Is UFC on FOX 9 the Best Free Card Ever?

Is UFC on FOX 9 the Best Free Card Ever?
by Jack Broadey - @j3cK_b

In all my time watching the UFC this is not only the best free card the UFC and Zuffa have produced it is probably the best single card they have produced full stop. It has everything. Title fights, fights with title implications, comeback fights and just generally very good stylistic match ups.

The main event sees Anthony Pettis defend his lightweight strap for the 1st time. With TJ Grant still unavailable the next viable contender steps up to the plate, that man is Josh Thomson. This is a better stylistic fight and should be all out war in a standup battle. On any other card you would expect this fight to be a solid fight of the night contender, it still is but has some serious competition. I will be bold and predict the fight of the year will come from this card.

The only slight criticism if the co main event you can have is that it's only 3 rounds long. When that's the biggest concern you have of a fight then your onto something. The co main event will see Urijah Faber v Michael McDonald battle it out. With Dominic Cruz status still unknown this could very well find the next bantamweight contender. Both men are stuck in the Vitor Belfort position in that they've suffered recent damaging losses to the champion. Barao has pretty much cleaned out his division now so the winner of this fight will more than deserve there rematch.

The next fight on the card is dairy similar to the above. Carlos Condit V Matt Brown has violence written all over it. It can't fail to deliver. This will win something of the night and possibly year. Condit is in a similar position that Faber and McDonald find themselves in. A win over Brown is serious news now though after the tear he's been on. Brown has serious incentives here. A win almost certainly guarantees a title shot. The only shame here again is that it's not a main event and as such will only be 3 rounds. That's 2 fights i am already kicking myself that this isn't a 5 rounder. That's the consequence for building such a fantastic card.

The next fight might not stand out as much or look as thrilling on paper. Lentz-Mendes is however a fantastic fight and had serious title implications. Lentz has looked amazing since his drop to featherweight and both men have been tearing through the division. Mendes is again in that position of having recently lost to the champion and that's still fresh in the mind. He's done everything in his power to set that right though and knocking Clay Guida out is a serious statement. This is very important fight to figure a lot of things out in the featherweight division.

We won't go as in depth into the rest of the card but if we have a glance through you will realise the top end action doesn't end here. Ian McCall snapped his losing streak winning impressively in Brazil. He has an interesting fight on his hands as he takes on Scott Jorgensen making his flyweight debut. Only 1-3 in his last 4 but those losses coming to some of the very best, the same as McCall in a way. The winner moves into contention at flyweight as the division is still very shallow in its early days. 2 lightweight fights next as we have the perennial 'of the night winner Joe Lauzon back in action against Mac Danzig and Danny Castillo v Edson Barboza. Lauzon tends to always be in very exciting fights with his last outing being the anomaly. Barboza has looked fantastic so far in the UFC and looks to keep gaining experience in his quest to win gold.

The latest announced fight is perhaps the closest to call. Both men winning different seasons of TUF we have Court McGee against the youngest ever 'ultimate fighter' Kelvin Gastelum. Both men have amazing heart and have come through as serious underdogs. Can they be any more than gatekeepers. They have to win this to move up I the division and only one man can do that. It's a great fight so low down on a card and it just adds to what should be a fantastic night. I could quite easily see any one of these fights being spectacular enough to earn fight of the year honours. The top 3 fights on the card are as loaded and stacked as you will ever find. What's your prediction for fight of the night? Will it be good enough to earn fight of the year? I can't wait to find out.

UFC The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale Main Card Results - Urijah Faber vs Scott Jorgensen

Urijah Faber defeats Scott Jorgensen by Rear Naked Choke Round 4, 3:16

by Ben Heather @benheather

Urijah Faber keeps himself in title contention and within touching distance of yet another title shot. It seems that nobody (without a title around their waste) can knock him far enough down the ladder to the point he is no longer talked about as a title challenger.

 "The California Kid" is 0-5 in his last five cracks at gold, but I think if he can win another fight he might get yet another chance to win a belt especially if Cruz makes his long awaited return and bests Barao/ Wineland in a unification bout.

On Saturday night however, Faber finished his second straight top 10 opponent, Scott Jorgensen to tap out to a rear naked choke at 3:16 of the fourth round.

Faber controlled the first round with a variety of striking attacks and he very nearly got Jorgensen to tap to a guillotine, Jorgensen however recouped at the end of the round and his corner got him back into it with excellent adjustments.

Jorgensen began throwing combinations moving forward and keeping Faber on his heels. By the start of the third it seemed as though he was very much back into the fight and putting fans on notice for yet another upset on the card.

The fourth round began much the same way for Jorgensen, but that soon ended as Faber enforced his will and grappling advantage. The finish came off a scramble as Faber's speed allowed him to get to Jorgensen's back. At that point, a hand fight ensued with Faber getting his choking arm under Jorgensen's chin and soon after the fight was all over for his 16th career submission.

