The Ultimate Fighter Nine: The Finale Recap

Joe Stevenson vs Nate Diaz

Round 1

Stevenson comes out of the gate trying to touch gloves with Diaz, but Diaz chooses not to touch gloves. This is not a surprise coming from a Diaz brother.

Stevenson looks for the takedown right away in this match up, securing it but getting caught in a guillotine. Joe fights out of it though, and stacks Diaz’s guard, punching him from the top. Stevenson then moves to side control by easily passing Diaz’s guard. Diaz tries what looks to be a twister position, but Stevenson prevents the move and now has Diaz in what looks to be a crucifix position. Diaz has few options from here, while Stevenson is on top of him and punching him in the side of the head. Diaz reverses the position though eventually, to get on top of Stevenson. Stevenson allows the position change, and locks in a deep guillotine. Diaz gets rolled over by Stevenson, allowing Stevenson to get the full mount on Diaz. Diaz immediately gets back to half guard though by what looks to be a hip escape, then locks in a tight guillotine on Stevenson. Stevenson escapes and then stacks Diaz’s full guard, eventually passing. Diaz tries to get back to his feet though, and Joe pins him against the cage landing knees to the head, then to the body until the end of the round.

Round 2

Another round begins with Stevenson scoring a takedown almost immediately. After the takedown though, Diaz locks in yet another guillotine, using it to maneuver to top position, but loses it soon after. Joe gets back to his feet, though and gets Diaz pinned against the cage again, landing more knees to the legs and body of Diaz. Diaz gets back to his feet fully, but not before eating a knee by Stevenson to the face, then getting taken down by a very unusual takedown. Stevenson, again with top position and side control, lands a couple shots before getting moved back to half guard. Diaz then makes a move back to full guard and attempts a triangle choke. Stevenson wisely postures up and avoids any possibilities of the finish, and gets Diaz back into the sprawl position where he begins landing knees to the body of Diaz. Diaz gets back to his feet again, and eats some knees to the legs and body before being taken down by Stevenson. Stevenson from here, stacks the guard of Diaz a final time before the bell rings.

Round 3

Nate Diaz comes out of the gates this time, landing some punches before Stevenson decided to shoot for a takedown. Diaz defended it until he was up against the cage, then Stevenson pulled of the unusual and unique take down twice. Diaz got up both times though, and then pulled of a slick judo throw on Stevenson. Diaz keeps the top position this time, and lands some good ground and pound from Stevenson’s guard. Diaz attempts a guillotine choke though from a weird position, allowing Stevenson to get the top game again and pin Diaz against the cage wall. Stevenson from here landed a lot of knees to Diaz’s body before finally letting go of Diaz and looking for a stand up battle. Diaz starts to land though, making Joe attempt a takedown. Diaz avoids the final takedowns, and lands some more good shots before the final bell.

Joe Stevenson wins via Unanimous Decision (All three judges score the bout 29-28)

The Ultimate Fighter Nine Lightweight Finale

Ross Pearson vs. Andre Winner

Round 1

Pearson and Winner begin this fight throwing some nice crisp strikes. Pearson lands some good straights and hooks, looking upstairs and downstairs for openings. Winner on the other hand was looking mainly for the head, and was not landing as much. Pearson scored a very heavy leg kick as well, before both men clinched up and Winner pushed Pearson against the cage. From here, both men exchanged a lot of knees to the body, thighs and sometimes head. Ross and Winner exchanged positions on the cage a few times, but Ross landed more knees to the body and also heavier knees here and there. Eventually Ross and Winner hit each other basically at the same time with knees to the cup, signaling a short stoppage. Once both fighters got back into the match, a lot of uppercuts and hooks were thrown from Pearson, and some of them landing. Pearson also had the single collar clinch on Winner, landing some excellent strikes as well. Both men then clinched up, and pushed each other against the cage before the bell.

Round 2

Both fighters come out again looking to stand and bang. Ross lands a couple good leg kicks and strikes again before both clinch up against the cage. From here it was like the first round, but Pearson attempted more takedowns. Winner stuffed all the takedowns though, causing the match to be a stand up clinch battle. Eventually the two separate and begin striking again. Pearson lands a couple good combinations that hurt Winner, and put Winner up against the cage. Pearson lands a bit, but then Winner comes back out finishing the round hard.

Round 3

This round was very similar to the other two rounds, but both men broke away from the clinch more, and seemed to be giving it more of a fight. Pearson was landing a lot more this round, and had Winner gassed. Pearson would also not stop attempting takedowns throughout most of this round either. Pearson then was up against the cage at the end of the round, but came out with some heavy strikes to Winner’s head and body, hurting him before the bell rung.

Ross Pearson wins via Unanimous Decision (All three judges score the bout 29-28)

Chris Lytle vs Kevin Burns

Round 1

The round begins with both men exchanging punches and the occasional leg kicks. Lytle was throwing a lot of hooks and body punches, but Burns did not seem to be overly affected by the strikes. Lytle was out striking Burns for the most part, but occasionally, Burns would land a big strike that would hurt Lytle. Eventually Burns landed a kick to the groin area of Lytle, calling a quick stop to the contest. When Lytle was ready again, the match resumed. Burns landed a big uppercut on Lytle making him drop to the canvas momentarily, and after that Burns turned the heat up. He landed a lot of strikes to the body and head of Lytle trying to finish him, but Lytle stayed very composed throughout this. Eventually Lytle clinched with Burns to survive until the end of the round.

