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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The final episode of The Ultimate Fighter 17 airs tonight, and after the semifinal bouts are complete, the remainder of Saturday night's Finale event should be revealed. Tonight's semifinals pit Uriah Hall against Dylan Andrews, and Josh Samman against Kelvin Gastelum, two apiece from Team Jones and Team Sonnen. Join me again right here for the final Tuesday night episode of the season as it kicks off at the top of the hour!
-The semifinalists and coaches went to Harley Davidson to work on customizing the bike they can win by winning the show or for the coaches having their fighter win. Sonnen says his will be black because "the bad guy's always in black."
-Samman said walking into the Harley store solidified where they were at in this stage of the competition.
-They all shopped around for some of the clothing in the store, modeling some items in the mirror. I liked Dana White's comments to Uriah Hall, who was wearing a fedora. He said it looked good on him, and that if someone didn't like it they already knew what Hall would do about it.
-We don't waste much time getting to the semifinals tonight, as we move right to Gastelum and Samman getting taped up for their fight. Could mean a longer fight in one of these tonight.
-Luke Barnatt talked up Gastelum, thinking he was being underrated as the last pick. Sonnen thinks Gastelum is "firing on all cylinders," but isn't great at any one thing. He said Gastelum is effective and knows how to get his hand raised.
-Samman was already looking forward to the moment when his hand is raised in this fight. Gastelum said he's putting everything he has on the line in this semifinal fight, and wants to be named the youngest Ultimate Fighter winner in history.
FIGHT ONE: JOSH SAMMAN VS. KELVIN Gastelum
ROUND ONE: Samman hit a few kicks early as Gastelum slowly tried to walk in. They changed strikes before clinching, and Gastelum put Samman on his back. Samman attacked for an armbar, but Gastelum defended well. Samman continued to attack from his back, landing a few strikes before Gastelum passed to half guard. Samman worked up to his feet in a solid scramble. He landed a knee. He tried for a takedown, but Gastelum countered it and put him down again. He landed some solid strikes as he trapped Samman's arm, but Samman covered up. Gastelum passed to half guard and landed some elbows. Samman regained guard. He attacked for a triangle, but Gastelum got out. Sonnen was impressed from cageside and shouted some encouragement. Gastelum passed to side control and took his back. He quickly locked on a triangle choke for yet another upset. Huge performance from Gastelum.
Gastelum moves onto the finals with a first round submission win
-Samman was in shock at the loss afterward, was pretty speechless in trying to figure out what went wrong. Gastelum is looking forward to a long career ahead with a lot to learn. As I've been saying this week, his youth is a huge edge for him, and he's only going to get better.
-Hall talked about people not liking him, but that he's not there to make friends. He believed in his ability to win this tournament, but at this point he's not sure. Sonnen said they believe in Hall, but he doesn't see it in himself. Sonnen told Hall he could beat anyone in the UFC's middleweight division even Anderson Silva, whom he referred to by saying "I won't say that puke's name."
-Andrews had a solid heart to heart with one of his coaches. Given he's from a small town in New Zealand, he's the least known of any fighter on the show. Jones thinks he needs to come out aggressive and strike smartly against Hall.
-Andrews had a funny spin on what Dana White told him after his last fight, filled with bleeped out expletives. Sounded accurate to what White probably said to him.
-Hall is seeing his confidence continue to rise into this fight, while Andrews is ready to leave everything into the cage. Jones hypes Andrews up by telling him this is his finals bout. Andrews says there are two sides to him, the normal person, and the one who gets pent up and is very dangerous in the cage. Hall's trying to focus on the "now", and says he's going all out.
FIGHT TWO: URIAH HALL VS. DYLAN ANDREWS
ROUND ONE: Andrews closed the distance early and landed a couple jabs. Hall tried to press him back with a couple kicks and jabs of his own. he landed a decent uppercut, then missed a roundhouse kick. Andrews got in with a solid left. Hall went to the spinning heel kick, but it was blocked. He landed a kick to the wrist. He got in a kick to the leg and circled on the outside. Andrews tried to walk him down, but Hall avoided him. Andrews landed a nice straight right. Hall landed a hard left hook that was partially blocked. He got in a nice two-kick combination. Hall landed a hard inside leg kick after circling a bit more. The action slowed a bit for the next minute. Hall got in a hard spinning kick to the body, and a few nice punches after that. He got in another inside leg kick. Jones wanted Andrews to engage. He landed a hook. Hall got in a solid jab. Hall landed a kick to the body and a straight kick to the body behind it. Andrews seemed to be affected by the strikes a bit, but he continued moving in. Hall threw a jumping back kick to the body before the horn. Good start, I've got Hall up in this one.
ROUND TWO: Andrews' right eye was damaged a bit from the first round. Hall came out stalking and swinging, and Andrews was immediately covering up.Andrews tried to walk back, but Hall jabbed to kick him at bay. Hall continued to work comfortably with the jab, and broke Andrews' nose as it began bleeding badly. Andrews came forward and threw a right hand. Hall continued working the jab from the outside.He continued staying active as Andrews couldn't get a rhythm. Andrews threw a right. He missed a few strikes as he rushed in and clinched. He went for a takedown, picked Hall up and took him down. Hall went for a kimura with Andrews in his half guard. Andrews landed some body shots. Hall tried to gain position with the kimura, but Andrews got it under his body and landed some elbows to the thigh. Hall held onto the kimura and tried to crank, but Andrews landed a bunch of body punches. Hall again tried to reposition himself, but Andrews kept landing body strikes. Hall finally let it go and landed strikes off his back. They were doing a lot of damage, and Andrews was hurt! He flipped Andrews around and got on top, delivering a series of strikes before the fight was stopped with 12 seconds left. Hall is a freaking beast.
Hall moves on to the finals with a second round TKO
-Dana White was in awe of that finish, with Hall landing the damaging blows from the bottom before getting top position to finish the fight. Really excellent performance by Hall to get to the finals, and he's easily the favorite against Gastelum, as he's been all season long.
-Andrews said after that his heart hurt worse than his face. He broke down a bit with the cameras around after the loss.
-Jones and Sonnen shook hands after the fight. Jones said he didn't like losing to Sonnen in anything, but he's lost here. Sonnen will win the Harley with both finalists being from his team. But the teams don't matter when it comes to their fight later this month.
FINAL THOUGHTS: This was all in all a very good season of The Ultimate Fighter. Uriah Hall is probably the most talented fighter to come out of this show TUF 14's 135 and 145 lb. fighters notwithstanding - in a very long time, and looks like someone who could be a legitimate contender should he pick up some big wins in the UFC. I'm intrigued by Gastelum, but I just don't think Hall will make the mistakes seen from Gastelum's other opponents in this tournament thus far.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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