By Matthew Maran
On December 2nd, The Ultimate Fighter featured the final four fights before the finale. In the final two quarterfinal fights James McSweeney beat Matt Mitrione and Marcus Jones defeated Darrill Schoonover.
Mitrione had been complaining about his head hurting and possibly not feeling well enough to fight, even going as far as to claim that he might have swelling of the brain. It was rumored that Kimbo Slice would be the one to fill in if Mitrione canceled, but Kimbo could not fight due to arthritis in his knees and Mitrione ended up fighting anyway, revealing that the head injury was all a ploy to get into the head of his opponent, James McSweeney, who won the fight by first round submission.
Marcus Jones, who is a massive six-foot six-inch 265-pound former first round NFL draft pick, was looking to hurt Matt Mitrione when it was revealed that Jones’ teammate, Scott Junk, was injured in his fight with Mitrione, and there was a chance he would never fight again. Junk ended up being okay, and Jones was held back from attacking Mitrione. Marcus Jones would go on to beat Darrill Schoonover in his quarterfinal fight by first round knockout.
Marcus Jones has been referred to as “Big Baby” by much of the other cast due to him being extremely sensitive and being a very gentle giant. Jones’ coach Quinton “Rampage” Jackson said, “Marcus is the nicest person you will ever meet, but he’ll kill you!”
In the semifinal matchups Roy Nelson defeated James McSweeney by technical knockout and Brendan Schaub scored a shocking victory over Marcus Jones. Nelson grounded McSweeney and crucifixed him, a position where the opponent’s arms are pinned down leaving the head exposed. Nelson then dropped several unanswered blows, similar to the way he beat Kimbo, leading to the referee calling for the bell.
Marcus Jones came into his fight against Brendan Schaub with at least a 25-pound weight advantage and an edge in reach. Jones took Schaub down quickly and began the fight the same way he did in his previous matchup against Schoonover. However, unlike Schoonover, Schaub was able to maneuver more effectively from his back. When Jones moved to full mount, Schaub pushed the massive Jones off and brought the fight back to their feet. Then Schaub proceeded to knock down the big man with a huge right hand and pounced on him to secure the upset technical knockout win.
On The Ultimate Fighter, there are usually a few fighters who impress UFC officials, and they are given a chance to fight on the season finale—Matt Mitrione fought Marcus Jones, and defeated him by knockout. Withstanding the entire crowd booing him, Mitrione exposed Jones’ weak stand up game and knocked him out ten seconds into the second round.
Kimbo Slice made his long awaited UFC debut in the finale against Houston Alexander. The fight was expected to be a slugfest. However, in the first round Alexander stayed away from Kimbo and ran around in circles only engaging by throwing leg kicks from afar.
Finally, in the second round Kimbo scored several impressive takedowns showing a much-improved wrestling game. There were opportunities for Kimbo to go for a submission, but it still appears he needs to improve his jiu-jitsu if he wants to be a complete fighter.
The third round was more like the first round. There was not as much engaging, but Alexander landed a devastating leg kick that took Kimbo off his feet. Kimbo scored a takedown, but the referee stood them up when Kimbo was not working.
The fight was expected to end early with a knockout, but it went to a decision and the judges scored it unanimously in favor of Kimbo Slice. The big story of the fight was that Kimbo Slice did not fight like a street brawler, he fought like a mixed martial artist.
Jon Jones is considered one of the rising stars in the UFC light heavyweight division. He is 22 years old and holds a 9-0 professional mixed martial arts record. He fought Matt Hamill and appeared to win the fight by technical knockout. However, when he had Hamill grounded, he dropped an illegal elbow. Jones was warned by referee Steve Mazzagatti and deducted a point. At this point it became clear that Hamill was unable to continue and the fight was ended.
This is were it got interesting. Despite the fact that Jones completely dominated the fight and had dropped numerous unanswered blows including several legal elbows, Mazzagatti disqualified Jones due to the illegal elbow.
Although I prefer not to be biased in my mixed martial arts articles I must vent my frustrations for Steve Mazzagatti. The UFC does not pick their referees. They are chosen by athletic commissions. Mazzagatti has a history of making bad calls and being criticized by high profile fighters Brock Lesnar and Kenny Florian. The President of UFC, Dana White has said, “This fucking guy shouldn’t even be watching MMA on TV, let alone refereeing it. I think he’s the worst ref in the history of any fight business, ever. He’s horrible.”
Well I think White is being too polite. I am recommending for Jon Jones’ next fight, he gets locked in the octagon with Mazzagatti and no referee (which is probably about as effective as if he were reffing). And if not, lock me in there with him. I’d like to get my hands on this fucking idiot and rip him limb from limb. I would gouge his eyes out and blind him, but I don’t think I can do any more damage to his already piss poor eye sight. This motherfucker must have been the lookout for Pearl Harbor. He makes me want to create a research department dedicated to discovering a way to conduct post-natal abortions. Steve Mazzagatti is proof that the Three Stooges had an inbred illegitamate child and he is the most worthless person in sports.
In the main event Roy “Big Country” Nelson defeated Brendan Schaub by first round KO to become the newest Ultimate Fighter winner and landed a six-figure UFC contract.
Nelson scored an early takedown on Schaub, and Schaub impressively got out of it and brought the fight back up to their feet. They were both trading hands well until Nelson caught Schaub just behind the ear with a big right hand the Season 10 Ultimate Fighter.
