Let’s start things off by being blunt – Ultimate Fighter finales have gained a reputation for not being fun and essentially not having matchups that are are truly compelling or of high quality. This show is perhaps a sign of things to come with exciting bouts that had notable consequences for their respective divisions, which is the best thing you can ask for on a secondary show that serves as a warm up to what is the biggest PPV of the year.
Winners
Chris Gruetzemacher had a rough start against Abner Lloveras that saw him eating some very precise shots from the Spaniard and managed to close the distance and make the fight as ugly as he could with an inside game, tons of leg kicks and amazing resilience. Chris ate a ton of shots but managed to control the bout and wear Abner down to at least get to stick around in the UFC.
Geane Herrera also had a difficult start of his bout against Joby Sanchez in which he was a late replacement with a less mobile style that led to him often ending up a day late and a dollar short in most of the striking exchanges in the first round. The second round saw Herrera land a 1-2 combination, a solid hook, a big right hand early on, then a series of heated exchanges between the two, and the deceptively strong left hook to put Joby away. Excellent way to bounce back from his loss to Ray Borg and show some more of his potential to the UFC brass.
Ryan LaFlare took on the durable and underrated Mike Pierce after a very long layoff due to injury for Pierce that showed how real ring rust can be. Pierce couldn’t handle LaFlare’s distance and timing, and despite attempting to impose his wrestling game. Ryan LaFlare should be back on track to fight some higher ranked talent very soon.
Julian Erosa doesn’t seem like a very exciting fighter, but turns up the heat and shows flashes of serious potential and manages to work his way out of difficult situations and makes a lot of it look surprisingly easy. His bout with Marcin Wrzosek had some fun back and forth action.
Evan Dunham looked a bit gunshy at first, but remained a step ahead of Joe Lauzon in the striking battle that showed some lovely evolution of both fighters compared to what their striking looked like not too long ago. Maybe more of us expected more of a grappling showdown, but it’s hard to complain about a tough striking battle like this one. Very good win for Dunham, who appears to have turned a corner here.
Tony Ferguson took on the always dangerous Edson Barboza and despite the ugly grounded upkick, both continued an exciting bout that turned out to be a bloodbath. I was going to list them both as winners until shortly before the actual finish given the gutsy performances and flashes of brilliance. Tony fell in love with his inverted dive a bit much, but managed to secure what we can now safely consider to be his signature finisher D’Arce choke. Ugly Tony moves up with another solid win over a big name in a crowded division, and it was a great statement.
Ryan Hall did exactly what he had to do in avoiding big shots and sticking like flypaper to his opponent en route to a decision. Big ups to Artem Lobov for fending off submissions that looked like a done deal, but Hall’s persistence and intelligent positional dominance made him the clearer winner despite not getting the submission.
Frankie Edgar looked incredible in a short and impressive victory, extending his streak to five consecutive wins. This was probably one of the first bouts people wanted to see when Edgar dropped to 145, and for good reason. He stunned Chad Mendes with the left hook of doom and stamped his ticket to be the next in line for a title shot barring an immediate rematch between Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo after UFC 194. This was his first knockout win since stealing the soul of Gray Maynard in 2011, and this was an absolute beauty. Mendes tried to apply what appears to be Edgar’s kryptonite in the form of massive leg kicks, but Edgar’s boxing brought him out ahead.
Losers
Does it matter who won between Konstantin Erokhin and Gabriel Gonzaga? Simple answer: no.
Joby Sanchez is still 7-2 as a professional, but now 1-2 in the UFC. This isn’t a reflection of him as a fighter, but he’s undoubtedly going to feel some pressure going into his next bout.
Artem Lobov has some revisions to make in his game, as the hands-low style is going to lead to something ugly in the future.
Abner Lloveras, Mike Pierce, Marcin Wrzosek and Joe Lauzon put forth valiant efforts, and hopefully shouldn’t be affected too negatively by these losses.
Chad Mendes went form the fighter that gave Jose Aldo the fight of his life in their second encounter to losing by nasty KO to Conor McGregor. Now he gets knocked out by Edgar and may need to take some serious time off, since these kinds of losses add up. His stock takes a massive hit here, despite the fact that he’s only losing to the very best of his division. Still, he’s very likely to face Edgar again down the line.
Honorable mention to Tatsuya Kawajiri for putting on another dominant grappling win over newcomer and late replacement Jason Knight. It didn’t light the world on fire, but showed he’s still got a lot of fight in him and is still to be respected.
Mightiest Daddy 
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