The final two quarter-final bouts have come and gone, and Uriah Hall has easily become the star of the show.
This season has quickly become one of the best in the show’s
history, and easily the best from a production standpoint. With all of that
said, it is time for the good, the bad, and the ugly from the latest
installment of The Ultimate Fighter.
The Good:
- Frank Mir gave some excellent advice to Josh Samman before his bout against Jimmy Quinlan. Quinlan’s ground game was noted,
and Mir stated that Samman needed to let Quinlan try to win by throwing a
punch. The way Mir articulated it to Samman was effective. It should not have
been glossed over. - Uriah Hall’s quick knockout was spectacular. One
shot and it was all over. - The semi-final bouts are near perfect. The best
fight is Samman vs. Hall, of course, but that should be the final – and Dana
White agrees. In essence, they are the top two seeds and thus on opposite ends
of the bracket in an attempt to line them up for a fight in the finale. We will
see if that ends up being the case, but it is what should have been done.
The Bad:
- Quinlan tapping to Samman’s double punches was
sad. Tapping to strikes alone is typically a black mark in this sport, but this
was worse. He quit. He wasn’t hurt, or taking significant damage. He just quit.
Period. - Uriah Hall made a comparison of himself to
Anderson Silva. He talked about how opponents are defeated before they enter
the cage because they wonder how Silva will beat them, and that this cast
thinks the same as him. I’m sorry, Mr. Hall, but you are not The Spider; do not compare yourself to him.
The Ugly:
- Bubba McDaniel continued his “Me Against the
World” attitude in the opening of the show this week. It was disappointing to
hear. He mentioned how he is going against Hall this week, and that was the one
fight he didn’t want. Well, you are on a show with a finite number of
opponents. Someone had to face Hall. Sure, McDaniel didn’t want to fight him,
but someone had to. It isn’t everyone going against you because you were the
unlucky one chosen. And if you thought you were going to win the show, you
likely were going to fight him at some point anyway. - The Hall KO made an ugly mess out of McDaniel’s
eye, and sent him to the hospital to get it checked out. Ouch.
Next week the semi-finals are up. Kelvin Gastelum will
battle with Josh Samman, and Uriah Hall takes on Dylan Andrews. The winners
will meet on April 13th at the TUF 17 Finale. This fantastic season is very
nearly over.
What did you think of this week’s fights? Click the stars to let us know:
Rate additional fights from TUF 17 by clicking here.
