Ultimate Finale: Review and Thoughts

So, it’s the end of another season of "The Ultimate Fighter", and the fans turned out for the finale, which, in my opinion, far excelled the rest of the shows that UFC has churned out this year; that’s not saying much, though.

So let’s recap. After the season ended, we were left with a match between Travis Lutter and Patrick Cote, along with the Renzo Gracie black belt Matt Serra and Chris Lytle.

These co-main events were promoted throughout the night, although, the undercard stole the show.

The show opened this time around with Mike Goldberg sounding somewhat odd, even like he had a cold; you have absolutely no idea how much this annoyed me throughout the night, even to the point where I was literally PRAYING for some miracle that would make him turn into Mauro Ranallo. The attempts at humour that he and Joe Rogan make are light, and sometimes even embarrassingly oversold; whereas I found Quadros and Rutten funny, this pairing just simply... should stick to calling the action. Which, thankfully, they did tonight.

First match; Jorge Rivera VS Edwin “I cut my babyface” Dewees. If you haven’t seen "The Ultimate Fighter" this season and you like blood, go pick up the DVD when it hits the stores.

Refereed by Yves Lavigne, this fight was looking promising but a little boring, with repeated clinching followed by blocked flurries of punches, nothing really landing. A quick punch from Jorge floored Dewees, however, but the young, ridiculously experienced babyface turned over, and defended the punches well. After landing literally NOTHING of any substance, the referee thought he would call a TKO and give the bout to Jorge, even though he’d been punching nothing but glove for 30 seconds or more. Great choice there ref.

Bad decision #1. Usually, I’d recommend playing a little game within the UFC shows. Everytime there’s a somewhat dubious decision by the referee or judges at first, take a shot of your favorite liquor. However, with recent events over the past year or so, I figure I could do without that trip to the hospital tonight. Just kidding; the refereeing wasn’t that bad consistently speaking, but this fight SUCKED. ½ *.

The most notable thing during the matches was probably the venue; it seemed a little small, and while this may have created good crowd intimacy, it detracted from the feel of a big, end-of- season show that this was.

Second fight starts with Din Thomas and Rich “No Love” Clementi battling it out in the 155lbs category. Two rounds saw this fight go to Thomas, after gaining the mount and ending the action with a rear naked choke, 3 minutes and 11 seconds in. Although nothing too spectacular, the fight was a good filler and Thomas certainly looked the better of the two fighters. No complaints there. 1 ½ *.

Thomas showed a little personality in the after-interview, but Rogan killed it with his complete no-sell. Bring back Randy Couture for this segment.

Third fight is Pete “Drago” Sell (I’ve never understood that nickname) and Scott Smith, a couple of buddies from "The Ultimate Fighter" house battling it out. The notes I made were that the fight was likely to go the ground route, with Sell being a brown belt under Matt Serra and Scott Smith with a good wrestling pedigree. OH, how wrong I was. A few trading shots within this fight was enough to cement its place as 'fight of the night' so far, and the finish was fairly spectacular.

After being a fairly even fight, Sell layed into Smith’s ribs with a beautiful left hook, only to succumb to one of the sweetest knockouts in recent UFC history.

3* fight. Not bad for free TV.

Bout four saw Travis Lutter take on Patrick Cote from North of the Border, and on paper this looked like a good match. Lutter is trying to show a little personality, which is welcome, but don’t get me wrong, he’s not Shonie Carter level. With a little more charisma, this guy could be a highly marketable advertisement for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Cote tapped out to a “clean, crisp” armbar, early on in the first round.

The Canadian had little answer for the far superior Brazilian Jiu Jitsu game of Lutter, who will now go on to face the champion of that division, Anderson “the Spider” Silva in February. “He may be the best all-around striker in the UFC or whatever. But I’m going to take him down. That’s my job. That’s what I’m here to do. And I will see him soon.”.

As an arachnophobe, I pray that Lutter wins.

Next fight saw Martin Kampmann beat Thales Leites via a unanimous decision, with Goldberg helpfully stating that the “Dutch love their kickboxing”. Shame that Kampmann comes from Denmark, Leites from Brazil.

Final fight of the night was Matt Serra and Chris Lytle. The fight was close, with Serra edging out a decision that could really have gone either way. In all honesty, this was a good fight although perhaps a little boring at times, and I have no complaints with the scoring. Serra will now go on to face the “greatest welterweight of all time” Matt Hughes, that is, if he can beat George St Pierre at the next show. Somehow, I can’t see Serra beating either.

"The Ultimate Fighter 4"’s season finale; "The Ultimate Fight Night" live. Good show, and one of the best that the UFC have produced in recent memory. Perhaps not the best since the epic Griffin/Bonnar encounter, but certainly a watchable show.

Overall, I’d give the show a 2 ½ star rating. Not amazing, but certainly good. If you get a chance, watch it. I wouldn’t go out of my way to pick up the show, though.

In the next few days I’ll be covering the PRIDE Bushido show, the finals of the lightweight tournament.

Until then, It’s been a pleasure.

theLUKE.
www.myspace.com/samoaluke

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