The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale took place on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas as Urijah Faber won his 16th career fight by submission with a victory over Scott Jorgensen in the fourth round.
Faber was able to get the fight to the ground in the opening and began to look for submissions. He would transitions to different positions on the ground and looked for various choke holds. Jorgensen would be able to defend the submissions and make it out of the round.
The second round and third round were primarily a stand up battle as Jorgensen began to find his timing in the third round, which was his best round. The fourth round would end up being the final round as Faber would get the fight to the ground. Once on the ground, Faber was able to get the back of Jorgensen, lock in the rear-naked choke and get the victory.
Faber (28-6) has now won back to back fights and three of his last four. Since entering the UFC, Faber is 4-2 and three of those victories have come by decision.
Gastelum upsets Hall to win The Ultimate Fighter 17
Kelvin Gastelum was the youngest fighter on The Ultimate Fighter 17 and defeated Urijah Hall by split decision to win The Ultimate Fighter 17.
Hall was the favorite heading into the fight due to the manner on how he won his fights during the reality show. Gastelum was able to control the striking of Hall in the opening round and took the fight to the ground. He was able to keep Hall on his back to take the opening round.
During the second round, Hall was able to get his punches to land as he landed 27 total strikes and 16 of those were considered significant strikes. In the final minute of the round, Hall was able to suplex Gastelum to the mat and the fight appeared to be even heading into the final round.
In the final round, both fighters were able to create offense with Hall landing more total strikes (35-18) and significant strikes (16-6). Gastelum would be able to get a takedown with less than 90 second left in the round and was able to keep the fight on the ground for the remainder of the fight. Even though he was on his back for the final 90 seconds, Hall landed several strikes from the bottom.
The fight would go to the judges and two of the three judges scored the fight for Gastelum and he wins The Ultimate Fighter 17.
Zingano wins in third round to secure title shot
The second women’s bout in UFC history took place on Saturday night in Las Vegas and Cat Zingano secured a title shot and a coach on The Ultimate Fighter 18 with a TKO victory over Miesha Tate in the third round.
Tate was able to take control of the fight as it started as she was the aggressor. She was able to use her striking and wrestling to score early in the fight. During the first and second rounds, she looked for several submissions but Zingano was able to escape.
Zingano (8-0) likely entered the third round down two rounds and was able to dominate the entire round. She would be able to get the fight to the ground and dominate with her ground strikes. As Tate worked her way back to her feet, Zingano landed several knees which led to the end of the fight.
Zingano has now secured a title shot against UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and the two will be coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 18, which will debut in September on Fox Sports 1.
Main Card: (FX)
Urijah Faber def. Scott Jorgensen via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 4, 3:16
Kelvin Gastelum def. Urijah Hall via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Cat Zingano def. Miesha Tate via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 2:55
Travis Browne def. Gabriel Gonzaga via KO (elbows) – Round 1, 1:11
Bubba McDaniel def. Gilbert Smith via submission (armbar) – Round 3, 2:49
Preliminary Card: (FUEL TV)
Josh Samman def. Kevin Casey via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:17
Luke Barnatt def. Collin Hart via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Dylan Andrews def. Jimmy Quinlan via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:22
Clint Hester def. Bristol Marunde via KO (elbow) – Round 3, 3:53
Preliminary Card: (Facebook)
Cole Miller def. Bart Palaszewski via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:23
Maximo Blanco def. Sam Sicilia via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Daniel Pineda def. Justin Lawrence via submission (kimura) – Round 1, 1:35