast will see 28 fighters fighting for a chance to get into the house in what the UFC hopes is something of a fresh start for the long-running reality show. I'll be live-blogging the show tonight as it airs on FX with random thoughts and reactions to the changes made and the fights that air, so follow along here as the show kicks off at the top of the hour!
-This is an immediately different feel for the show. The interviews are more in line with UFC behind the scenes documentaries and specials instead of what you're used to from The Ultimate Fighter. We get some flashes of fights early, some of the competitors talking about what this means to them, how much of a sacrifice they've made to get here. It's driven home with Chael Sonnen asking "Are you willing to sacrifice everything?" and a number saying "I am the next Ultimate Fighter."
-Dana White explains something they've done differently for this season, allowing the fighters to bring in family and friends to watch their elimination fights.
-White talks up Jones and Chael as this season starts. Jones and Chael start off cordially enough, checking out the motorcycles they could win as White gives a version of the UFC 151 debacle. Jones explained how it was hard to fight Rashad Evans because he got to know him, and how that's his only example of fighting someone after being around them for a significant amount of time. Fortunately, he said, he doesn't like Chael so it won't be a problem.
-There's a lot of the familiar TUF here, but the change in the way it's shot and presented does a lot to give it a different feel already, and it's a lot more interesting through the first ten minutes than any of the last several seasons.
-Onto fight day, we get our first profiled fighter in Jake Heun, talking about his relationship with Chris Leben and moving to Salt Lake City to be more serious. His opponent for the elimination round is Adam Cella.
FIGHT ONE: JAKE HEUN VS. ADAM CELLA
ROUND ONE: Heun came out firing, slipping on an early kick. He landed a few more kicks and punches. The crowd being there for the fights makes this feel different as well, along with unique camera angles. Heun scores a takedown as Cella's girlfriend looks on. Cella went for an armbar, Heun picked him up and dropped him on his head, but he held onto the hold, rolled it through and forced the tap. That's an upset right off the bat.
Adam Cella moves into the house with a first round submission by armbar
-Next up will be Zak Cummings and Nik Fekete. This presentation, with some humanization to their stories with the families around, makes each of the fighters more personable than past seasons, and thus far has made things a lot more interesting.
FIGHT TWO: ZAK CUMMINGS VS. NIK FEKETE
ROUND ONE: Cummings landed huge knockdown punch immediately, then landed some big strikes on the ground for a quick win.
Zak Cummings moves into the house with a first round TKO
-The families and friends being present adds a different atmosphere and weight to these fights. It's not simply interchangeable, faceless competitors thus far. There's a little more to get invested in.
-Eldon Sproat, the Hawaiin cowboy, is up next, taking on Kevin Casey.
FIGHT THREE: ELDON SPROAT VS. KEVIN CASEY
-This fight gets the highlight treatment. Jones called it an "awesome fight" and a dominant fight from Casey's part. Casey ultimately secured a rear naked choke despite suffering a cut.
Kevin Casey moves into the house with a submission by rear naked choke
FIGHT FOUR: SCOTT ROSA VS. TOR TROENG
We see more highlights as Jones and Sonnen banter back and forth. The fight was contested mostly on the ground, Sonnen said it wasn't overly impressive, but he won by rear naked choke. Tor thinks his status as an unknown works in his favor.
Tor Troeng moves into the house with a submission by rear naked choke
FIGHT FIVE: CLINT HESTER VS. FRASER OPIE
More highlights here. Hester just opened up with a great striking exchange, then looked like he dominated on the ground. Sonnen talked him up. Jones shouted out some advice from his spot, which Sonnen called him out for. Hester won by decision, and joked that he hasn't been in federal prison, but he was expecting the house to be like one.
Clint Hester moves into the house with a decision win
-Back to some features with Ryan Bigler, from Guam, getting Winston Churchill quotes read to him in his hotel room in preparation. He takes on Bubba McDaniel, whose sister is there for him as he broke down talking about being away from family to be in the sport.
FIGHT SIX: RYAN BIGLER VS. BUBBA MCDANIEL
-Jones says McDaniel is a teammate and training partner of his, but talks up his erratic nature in training.
