It took a head-to-head match-up for Efrain Escudero to emerge from his Team Nogueira teammate Phillipe Nover's shadow.
A second-round pick behind Nover and a heavy underdog heading into their nationally televised fight, Escudero edged his former teammate two rounds to one to capture "The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueuira vs. Team Mir" lightweight championship.
The fight capped off the show's Spike TV-televised live finale, which took place Saturday at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and aired live on Spike TV.
Escudero (11-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Nover (5-1-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) made it a clean sweep for coach Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who produced three of the show's finalists for the lightweight and light-heavyweight finals. Coach Frank Mir sent just one.
Escudero got off to a quick start and won the first two rounds with efficient takedowns and constant ground and pound. Nover couldn't find his stride until the third round, when he figured out Escudero's timing and began to punish him with knees and punches. He even nearly ended it in the final round with an omoplata, but despite nearly a minute of positioning, Nover couldn't secure the angle he needed, largely because he was backed against the fence with no room to maneuver.
It was enough to win Nover the third round, but he couldn't overcame the 0-2 deficit he put himself in after the first two frames. Escudero won the unanimous decision with 29-28 scores on all three judges' scorecards.
After accepting his plaque and six-figure UFC contract, Escudero said his previous training time with Nover worked to his advantage -- largely because it forced him to improve his skills and bring an overall better game to their fight.
"It was a great advantage, but Phillipe knew my strengths and weaknesses, so it just made me a better fighter (by) going into the gym (and) working harder because he knew what I had," Escudero said. "I had to be superior at those levels."
Escudero, a former Kingsborough Community College All-American wrestler who now trains MMA under ex-UFC fighter Drew Fickett, posted three consecutive submission victories (over Ido Pariente, Shane Nelson and Junie Browning) to advance to the show's finale. He dedicated the victory to his father, Oscar, a former professional boxer who died in the weeks before Escudero headed to Las Vegas for "TUF."
"I dedicate this to my father that passed away before I left before the show," he said. "To everybody who lost someone special, do the best for them. ... Do right by them."
In the night's light-heavyweight finale, former NCAA Division I All-American wrestler Ryan Bader, Team Nogueira's first pick, met Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace and fellow finalist Vinny Magalhaes, Team Mir's second light-heavyweight pick.
Magalhaes entered the bout a slight favorite based largely on his ground skills. Bader's best chance at winning the fight, it was thought, would come standing up with improved striking.
And that's exactly how Bader won it.
After sticking and moving to tag his opponent with punches and low kicks, Bader (8-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) dropped Magalhaes (2-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) with a big overhand right two minutes into the round. Magalhaes, who never had the opportunity to take the fight to the ground, may have partially deflected the blow, but enough of it struck his temple to buckle his legs and send the Brazilian fighter to the mat. Bader followed up with a few hammerfists before the referee pealed him off Magalhaes at the 2:19 mark for the TKO victory.
"My right hand is pretty powerful," said Bader. "I've just been working on my boxing. I'm not just a wrestler, and I hope people see that."
The victory nets Bader a "six-figure" UFC contract and the first "TUF" championship for Arizona Combat Sports, a team that also features "The Ultimate Fighter 7" runner-up C.B. Dollaway and current WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner.
Bader, who wrote a weekly blog for MMAjunkie.com detailing his "TUF" experience, credited the quickly rising fight camp for his victory.
"Vinny's a stud on the ground, and you guys saw that (on the show)," Bader said. "Props to him, but yeah, (I) kept it on my feet. I've been working on my boxing at Arizona Combat Sports with the Lally brothers (Trevor and Todd), and it paid off a lot."
The undefeated 25-year-old fighter has now earned stoppages in seven of his eight pro fights.
Johnson gets redemption, Gouveia and Browning dazzle
After five months of waiting, a successful eye surgery but a failed appeal with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Anthony Johnson (6-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) got his long-awaited redemption with a violent third-round knockout of Kevin Burns (7-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in a main-card bout.
The welterweight duo originally met at UFC Fight Night 14 in July. Burns was forced to fight with an open left hand because of a lingering injury. During the fight, referee Steve Mazzagatti repeatedly warned Burns about eye pokes, and a final third-round poke crumpled Johnson to the mat. Mazzagatti did not initially see the illegal strike, and Burns was awarded the TKO victory.
Johnson appealed, but with no guidelines allowing the NSAC to overturn the decision, the outcome was upheld.
He got his redemption on Saturday.
