Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale Breakdown

As the end of The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck nears, the card for the finale is nearly set, except for the fights involving fighters from the show. It all goes down this Saturday December 4^th, live from the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Although the “official” WEC merge with the UFC isn’t supposed to go into effect until January 1^st, this card will feature three bouts in the newly acquired weight classes. Unfortunately, the final episode has not yet been shown and fans don’t know the two finalists that will make up the co-main event but let’s breakdown the rest of the main card.

The first fight scheduled to take place is a Middleweight bout between TUF 11 alum Rich “The Raging Bull” Attonito (9-3) and Dave Branch (7-1). Since losing on the show, Attonito has put together a two-fight win streak and is taking a step up in competition here. Branch suffered his first loss back in July at the hands of Gerald Harris by way of a beautiful slam that knocked him out cold. With both men being strong in BJJ, this could turn into a grappling match with the winner being the man who can land the best punches.

The next bout is a Featherweight matchup between Jiu-Jitsu ace Fredson Paixao (10-3-1) and Pablo “The Scarecrow” Garza (9-1). Since losing in his WEC debut last April, Paixao has gone 2-0-1 and even picked up a victory over Caol Uno at a Grappler’s Quest event during the UFC Fan Expo back in May. Garza signed to the WEC after losing his qualifying fight to get into the TUF house for this season. Both fighters will be making their official UFC debut and do not want to disappoint. Garza, who does not have a belt in BJJ, has more victories by way of submission than the Black Belt Paixao so this should be a very interesting fight.

Up next is a Bantamweight fight between Will Campuzano (8-2) and Nick Pace (5-1). Not only does neither man have a nickname, they both lost their last fight in the WEC (although Campuzano has a victory with another promotion since his last WEC fight).  With Campuzano being 1-2 in the WEC and Pace being 0-1 in the WEC and the way things have gone of late, the loser could be sent home with walking papers. Pace will have to avoid the power in Campuzano’s hands if he wants to pick up the victory and remain employed.

The first fight on the main card is a Welterweight bout between undefeated Johny Hendricks (9-0) and Rick “The Horror” Story (11-3). Hendricks has been making his mark in the division since coming over from the WEC last year.  In his UFC debut, he stopped Amir Sadollah in just twenty-nine seconds of the first round. Since then he’s pretty much imposed his will on his opponents; the most recent being Charlie Brenneman at UFC 117. Rick Story is also on the rise, winning four-in-a-row after dropping a decision to John Hathaway in his UFC debut. When these two butt heads, be prepared for some high-speed action.

Up next in a highly anticipated Middleweight bout as BJJ ace Demian Maia (13-2) takes on TUF 3 winner Kendall “Da Spyder” Grove (12-7-1). Since being handed his first career loss by Nate Marquardt, Maia has gone 2-1 (lost in a championship match), but got back to his old way in his last fight in which he controlled Mario Miranda for a decision victory.  Grove is also a BJJ specialist and even though he isn’t on the same level as Maia, his long limbs give him the ability to get in and out of positions that many other fighters simply can’t.  While Maia has never been submitted, it’s going to be interesting to see how things go if this fight gets to the ground.

The co-main event of the evening will be between the two finalists that will be determined on this week’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter.

In our main event of the evening we will see TUF 1 runner-up Stephan “The American Psycho” Bonnar (12-7) take on relatively unknown Igor Pokrajac (22-7) in the Light Heavyweight division.  Bonnar is coming off an impressive performance in his rematch with Krzysztof Soszynski win which he won via TKO and broke a three-fight losing streak. Pokrajac is also coming off an impressive performance as he submitted James Irvin in the first round and broke a two-fight losing streak of his own.  Although Pokrajac isn’t as big of a name as Bonnar, he has more experience and nearly as many knockouts as Bonnar has wins!

After tomorrows TUF 12 episode, look for the UFC to announce more fights for the finale, featuring other fighters from these season. Make sure to tune into Spike TV this Saturday at 9pm ET/6pm PT.

Tags: Dave Branch, Demian Maia, Finale, Fredson Paixao, Igor Pokrajac, Johny Hendricks, Kendall Grove, MMA, Nick Pace, Pablo Garza, Rich Attonito, Rick Story, Stephan Bonnar, TUF 12, UFC, Will Campuzano

Category: MMA, UFC, Ultimate Fighter