So the finals are set.
Episodes 11 and 12 concluded with two strong semifinal matches with one phenomenal comeback and nearly another.
The first hour featured Team Pulver's Manny Gamburyan vs. Team Penn's Joe Lauzon. Gamburyan did a great job of taking down Lauzon each round and keeping his weight on him in side control and half guard. Lauzon nearly pulled off a rear naked choke in Round 3, but Gamburyan rolled Lauzon off his back and slipped into Lauzon's guard. Gamburyan finished with a flurry of punches and grinded out the unanimous decision win.
"I don't really feel like I got beat up, but he won the fight," Lauzon said. "I was under his chin, I had it. I kind of had the short choke at first. I didn't have the regular rear naked [choke]. He shifted and I could feel myself fall off to the side."
Even though Lauzon lost his semifinal match, the Massachusetts native said he learned plenty from his Season 5 coach.
"He's unlike anything you've experienced," Lauzon said of Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt BJ Penn. "Think of the first time you ever wrestled with anyone that knew what was going on. You're on your back, you can't do anything. You can't keep him in your guard, you can't pass his guard. You can't do anything. But you've been training for seven years and you think you're pretty good and decent and you're back at Day 1 when you don't know anything...and he's like that with everything -- stand-up, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, top, bottom, any position you can think of, it's like you don't know anything."
During the next episode, the second semifinal match featured Team Penn's Gray Maynard vs. Team Pulver's Nate Diaz. Even though Diaz went for plenty of submission attempts, Maynard dominated the first round and even bloodied Diaz's forehead. Diaz regrouped in Round 2, landed a solid knee to Maynard's head, and after a scramble on the ground, Diaz slipped Maynard into a guillotine choke from half guard and earned the submission victory.
In my opinion, I thought Maynard was going to walk through this competition. He reminded me of a 155-pound Matt Hughes; a guy that was going to use his wrestling to get to side control and earn the ground-and-pound victory in each of his matches. But Diaz showed plenty of character, toughness, and now he's one win away from earning a UFC contract. Good for him, and good luck to both fighters at the finale on June 23rd.
I want to thank the great media department over at SpikeTV for always making sure the fighters called me every Friday to get interviewed. And I want to thank all the fighters for not only being warriors in the Octagon, but being gentlemen out of it. They all were a pleasure to deal with -- no egos. Another reason why this is such a great sport to watch and cover.
Thanks to all the Fightin' Words readers for reading The Ultimate Fighter: Season 5 blog on Newsday.com. Fightin' Words has big plans for the summer. More mixed martial arts coverage and more MMA video. Until then, take care.
-- Joe
Here's the episode rundown:
Episode 1: Cole Miller caught Allen Berube with a triangle choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 1-0)
Episode 2: Manny Gamburyan caught Noah Thomas with a kimura armlock in the first round. (Team Pulver, 2-0).
Episode 3: Nate Diaz defeated Rob Emerson via rear naked choke in the second round. (Team Pulver, 3-0).
Episode 4: Brandon Melendez defeated Andy Wang via unanimous decision. (Team Pulver, 4-0).
Episode 5: Gabe Ruediger eliminated due to a failure to make weight. (Team Pulver, 4-0).
Episode 6: Joe Lauzon defeated Brian Geraghty via rear naked choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 4-1). Corey Hill wins by decision against Rob Emerson (Team Pulver, 5-1).
Episode 7: Gray Maynard wins by referee stoppage against Wayne Weems in the first round. (Team Pulver, 5-2). Matt Wiman defeated Marlon Sims via rear naked choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 5-3).
Quarterfinals
Episode 8: Joe Lauzon defeated Cole Miller by referee stoppage in the second round. (Lauzon advances to the semifinals).
Episode 9: Gray Maynard defeated Brandon Melendez by submission due to a guillotine choke in the second round. (Maynard advances to the semifinals).
Episode 10: Nate Diaz defeated Corey Hill by submission due to a triangle choke in the first round. (Diaz advances to the semifinals). Manny Gamburyan won by unanimous decision against Matt Wiman. (Gamburyan advances to the semifinals).
Semifinals
Episode 11: Manny Gamburyan earned a unanimous decision victory against Joe Lauzon. (Gamburyan advances to the finals).
Episode 12: Nate Diaz defeated Gray Maynard via submission due to a guillotine choke in the second round. (Diaz advances to the finals).
The Ultimate Fighter: Season 5 Finale (SpikeTV) -- Saturday, June 23rd, 9 p.m. at "The Pearl" in Las Vegas.
Comments (2)
Thanks for the great MMA coverage and solid recaps. It's why I keep reading this blog, and I look forward to learning about the sport worldwide, beyond what I get to watch on FSN and Spike.
Ghrank
I love mixed martial arts, but until they ban weight-cutting, the weight divisions are a farce. Most of the guys involved in the Utimate Fighter were welter- and middle-weights. Dana missed an opportunity to set this up with actual 155 pounders, so that making weight wouldn't even be a worry. Amateur wrestling moved the weigh-ins to a half-hour before match time after a couple of deaths involving dehydration to make weight. All professional combat sports should have followed suit. Weight-cutting to gain "competetive advantage" is just like steroids: cheating.