Round 2

Lytle comes right out of the gate in this round hunting for Burns’ head. He hurts Burns, but Burns retaliates with a flurry of punches, a knee, and finishing it off with a kick to the body. They start swinging for the fences again with upper cuts and hooks, then out of no where Burns looks for a take down. He scores it, but Lytle gets right back up. From here, Lytle starts landing right hooks to the body on a consistent basis, which slow Burns down very quickly. After Lytle saw Burns slow down, he started to turn the heat on with big punches before taking another groin shot. The action was stopped momentarily, but then the fighters resumed the beating each other up. Again Lytle starts to land a lot of punches on Burns, before Burns kicked him in the cup again. Both fighters stop briefly, before getting back into the action. The bell signals soon after.

Round 3

Lytle comes out again looking for the knock out. He connects very hard with Burns’ head, causing a large gash in Burns’ forehead that begins to heavily bleed. From here, both fighters begin the kick boxing match again by landing punches, kicks and the occasional knee and superman punch. Both guys are just swinging away at each other, until Burns’ energy slows down dramatically before the end of the round. Lytle keeps pushing forward, landing heavy punches all over Burns body, but Burns survives and throws back every once in awhile. By the end of the round Burns looked exhausted, while Lytle looked like he was in the beginning of round two. Lytle poured it on until the very last second of the match, where both men had one last flurry at each other before the bell.

Chris Lytle wins via Unanimous Decision (all three judges score the bout, 29-28).

The Ultimate Fighter Nine Welterweight Finale

James Wilks vs. DaMarques Johnson

Round 1

DaMarques lands a couple strong punches on Wilks chin, but Wilks fires back by scoring a couple really good punches on DaMarques’ chin, and following up with combination of knees and the Thai Clinch. DaMarques eventually escapes the clinch and anymore severe damage, but then Wilks attempts a throw. DaMarques defends the throw, but is taken down anyways by a limp arm drag. Wilks inside of DaMarques’ guard, attempts a heel hook, but cannot finish it. DaMarques escapes to the top position and lands a few punches on his way there, but then Wilks attempts another heel hook. DaMarques starts to strike instead of defending the move, then Wilks uses the leg he has of DaMarques to form a leg compression on DaMarques. DaMarques escapes again though, but then Wilks attempts an omoplata. Yet again, DaMarques escapes. Wilks then attempts an opposite leg triangle on DaMarques, which he scores. DaMarques eventually escapes the hold again, but not before Wilks turned it into an omoplata. This time, Wilks catches DaMarques and uses it to get DaMarques’ back. DaMarques stands up though, but Wilks will not let go of his lock that he has around DaMarques’ hips. He then lands a few knees to the legs and lower body, before finally sweeping DaMarques to the ground again. This time Wilks gets both hooks in on DaMarques and starts to attempts Rear Naked Chokes and other forms of that choke from DaMarques’ back. Wilks intelligently traps DaMarques’ arm with his leg, then taps him out using the Rear Naked Choke, finishing DaMarques off 8 seconds before the first round ends.

James Wilks wins via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 4:52 of the first round.

Main Event

Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida

Round 1
Well, this round sort of starts off with both men exchanging, then soon after turns into a boxing and Thai boxing clinic from Sanchez to Guida. Sanchez lands at least seven or eight uppercuts and a huge flurry of other strikes before taking a breath, then doing it again. Eventually after these huge flurries, Sanchez backs up and is about to jump in again but Guida takes him down with a well timed shot. Sanchez gets back to his feet though, and the referee stops the action to put Guida’s mouth piece back in. As soon as the competition begins again, Diego lands a head kick perfectly on Guida’s head, hurting him badly. Guida gets back to his feet though, but Sanchez pushes the action again by landing a flying knee and another devastating combo. Sanchez then attempts a body to body takedown, and scores it easily. From there he has the top position but does little with it before Guida again gets back to his feet. From here, both men again start banging, but Sanchez closes the round out by connecting a couple more times before the bell.

That was a huge round for Diego Sanchez.

Round 2

Guida immediately takes Sanchez down in the beginning of this round, scoring minimal points from the guard, and not being able to do much. After a couple minutes of minor ground and pound, Sanchez gets antsy and starts to throw a lot of elbows off of his back. Guida covers up for most of this but eats at least ten elbows, but fifteen is a more reasonable number. Sanchez attempts an armbar, but Guida escapes the hold, ending the second round.

Round 3

Sanchez this round puts on a decent boxing clinic again on Guida’s face, but Guida would counter with a punch or two here and there. Sanchez was landing a lot of strikes before Guida finally went for a takedown. Sanchez evaded the takedown and attempted to get Guida’s back in the process. He only had one hook in though, and no over/under control, giving the position up to Guida, and allowing Guida to roll over into his guard. Sanchez from his guard attempts a Kimura on Guida but cannot finish it. He then pushes Guida off of him, ending the third round.

Diego Sanchez wins via Split Decision (29-27 and 29-28 in favour of Sanchez, 29-28 in favour of Guida)

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