Burns proved more than game in a close first round, one in which he nearly submitted Johnson with a modified triangle choke. Johnson escaped, though, and took over the second round with an onslaught of ground and pound. In the third, not wanting to take the fight to a decision, Johnson floored Burns with a perfectly timed and perfectly placed left kick to the head.
Johnson was out on his feet, and the bout was stopped as he fell to the mat just 28 seconds into the third round.
"I just really started working on my kicks two months ago," said Johnson, who trains with noted striker and Strikeforce world middleweight champion Cung Le in California. "It just happened. I decided to throw it, and it connected."
Burns, who entered the night with a five-fight win streak (all via stoppage), suffered his first loss in nearly two years.
For the fourth consecutive time in his now-lengthy UFC career, middleweight Jason MacDonald has followed a victory with a subsequent loss.
The streak began two years ago with a submission victory over Chris Leben (and then a TKO loss to Rich Franklin). After defeating Jason Lambert via submission in September, MacDonald (21-11 MMA, 5-4 UFC) was stopped in brutal fashion by Wilson Gouveia (12-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC).
Gouveia, a former light heavyweight fighting for just the second time since a drop in weight class, on Friday failed to make weight for the bout. Coming in three pounds over the 186-pound limit, Gouveia was forced to surrender 20 percent of his purse.
However, after dropping MacDonald with a straight left and beating him into submission with elbows and hammerfists at 2:18 of the first round, Gouveia should make up the difference with his win bonus.
Gouveia, who's now won six of his past seven fights, apologized for the incident and said it won't deter him from staying at 185 pounds.
"My weight class is middleweight," he said. "I made some mistakes. I want to apologize to the UFC, to Jason and all my fans, and I promise that'll never happen again."
Controversial cast member Junie Browning (3-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), whose season-long self-sabotage became a focus of the show, may have been down to his final opportunity when he was granted a slot on the finale's main card. He made the most of it in the night's first televised bout with a dominant submission victory over former Team Mir teammate Dave Kaplan (2-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC).
Browning, who was nearly kicked off the show during a violent outburst prior to his semifinal loss to Escudero, showed marked improvement since his time on the show. Against Kaplan, Browning dominated the first round with stellar striking, in no doubt thanks to his recent work at Xtreme Couture, and nearly ended it with a rear-naked choke late in the round.
Kaplan survived for round two, but Browning continued the assault, took the fight to the ground, transitioned to side control and forced the tap-out via armbar just 28 seconds into the round.
After the fight, Browning denied his on-show antics were simply about getting attention and camera time.
"It wasn't all planned," Browning said. "It was just more of the fact that I didn't let the cameras dictate the way I was going to act. If someone messed with me, I just snapped. I wasn't looking for the cameras. ... I was like, 'If I'm going to get pissed, I'm going to make it interesting.'"
As MMAjunkie.com reported earlier this week, Browning's agenda didn't sit well with Coach Mir, who called the fighter "a huge disappointment" who was unjustly rewarded for his bad behavior.
After his victory, Browning issued an apology.
"You know, I gave Mir a hard time on the show," Browning said. "Mir's actually an awesome coach. It was more my fault. I don't think I would have put up with myself either. You know, I apologize to you Mir and the rest of Mir's team. You guys were awesome coaches."
PRELIMINARY CARD
Krzysztof Soszynski def. Shane Primm via submission (kimura) -- Round 2, 3:27
Eliot Marshall def. Jules Bruchez via submission (rear-naked choke) -- Round 1, 1:27
Tom Lawlor def. Kyle Kingsbury via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Shane Nelson def. George Roop via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Roli Delgado def. John Polakowski via submission (guillotine choke) -- Round 2, 2:18
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Efrain Escudero def. Phillipe Nover via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Ryan Bader def. Vinny Magalhaes via TKO (strikes) -- Round 1, 2:18
Anthony Johnson def. Kevin Burns via knockout (kick) -- Round 3, 0:28
Wilson Gouveia def. Jason MacDonald via submission (strikes) -- Round 1, 2:18
Junie Browning def. Dave Kaplan via submission (armbar) -- Round 2, 1:32
Krzysztof Soszynski def. Shane Primm via submission (kimura) -- Round 2, 3:27
Eliot Marshall def. Jules Bruchez via submission (rear-naked choke) -- Round 1, 1:27
Tom Lawlor def. Kyle Kingsbury via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Shane Nelson def. George Roop via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Roli Delgado def. John Polakowski via submission (guillotine choke) -- Round 2, 2:18
