The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale took place on Sunday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and was headlined by Frankie Edgar defeating BJ Penn by TKO in third round in their trilogy fight.
The fight opened with the fighters exchanging strikes and Edgar would be able to get the fight to the ground. He would go into the guard of Penn and after being unable to get anything going, Edgar stood up.
Edgar ended up going back into the guard of Penn with 90 seconds left in the opening round and referee Herb Dean told the fighters they need to work. Dean would end up standing up the fighters with less than a minute in the round. They would battle on the feet until the end of the round and the fight moved into the second.
As the second round started, Edgar worked his boxing and ended up getting his second takedown of the fight. Edgar would work his top game with his strikes and Penn would not be able to get up before the bell sounded to end the second round. The third round would see a striking battle for the first two minutes and Edgar would push Penn to the mat. Once again, he would go into the guard of Penn and would land multiple elbows that would open up a cut over the left eye of Penn.
Edgar would attack Penn around the cut and landed multiple strikes. Penn was unable to defend the ground strikes and Dean came in to stop the fight. Edgar (17-4-1) has now won back to back fights in the lightweight division and Penn (16-10-2) has dropped three straight fights.
Following the decision being read, Penn said that he should have not come back and that he should have not stepped in the ring tonight. Before tonight, UFC President Dana White said that Penn should retire if he were defeated and Penn told Jon Anik in the cage that he agrees with White’s thoughts.
Anderson remains undefeated with 61 second win
The co-main event of the fight card was the final in the light heavyweight tournament of The Ultimate Fighter 19 and he wasted little time to defeat Matt Van Buren by TKO.
Anderson would be able to rock Van Buren quickly and Van Buren was able to survive initially, but Anderson continued to land strikes and referee Mario Yamasaki came in to protect Van Buren and stop the fight.
Anderson (3-0) has now won all three of his professional fights by TKO in the first round and this is his first win to come in under three minutes.
Gordon drops Lima, wins TUF 19 middleweight tournament
Eddie Gordon continued the great weekend for the Serra-Longo fight team as he defeated Dhiego Lima by TKO to win The Ultimate Fighter 19 middleweight tournament.
Gordon was able to take control of the cage as the fight opened and had success with landing his right hand. He would end up dropping Lima with his punches. He would land punch after punch on the ground and referee Yves Lavigne would come in to stop the fight.
Gordon (7-1) has now won back to back fights and this is his third career win to come by TKO/KO. The defeat for Lima (9-2) snaps a three fight winning streak and this is his first defeat by TKO/KO.
Lewis scores second straight first round victory in UFC
In the only heavyweight bout of the fight card, Derrick Lewis improved to 2-0 in the UFC with a first round TKO victory against Guto Inocente.
After a feeling out process, Lewis attempted to get the fight to the ground but Inocente would stop the attempt. Lewis would make another attempt to get the fight to the ground, but once against Inocente would stop the attempt.
Lewis would be able to get the fight to the ground on his third attempt and threw a big right hand that missed following several up kick attempts by Inocente. Lewis would end up in the guard of Inocente and landed several punches before referee Herb Dean would come in to stop the fight.
Lewis (11-2, 1NC) is now unbeaten in his last eight fights and both of his wins in the UFC have come by TKO in the first round.
Ortiz scores split decision over Scoggins
The opening fight of the main card was a flyweight bout as Dustin Ortiz won his second straight fight in the UFC as he defeated previously unbeaten Justin Scoggins.
As the opening bell sounded, the fighters immediately got into the clinch and Ortiz was able to take the fight to the ground against the fence. While on his back, Scoggins began to look for a submission and ended up locking in an armbar. Ortiz would end up being able to escape the deep submission hold and get the fight back to the center of the cage.
Once again, the fight would go back to the ground and Ortiz would end up getting on the back of Scoggins. They would scramble and Scoggins would be able to get Ortiz off his back. After a separation, Ortiz would end the round with a solid combination and the fight moved into the second round.
Just like the first round, the fight would go to the ground quickly as Scoggins had the better position on the mat. Ortiz would be able to scramble to get side control and ended up in the half guard position after being unable to get the mount. Ortiz would control the remainder of the round on the ground as Scoggins was unable to get back to his feet before the round came to a conclusion.
The final round would open up with the fighters meeting in the center of the cage and swinging away. Both fighters would land significant strikes, including a left hand by Ortiz. Scoggins would end up taking the fight to the mat and finally score a takedown in his eighth attempt.
Scoggins would not be able to keep the fight on the ground long as Ortiz got up and Scoggins initiated the clinch against the fence. He would end up getting the fight to the ground and Ortiz would work his way up. However, Scoggins would get the fight back to the ground in the final minute of the fight.
Ortiz would scramble to get in top position on the mat with 30 seconds left and the fight would end in this position. The judges would be split on the decision as two of the three judges had the fight for Ortiz (14-3), who has now won three of his four fights in the UFC.
The complete TUF 19 Finale results are below.
Main Card: (Fox Sports 1)
Frankie Edgar def. B.J. Penn via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 4:16
Corey Anderson def. Matt Van Buren via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:01
Eddie Gordon def. Dhiego Lima via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:11
Derrick Lewis def. Guto Inocente via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:30
Dustin Ortiz def. Justin Scoggins via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Preliminary Card: (Fox Sports 1)
Kevin Lee def. Jesse Ronson via unanimous decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Leandro Issa def. Jumabieke Tuerxun via submission (armbar) – Round 3, 3:49
Adriano Martins def. Juan Manuel Puig via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 2:21
Patrick Walsh def. Daniel Spohn via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary Card: (Fight Pass)
Sarah Moras def. Alexis Dufresne via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Robert Drysdale def. Keith Berish via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:03