TUF 12 Semi Final Breakdown

Posted by Matthew Wheeler (Featured Staff Writer)

Nov 24

Season 12 of The Ultimate Fighter is coming to an end and we are approaching the semi finals next week in a 2 hour season finale on spike TV. Four fighters are left 3 from the dominant Team GSP and one left from Team Koscheck. With two very interesting matchups the fans are in for 2 great fights where the winner is yet to be favored.

Jonathan Brookins (11-3 MMA) will meet Kyle Watson (12-6 MMA) and two submission fighters will battle it out for their ultimate shot. Watson owns 10 submission wins in his MMA career and is the Jiu Jitsu instructor for Matt Hughes and his gym. Brookins is the dark horse of the season holding a great grappling resume and fights with tough veterans like Jose Aldo.

The fight should start fast for Watson who will come out with a flurry trying to get Brookins on his back with punches. He should own the advantage there and Brookins will have to use his sweeps and good reverses to try turn the tide on Watson. The longer the fight goes the higher chance Brookins has to pull off the upset. This should be the better of the two fights even though it doesn’t seem that way on paper. This fight has a high probability for submission and shouldn’t go to the score cards.

The second fight will have number one pick Michael Johnson (8-4 MMA) vs. the lone Team Koscheck fighter Nam Phan (16-7 MMA) in a heavily hyped fight. Phan is this season’s veteran fighter having fought in Strikeforce, KOTC, Gladiator Challenge and the WEC (prior to Zuffa). Johnson was coveted by both the coaches after an impressive win to get himself into the house

This fight should start and be very similar to the first fight of the night with Johnson controlling the striking with heavy hands and hard takedowns. After the initial rush it will be all Pham with his great heart and technically crisp boxing. The fight will defiantly have its back and forth moments but Pham’s experience is what will give him the edge over Johnson.

The fights will air next week as Spike TV takes a break from new TUF this week for the holiday, but you can watch last week’s episode if you missed it. The winners have already been set to fight at the finale but the fans wait patiently for December 1, to see who will be fighting for the six-figure contract.

Feel free to leave your fight predictions below.