<table border="0" cellpadding="3"><tbody><tr align="center"><td colspan="6">ULTIMATE FIGHTER 8 FINALE </td></tr><tr><td colspan="3" align="left">December 13th, 2008, SpikeTV </td><td colspan="3" align="right">The Palms, Las Vegas, NV </td></tr><tr><td align="center">Weight</td><td align="center">Name</td><td align="center">Record</td><td align="center">Name</td><td align="center">Record</td><td align="center"> </td></tr><tr><td align="center">170</td><td align="center">Anthony Johnson </td><td align="center">(5-2)</td><td align="center">Kevin Burns </td><td align="center">(7-1)</td><td align="right">Rematch </td></tr><tr><td align="center">185</td><td align="center">Jason MacDonald </td><td align="center">(21-10)</td><td align="center">Wilson Gouveia </td><td align="center">(11-5)</td><td align="right"> </td></tr><tr><td align="center">155</td><td align="center">Phillipe Nover </td><td align="center">(5-0-1) </td><td align="center">Efrain Escudero </td><td align="center">(10-0) </td><td align="right"><table border="0" cellpadding="3"><tbody><tr></tr><tr><td align="right">Winner gets six-figure UFC contract </td></tr></tbody></table> </td></tr><tr><td align="center">205</td><td align="center">Ryan Bader </td><td align="center">(7-0) </td><td align="center">Vinicius Magalhaes </td><td align="center"> (2-2) </td><td align="right">Winner gets six-figure UFC contract </td></tr><tr><td align="center">155 </td><td align="center">Junie Browning </td><td align="center">(2-0) </td><td align="center">Dave Kaplan </td><td align="center">(0-0) </td><td align="center"> </td></tr><tr><td align="center"> 205 </td><td align="center">Krzysztof Soszynski </td><td align="center">(15-8-1) </td><td align="center">Shane Primm </td><td align="center">(1-0)</td><td align="center"> </td></tr><tr><td align="center"> 205 </td><td align="center">Eliot Marshall </td><td align="center">(5-1) </td><td align="center">Jules Bruchez </td><td align="center"> (0-0) </td><td align="center"> </td></tr><tr><td align="center">205 </td><td align="center">Kyle Kingsbury </td><td align="center">(7-1) </td><td align="center">Tom Lawlor </td><td align="center">(4-1) </td><td align="center"> </td></tr><tr><td align="center">155 </td><td align="center">Shane Nelson </td><td align="center">(9-3) </td><td align="center">George Roop </td><td align="center">(8-3) </td><td align="center"> </td></tr><tr><td align="center">155 </td><td align="center">Rolando Delgado </td><td align="center">(5-3-1) </td><td align="center">John Polakowski </td><td align="center">(2-1) </td><td align="center"> </td></tr></tbody></table>
Looks like the 1st one did 1 Alex Karalexis Josh Rafferty TKO (Punches) 1 1:40 2 Mike Swick Alex Schoenauer KO (Punch) 1 0:20 3 Nate Quarry Lodune Sincaid TKO (Punches) 1 3:17 4 Josh Koscheck Chris Sanford KO (Punch) 1 4:21 5 Chris Leben Jason Thacker TKO (Punches) 1 1:35 6 Sam Hoger Bobby Southworth Decision (Unanimous) 3 5:00 7 Diego Sanchez Kenny Florian TKO (Punches) 1 2:49 8 Forrest Griffin Stephan Bonnar Decision (Unanimous) 3 5:00 9 Rich Franklin Ken Shamrock TKO (Punches) 1 2:42
Jason Thacker, lol. Has the guy ever fought since? Edit: no, one and done. I love that Dana said these guys were the best young MMA free agents when the show started. What the hell was Thacker doing there?
Wilson Gouveia has missed weight. He will forefit 20% of his purse to Jason MacDonald. The fight will be a catch weight bout at 189-lbs.
So I watched the marathon a bit today and so I am super geared up for this thing. I think Nover vs Escudaro is going to be a sick right. Efrain reminds of Joe Daddy, its probably that whole wrestling thing.
