Saturday Night we witnessed the culmination of The Ultimate Fighter 10, with the exciting finale bout between Roy Nelson and Brendan Schaub.

As many had predicted, the experienced former IFL champ, Roy Nelson came out victorious in the end. I honestly did not expect Nelson to win by KO though, as Schaubs standup is very good and Nelson definitely having the edge on the mat.

I had imagined him taking Schaub down and finishing him with ground and pound, but the KO victory was a refreshing finish from the big bellied Nelson, and I look forward to seeing more of him in the future. I wonder who they have in mind for him next? As much as I like Roy Nelson, I have a hard time picturing him being any kind of threat to heavyweights like Lesnar, Big Nog, Carwin, Mir and Velasquez. Now that he is officially signed with the UFC, I guess time will tell.


Kimbo Slice also got his much anticipated octagon debut, with a unanimous decision over Houston Alexander.

The fight did not go down as expected at all, with Alexander constantly circling away from Slice, clearly frustrating the Florida brawler. Alexander was somewhat succefull in punishing Kimbos front leg with some quick inside leg kicks, but it was not enough to stop the bearded streetfighter who definitely got the better of most exchanges whenever there was actually some contact. Honestly I think several minutes passed before the two fighters actually had any form of contact, and I was surprised Alexander didn't get a warning. It must have been the leg kicks that kept him active enuogh to avoid the warning.

In the second round Kimbo dominated Houston, and really showed off some of those new found ground skills. The guys at American Top Team are clearly doing a great job with Kimbo and he is learning fast. All in all it was a solid performance by Kimbo Slice, and although I don't think he can reach the absolute pinnacle of this sport, I foresee some interesting matchups in the future.

Another controversial fight was the bout between undefeated Jon Jones and Matt Hamill. After Jones scored a takedown and moved to the mount position, he unleashed some terrifying ground and pound. Punches and elbows were raining down on Hamill, who could do nothing but cover up. At this point the fight got stopped due to Jones using an illegal strike, the straight up and down elbow. It is not allowed under the current rules and since Hamill could not continue due to a severe cut caused by the illegal blow, Jones was disqualified and Hamill got the win.

The interesting thing about this incident, was the very calm and collected reaction from Jon Jones. He appeared very mature for a 22 year old and said that the pressure is now off him, because he is no longer undefeated, and that he will come back even stronger. Good for him, and I really think he has what it takes to go far in this sport.




















Other fights from the event:

Frankie Edgar def. Matt Veach by 2nd round submission
Matt Mitrione def. Marcus Jones by 2nd round KO
James McSweeney def. Darrill Schoonover by 3rd round TKO
Jon Madsen def. Justin Wren by split decision
Brian Stann def. Rodney Wallace by unanimous decision
John Howard def. Dennis Hallman by 3rd round KO
Mark Bocek def. Joe Brammer by 1st round submission


Photos from MMAjunkie.com