Only a select few fights were aired in their entirety. Check out the first part of my review of the first episode of the newest season of The Ultimate Fighter to see what occurred there. This article focuses on the fights that were aired with cuts, and were shown as highlights. What was shown was still pretty impressive, though:
THE HIGHLIGHTS
Main finishes Brenton with an arm bar
RAN WEATHERS VS. JONATHAN BROOKINS
Brookins showed superior overall skills, both on the ground and standing up, against Weathers and wins via unanimous decision.
TOBY GREAR VS. SAKO CHIVITCHIAN
Mostly a ground battle, Chivitchian gets the decision win in the end. The post fight interview with him was interspersed with A LOT of footage of him puking after the fight. Though it was funny how they edited it, I still could have done with seeing a lot less of the vomit. I really don't watch this show for that kind of thing.
JEFFREY LENTZ VS. DANIEL HEAD
Mostly a striking battle, both on the ground and standing up, Lentz dominated Head throughout both the rounds with his obviously superior striking and wrestling. Head was battered throughout the match, wound up with an extremely bloody face, and eventually tapped out from a rear naked choke. Oddly enough, even before the match started, GSP counted Lentz out by crossing out his face on the rating sheet, and Koscheck rightfully called him out for it afterward.
PABLO GARZA VS. MICHAEL JOHNSON
Johnson dominates most of the fight with an incredible striking display both on the ground and standing up, and wins via unanimous decision. His ground and pound was so vicious that Dana White even compared him to Mike Tyson at one point.
AARON WILKINSON VS. MICHAEL RICHMAN
A fighter from the United Kingdom, Wilkinson displayed impressive ground and pound and wins via unanimous decision.
JOSEPH DUFFY VS. KYLE WATSON
Watson takes Duffy to the ground and finishes him via rear naked choke.
JJ AMBROSE VS. SEVAK MAGAKIAN
Magakian is obviously a very powerful and skilled wrestler, as he was able to slam Ambrose several times and control him on the ground throughout the fight. He also showed some incredible heart in the first round, since Ambrose had his left arm in a Kimura and locked it in tight, but Magakian did not tap, and even managed to escape the submission. He reversed the position and continued to dominate Ambrose on the ground. Magakian walks away with a unanimous decision.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The ending preview for future episodes kind of disturbs me, though, as a lot of it focused on the antics in the house. I honestly became very bored of that sort of thing after only the first few seasons, so I really don't want anymore of that from season 12. The season prior to this made me happy in that most of the screentime was devoted to the gym and to the fights, so I hope that this season mimics that, at least. Koscheck freaking out and attacking GSP's assistant coaches didn't bother or surprise me, though. Knowing Kos, I expected something like that to occur during the season, and will very much relish seeing it in full. Can't wait for the rest of the episodes, and of course, the coaches' battle for the UFC Welterweight championship that will supposedly occur at UFC 124 in December!
What did you think of this episode? Were you as impressed as I was? Did you think it sucked? And are you looking forward to the rest of the season? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts!