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="HeaderBlue" align="center" width="56" height="25">Match</td> <td class="HeaderBlue" align="center" width="126">Winner</td> <td class="HeaderBlue" align="center" width="126">Loser</td> <td class="HeaderBlue" align="center" width="160">Method</td> <td class="HeaderBlue" align="center" width="71">Round</td> <td class="HeaderBlue" align="center" width="69">Time</td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr align="center"> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="50" height="30">1</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="126">Roli Delgado</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="126">John Polakowski</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="160">Submission (Guillotine choke)</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="71">2</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="63">2:18</td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="50" height="30">2</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="126">Shane Nelson</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="126">George Roop</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="160">Decision (Split)</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="71">3</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="63">5:00</td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="50" height="30">3</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="126">Tom Lawlor</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="126">Kyle Kingsbury</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="160">Decision (Unanimous)</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="71">3</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="63">5:00</td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="50" height="30">4</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="126">Eliot Marshall</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="126">Jules Bruchez</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="160">Submission (Rear-Naked Choke)</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="71">1</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="63">1:27</td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="50" height="30">5</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="126">Krzysztof Soszynski</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="126">Shane Primm</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="160">Submission (Kimura)</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="71">2</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="63">3:27</td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="50" height="30">6</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="126">Junie Allen Browning</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="126">David Kaplan</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="160">Submission (Armbar)</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="71">2</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="63">1:32</td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="50" height="30">7</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="126">Wilson Gouveia</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="126">Jason MacDonald</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="160">Submission (Elbows)</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="71">1</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="63">2:18</td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="50" height="30">8</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="126">Anthony Johnson</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="126">Kevin Burns</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="160">KO (Head Kick)</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="71">3</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="63">0:28</td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="50" height="30">9</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="126">Ryan Bader</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="126">Vinicius Magalhaes</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="160">TKO (Punches)</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="71">1</td> <td class="Txt11Gray OddBgd" width="63">2:18</td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="50" height="30">10</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="126">Efrain Escudero</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="126">Phillipe Nover</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="160">Decision (Unanimous)</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="71">3</td> <td class="Txt11Gray" width="63">5:00</td></tr></tbody></table>
Eliot Marshall looked good but it seems that Jules just sucks so who knows? Marshall was completely shut down by Bader in the semi-finals so its hard to place him. Krzysztof's submission looked nasty, like he might've broken Shane's shoulder. I thought both guys gassed by the end of the first round. Conditioning, not BJJ, should be Krzys's first priority. He's competing in the deepest weight class in the UFC and there won't be any easy fights for him there. Junie looked good but again, Dave looked bad, so its hard to judge. Kaplan has a strategy of blocking punches with his face that worked against him again. At 5'6" he might be better suited to 145-lbs. His entrance music was awesome. The good Wilson Gouveia showed up tonight. Easy to forget he is 6-2 in the UFC. He probably does deserve to fight someone like Leites, Marquardt, Kampmann, and the likes now. I don't know where Jason MacDonald goes from here. He signed a new contract with the UFC so he'll be around but he can't crack the top tier of the weight class or even the second tier. He seems destined to just toil with the mid-level fighters and at 33-years old, it will really take a huge upset for him to get another shot. Rumble Johnson didn't look as good as we're used to. At this point in his career he's not a threat to the top talent in the weight class. He was stunned that he knocked out Burns. It was a good quality fight. Bader looked pretty typical. His shot on Vinny was just a glancing blow to the temple but it was enough to screw up Vinny's equilibrium. His head must've been spinning because he just rolled over and covered up instead of trying to fight through it. Bader should make for a good 205-lbs fighter but they'll have to start him out slow. Is it safe to say Phillipe wasn't prepared for Efrain? You have to question his game plan. He threw too many kicks and knees and opened himself up for take-downs. We didn't see him winging wide hooks like he did against Kaplan and Roop. Phillipe's biggest strength was his aggressiveness and he didn't bring it in a smart way. Efrain looks to be a winner at lightweight. He should have some interesting fights ahead. He did exactly what he needed to do to pull this one out so credit to him. I went against my normal predicting pattern in this one and paid for it. Efrain's wrestling is better than Phillipe's striking.
I have to say I was surprised at how easily Bader won. That punch didn't even look that overwhelming. I seriously wonder if Kryzsztof has a brighter future than Magalheas The Nover/Escudero fight went about the way i expected. I really don't get why so many people seemed to think Norver was the favorite.
$25,000 win bonuses went to Krzysztof Soszynski (Submission of the Night), Anthony Johnson (Knockout of the Night), Junie Browning and Dave Kaplan (Fight of the Night). All TUF 8 fighters made $8,000 with an $8,000 win bonus. Wilson Gouveia: $36,800 Jason MacDonald: $35,200 Anthony Johnson: $18,000 Ryan Burns: $7,000
Junie can actually be good if he stays on track. Good for him. Team Couture must really be keeping him in line.