-We get more highlights for this fight, with Sonnen goading Jones about picking his teammate, and White talking about how he wants to see fighters go for it with this opportunity. White and Sonnen speculate that Bigler stole the round with a late takedown after McDaniel "pushed up against the fence the whole round." Jones gives McDaniel some between round comments. Sonnen continues goading Jones about McDaniel. McDaniel eventually scored a takedown, got Bigler flattened out, threw a bunch of strikes and got the stoppage in the second round.
Bubba McDaniel moves into the house with a second round TKO
-Josh Samman said this was his fourth time trying out for TUF and his first chance getting in. His opponent is Leo Bercier, a Native American who grew up on a reservation in Montana and talked up his motivation into this one.
FIGHT SEVEN: JOSH SAMMAN VS. LEO BERCIER
ROUND ONE: We actually get a clock, and Samman came straight out and scored a nice takedown. He landed a nice series of strikes to the body and continued smothering Bercier in an attempt to pass. Jones called out with advice as he seemed to be doing quite often. Samman passed to mount and threw some double hammerfists. Bercier gave up his back. He continued unleashing strikes as Bercier just covered up and the fight was stopped. Dominant win, but White wasn't impressed by what he called the "goofy" double strikes.
Josh Samman moves into the house with a first round TKO
-Kito Andrews is featured next, and he's flanked by his 11 and 8-year-old boys. He said he recently won a custody battle for them, and he's trying to make a better life for them through this show, saying "losing's not an option." His opponent in the opening round is bail bondsman Kelvin Gastelum.
FIGHT EIGHT: KITO ANDREWS VS. KELVIN GASTELUM
-Dana says Gastelum is the youngest fighter in TUF history at 21. Sonnen joked that Andrews is used to fighting due to his divorce. Time for more highlights. Sonnen said Andrews came to win, and he was doing a lot early. However, Gastelum took over, and it went to a decision, won by Gastelum.
Kelvin Gastelum moves into the house by decision
FIGHT NINE: JIMMY QUINLAN VS. MIKE PERSONS
Highlights again for this fight. Jones said Quinlan showed the best wrestling he had seen thus far. Sonnen said he took care of business, didn't hide his intentions, took him down and finished it in the first.
Jimmy Quinlan moves into the house with a first round TKO
-Uriah Hall, a Jamaican-born New Yorker, talked about getting into martial arts after seeing a psychiatrist about anger issues as a kid. He fights Alaska's Andy Enz in this opening round.
FIGHT TEN: URIAH HALL VS. ANDY ENZ
-This fight gets a tale of the tape and White saying "this should be fun." No timer, so it's back to highlights. Sonnen talks about how it's hard to assess attributes in a short fight, but he wants to see guys who want to win. Hall scored a takedown, which White said he didn't understand. He landed a nice combination as Enz got to his feet, but then he took him back down. Sonnen said he wanted to see more on his feet. He let Enz up and landed a nice head kick. Enz shot in and got stuffed, and ate some strikes. Hall landed some more big strikes. Hall landed a really nice combination, then scored another takedown and took Enz back. Enz rolled through into guard, though. Hall attacked for a kimura, then turned it into a triangle choke in a beautiful transition, but Enz somehow got loose after Hall rolled it over. Enz went for a standing arm triangle as the round ended, and even though it was just a brief look, that was some of the best TUF action I've seen in ages.
-Round two highlights saw Hall come out with a head kick. Enz shot for a leg and got hit with a ton of strikes. Hall powered him to his back and got on top. They eventually worked to their feet. Hall threw a couple of spinning kicks that missed. Enz scored a late takedown and landed a couple of elbows. Enz locked in a late D'Arce choke, but got taken down in the process and lost the hold. Hall threw a series of strikes to end the round.
-Sonnen talked up Enz, but said he ran into a hammer known as Uriah Hall. That was a solid performance, and Hall looks damned talented.
Uriah Hall moves into the house by decision
-Next up is Gilbert Smith, who takes on Eric Wahlin. Wahlin talked about the bills he can't pay, the child support he's barely making, how his house is close to being taken away, and how fighting is his escape.
