Get caught up with everything that happened in the last forty-eight hours with today’s edition of the Daily MMA review with a recap from the latest episode of Ultimate Fighter 19, some fight announcements and television ratings.
Ultimate Fighter 19 Recap
Tonight’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter pitted Team Edgar’s Corey Anderson against Team Penn’s Josh Clark in a light heavyweight quarterfinal bout.
The episode started off with Josh Clark talking with some members of Team Penn about his fight Anderson, and they come down to the conclusion that Clark has advantages in both the experience and boxing department.
Once the team made it to the gym, BJ Penn told them that the team needed to stop overtraining at the house. He came to the conclusion that his team was being overworked after seeing one of the most conditioned guys on his squad, Tim Williams, gas after the first round in his fight on the last episode.
Team Penn takes a training session off, and that was later contrasted with Team Edgar spending a Sunday climbing up Mount Charleston.
It’s Halloween time, and the fighters celebrated the holiday at the house. Cathal Pendred carved up some pumpkins, and a lot of fighters dressed up in costumes – most notably Mike King, who dressed up as a female nurse. Frankie Edgar and his two boys, dressed as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, showed up at the house to do some trick or treating.
The direction of the episode shifted back to the fight between Josh Clark and Corey Anderson. A feature on Clark looks at how he has a busy daily life as he spends ten hours working his normal job, then he trains and spends the rest of his day with his wife before repeating the process.
At one of the Penn training sessions, BJ talked about how he sees a lot of bright spots about Clark’s game, but he’s worried that Clark has confidence issues.
Corey Anderson talked about how he was not content with just being on the show. He discussed how he was eager to shock the world and win the show with less than a year’s worth of professional experience. Anderson also talked about how Ben Askren introduced him to the sport and to the Roufusport gym.
Corey Anderson and Josh Clark both successfully made weight for their light heavyweight contest.
Up next, the fight took place, and Corey Anderson used his wrestling to control his fight with Josh Clark, eventually winning a majority decision. Although Clark was able to piece together a few sharp combinations and knees, he wasn’t be able to neutralize the wrestling attack of Anderson.
Lastly, the episode ended with Frankie Edgar selecting the next fight. Edgar picked Ian Stephens, a middleweight on his team, to take on Team Penn’s Roger Zapata.
The News
1. A UFC 175 card that already features a middleweight and women’s bantamweight championship fight had another notable fight added yesterday. Urijah Faber (30-7) will match up with Alex Caceres (10-5, 1 NC) on the July 5th card.
2. Fresh off his UFC Fight Night 40 victory this past weekend, Soa Palelei already has his next fight scheduled. Palelei is slated to take on fellow rising heavyweight Jared Rosholt on the June 28th UFC Fight Night 43 card in New Zealand.
Also on that card, Gian Villante (11-5) will now fight Sean O’Connell (15-5) after Anthony Perosh, Villante’s original opponent, withdrew from the light heavyweight bout because of an injury.
3. On Tuesday, Bellator finalized the television portion of this Friday’s Bellator 120 card once again with the announcement that Season 10 lightweight tournament finalist Marcin Held (18-3) will take on Nate Jolly (13-5). Held was originally scheduled to face Patricky Freire in the tournament final, but the bout was scrapped after Freire suffered an injury. Jolly was scheduled to face Will Brooks prior to the news that Brooks would step in for Eddie Alvarez.
4. Per Nielsen sources, the preliminary live viewership average for Bellator 119 last Friday was 511,000 viewers, and the number for UFC Fight Night 40 was 655,000.
5. At a Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting on Tuesday, the details on who would be officiating and judging the UFC 173 bantamweight title fight between Renan Barao and T.J. Dillashaw were announced. Herb Dean will referee the championship bout, while the three judges are scheduled to be Tony Weeks, Chris Lee and Derek Cleary.