Jorgensen certainly made a fight of it but Faber has now won six straight non title fights, improving his record to 28-6. Jorgensen however is now 14-7.
"I've known for a long time how tough Scott is," Faber said after the TUF 17 Finale main event. "He got me with some good punches. We were going back and forth. It's incremental things at the highest level. He made one mistake and I was able to capitalise."

Keep checking Kingdom MMA for all the latest news from the world of MMA.

TUF 17 Finale: Weigh in results

Weigh in Results for The Ultimate Fighter Season 17 - Finale

by Ben Heather @benheather

 Tomorrows The Ultimate Fighter season 17 finale live from the Mandalay Bay Events Centre in Las Vegas Nevada, is now set after the weigh ins have now made the fights official. The finale between Uriah Hall and Kelvin Gastelum is the co-main event of the night and both men weighed in within the 186lbs limit.

In the main event, a bantamweight battle between Urijah Faber and Scott Jorgensen. Both men weighed in under the 136lbs limit at the weigh ins, and will now clash in a bid to bid to move a step closer to a potential title shot.

Also on the main event, is the second ever women's bantamweight fight in the UFC. A fight between Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano. Dana White announced that the winner of this fight will get the next title shot in the UFC's women's division and will also be a coach on the next series of The Ultimate Fighter coaching against Ronda Rousey.

All of the other fighters made weight when they stepped on to the scales, with the exception of Maximo Blanco who failed to make the weight for his facebook prelim fight against Sam Sicilia. Blanco was given an extra hour to lose the 1lb he had to lose to make weight.

Full list of results from today's weigh in can be found below.

Main Card - Live on ESPN at 2am Sunday 14th April 2013

Urijah Faber (136 lbs) vs Scott Jorgensen (135.5 lbs)
Uriah Hall (185 lbs) vs Kelvin Gastelum (186 lbs)* - For The Ultimate Fighter 17 Title
Miesha Tate (135.5 lbs) vs Cat Zingano (136 lbs) - For the chance to coach on TUF 18
Travis Browne (239 lbs) vs Gabriel Gonzaga (261 lbs)
Bubba McDaniel (184.5 lbs) vs Gilbert Smith (185 lbs)

Prelims - Live on UFC.tv

Josh Samman (184.5 lbs) vs Kevin Casey (185 lbs)
Luke Barnatt (185 lbs) vs Collin Hart (184.5 lbs)
Dylan Andrews (186 lbs) vs Jimmy Quinlan (185 lbs)
Clint Hester (185 lbs) vs Bristol Marunde (185.5 lbs) -

Facebook Prelims - Live on facebook

Cole Miller (146 lbs)* vs Bart Palaszewski (145 lbs)
Sam Sicilia (146 lbs) vs Maximo Blanco (147 lbs)**
Justin Lawrence (145 lbs) vs Daniel Pineda (145 lbs)

* Had to use the towel to make weight
** Missed weight 1 hour to weigh in again

Kingdom MMA: TUF 17 Finale Main Card Picks

 Kingdom MMA TUF 17 Finale Main Card Picks

 by Ben Heather @benheather

Urijah Faber (27-6) vs. Scott Jorgensen (14-6)

Scott: These two set aside their friendship to battle it out in what should be an exciting encounter. Both fighters have a good all round skillset, but Faber's game is honed to a higher level with him being a veteran of a number of title fights. Jorgensen will put up a spirited battle, but we have seen him out-gunned by Renan Barao and Eddie Wineland in the recent past and he doesn't seem to have the quality to break the top 5 of the division. Like Faber's recent non-title fights, we'll be reminded why he should still be considered one of the top bantamweights in the world.

Prediction - Faber by Submisson Round 3

John: In recent fights both fighters have pretty similar records and will be both desperate to score back to back wins for the first time in two years. I see Jorgensen just edging this one. In recent years I have found Faber to fall just short of the mark and get any real momentum going since he lost the WEC featherweight title for the first time.

Prediction - Jorgensen by split decision

Ben: I think this fight is a great match up, both guys like to put on shows and are exciting fighters. My Dad even loves Jorgensen from his WEC days and he is one of the fighters he knows by name. As far as the outcome of this fight, I can only see Faber winning. I think it will be a great war and both guys are very well skilled but i think Faber is a little bit better in all areas. I dont think we will see a finish in the fight though and it wont be through them not trying but we will be treated to an absolute war. I see Faber doing just enough in every round to pull of the victory.

Prediction - Faber by UD

Kelvin Gastelum (4-0) vs. Uriah Hall (7-2)

John: I don’t think this fight will make it to the second round. I know Kelvin Gastelum is undefeated but having seen Uriah Hall’s KO power I just don’t see him maintaining it.
Even thought hall has been defeated twice in the cage both were by credible now UFC fighters and think it will be him that gets the contract.

Prediction - Hall by KO Round 1

Ben: Well I may be the only person who will say this out loud, but i think Gastelum has a half decent chance in this fight. He proved in the house that people underrated him and he is now in the finale not them.