FIGHT ELEVEN: GILBERT SMITH VS. ERIC WAHLIN
ROUND ONE: White remarked that Smith looked a bit like Tyson. We get the clock, so we're starting a full round. Smith rushed in, picked Wahlin up and slammed him. Smith passed to side control and landed some short strikes. He got back in half guard but continued trying to work from there. He worked for the arm triangle choke, passed to half guard, and Herb Dean stopped the fight as he looked out right before he threw a couple of punches. Wahlin was out, though, and threw the punches just before he went out.
Gilbert Smith moves into the house with a first round submission by arm triangle
-Nicholas Kohring is up next, and he looks a bit like Forrest Griffin crossed with Chris Leben. His opponent is 6'6" Luke Barnett out of England.
FIGHT TWELVE: NICHOLAS KOHRING VS. LUKE BARNATT
-Barnatt got in a flying knee before they ran to highlights of the bout. Jones said Nicholas fought his heart out, but Luke was too much for him. Sonnen called it a dogfight, but domination by Luke. Jones called Barnatt top three talent in the house from what he's seen.
Luke Barnatt moves into the house with a decision
-Next up is Dylan Andrews, who White said grew up in a marijuana growhouse. He took on scarred up Tim Williams.
FIGHT THIRTEEN: DYLAN ANDREWS VS. TIM WILLIAMS
Andrews landed a big right that rocked Williams early, but Williams fought threw the early shot and some big strikes to work his grappling game. Andrews got a late full mount off a bad takedown from Williams. Sonnen said he wanted to see a third round, but Andrews edged him out.
Andrews moves into the house with a decision
FIGHT FOURTEEN: COLLIN HART VS. MIKE JASPER
-More highlights. Jones called the fight "amazing," and said Hart dominated with dirty boxing and grappling, comparing him to Randy Couture. Hart scored a takedown quick and got a rear naked choke submission.
Hart moves into the house with a first round submission by rear naked choke
-After the break, it's team picking time.
-The two coaching staffs contemplated who they wanted to pick before going to the team selections. White revealed that they're bringing back the wild card for the fights this season, to allow for two fighters who lose to be brought back. Once again, $5,000 for finishes, plus $25,000 bonuses at the end of the season from the fan vote for sub, KO, and fight of the season.
TEAM SONNEN: Luke Barnatt, Uriah Hall, Zak Cummings, Tor Troeng, Jimmy Quinlan, Kevin Casey, Jelvin Gastelum
TEAM JONES: Clint Hester, Josh Samman, Bubba McDaniel, Gilbert Smith, Collin Hart, Adam Cella, Dylan Andrews
-The fighters on Team Jones talk about who they want to fight and when they want to fight, though they all understand that Team Jones will have the final say. We get the first fight pick for next week as well after the final break.
-The first fight of the season will be Gilbert Smith against Luke Barnatt. Jones said he took the list the fighters gave to him, and he took it out of order putting Smith-Barnatt on first. Samman questioned the choice, saying it was made in haste and that he didn't think Smith was quite ready for that next week. But Jones wanted to attempt to take out Sonnen's first pick right off the bat. Sonnen said it was a perfect matchup, and said "when I take control, I don't give it back."
-Preview for the season has some Sonnen trash talk, an ambulance, Dana calling one of the knockouts one of the nastiest he's seen period, and more.
FINAL THOUGHTS: This was a very good debut for this new season. The show is presented a lot more like a UFC Primetime than the TUF of old, and that different feel does a lot for the show in general. Add in a number of promising fighters this season, a lot more than what could be said of the past couple of seasons. In particular, Uriah Hall, Clint Hester, Josh Samman, Zak Cummings, Tor Troeng, Luke Barnatt, and Gilbert Smith all stood out, and we'll see what they can do as the season progresses. Thanks for sticking with me tonight, we'll be back with another live blog next week for episode two at the show's normal time of 9PM ET.
Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/The_Ultimate_Fighter_25/article_15685.shtml
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