Obviously Hall has got crazy power in his hands and can land kicks that others can only dream of pulling off, but he has not been tested on this show and how good is he on his back. Yes, in the semi final he finished the fight from his back but in all honesty he had already broken Andrews well before that point and it was only a matter of time before he finished him.

 I think if Kelvin can get him down early and work the ground game we could have a big shock here, but at the same time I wouldnt be surprised if we saw a 10 second 1st round KO by Hall.

Prediction - Gastelum by Submission Round 2

Scott: Forget the main event - this is the Uriah that everyone wants to see. Uriah Hall has a lot to live up to after his fights in the house delivering devastating KO after devastating KO. His performances make me think this will be nothing but a similar win for Hall, but there is just a shade of doubt creeping into mind and it's all down to the performnces of Gastelum in the house. He has been the underdog in every fight and whilst not being the most technically sound fighter has always come away with the finish. His only chance in my mind is to get in Hall's face from the opening bell and make the fight a real grind. I don't see it happening though, but there is always that shadow...

Prediction - Hall by TKO Round 2

Miesha Tate (13-3) vs. Cat Zingano (7-0)

Ben: In this fight i see Tate being a step up in competition for Cat and am not sure how she will cope. I think we will see Tate put on a performance and impress on the biggest stage of all in only the 2nd womans fight in the UFC. The prize which awaits the winner of this fight is exactly what Tate has been calling for since she lost to Rousey. Tate has more experience in the cage and on bigger shows so I think we will see the best Tate come saturday night. I hope we get the same from Cat, if we do they will put on a great fight but I think Tate will pick up the win.

Prediction - Tate by UD

Scott: No disrespect to the TUF finalists, but the rewards for the winner of this fight are bigger than any other. A Zingano win is much more interesting proposition in terms of gaining another contender in the UFC's fledgling women's bantamweight division, but I think she'll have her hands full with Tate who I think has the edge grappling wise. Tate can also call on her big fight experience from her time as the Strikeforce champion and should take the W.

Prediction - Tate by UD

John: I’m really looking forward to this fight, I think it will be a close one and turn into a submission battle. While Zingano comes into the fight undefeated, Tate has won 7 of her last 8 fights. And that one defeat was to now UFC women’s Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and the way she’s destroying the women’s division, its hard to hold that against her. With that in mind and Tate having more fight experience I thin she will just edge this fight.

Prediction - Tate by Submission Round 3

Travis Browne (13-1) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (14-6)

Ben: I really felt for Browne in his last fight, I think if he was fit and not picked up the injury early in that fight he could have caused Big Foot Silva a lot of problems.

As far as this fight goes I think Browne will use his cardio and wear down Gonzaga before finishing him in the third round. Gonzaga comes in to this fight with 3 wins in a row, with all coming via submission. In my opinion this has to be what he tries to do if he is going to have any chance of winning this fight. If he can't take Browne down and try for the submission then it will be a long night for Gonzaga.

Prediction - Browne by KO Round 3

Scott: This seems like an epic mismatch with Browne being by far the fitter, faster and more athletic fighter. Gonzaga's cardio was questionable in his last fight and I can see Browne wearing him down early and getting the KO victory quite handily. The only factor in Gonzaga's favour is his BJJ, but I feel Browne has enough wrestling ability to avoid getting taken down.

Prediction - Browne by KO Round 1

John: Having suffered the first loss of his career last time out against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, he’ll be looking to bounce back with a win. And I think if he can stay out of the clinch and avoid Gonzaga’s submissions, I think he will get the victory.

Prediction - Browne by KO Round 2

Bubba McDaniel (20-6) vs. Gilbert Smith (5-1)

Scott: This fight seems like a bit of a grudge match resulting from the events of episode 2 of this season of "The Ultimate Fighter" where Bubba wasn't fully behind his Team Jones teammate.

From his fights on the show, Smith seems like a fairly one dimensional fighter that will be looking for the takedown from the off. McDaniel is undoubtedly the more well rounded fighter and provided he can defend the inevitable takedown attempts could make this a long night for Smith.

Prediction - McDaniel by UD

John: Honestly I don’t know much about either of these fighters but after looking at the stats I’m favouring McDaniel. With both fighters making their UFC debut I think experience will count and McDaniel has far more. Both fighters have had most of their success with submission victories and think it will turn to a submission match with McDaniel edging it.

Prediction - McDaniel by Submission Round 2

Ben: I think throughout the whole series of TUF 17 I didn't see anything from Gilbert Smith that made me think he could be a UFC calibre fighter. That may be down to the fact he lost in the 2nd episode of the series but from what we have seen on the show I cant see him causing Bubba any problems.

I see Bubba using his experience, the fact he trains with Jon Jones and Greg Jackson in his corner to come up with a plan to easily cruise this fight. I see Bubba picking his shots and cruising his way to his first win in the UFC.

Prediction - McDaniel by UD