Ultimate Fighter & Kimbo

Last night The Ultimate Fighter Finale took place. There were several very good fights including Manny Gamburyan Vs. Nathan Diaz for the "title" and Jens Pulver fighting BJ Penn to settle an old score. Before we look at those fights, let's check out the under card.

Cole Miller easily beat Andy Wang by a TKO at 1:10 of the first round. Miller is one of those guys that doesn't look tough, but is.

Joe Lauzon is another kid who doesn't look tough, but he proved otherwise when he beat Brandon Melendez with a rear naked choke at 2:09 of the second round.

Although Doug Evans seemed to easily win the first round, Roger Huerta won by a TKO in the second.

In the most controversial fight of the night, Gray Maynard and Rob Emerson's bout was labeled a "No Contest". Maynard dominated the first round and looked to end things in the second when he picked Emerson up and slammed him to the mat. Emerson was already in pain and the slam was sure to end it. When they hit the mat, Emerson tapped and the fight was over... except for the decision... which was ruled a no contest. Here's why: when Maynard drove Emerson to the mat, he also slammed his own head into it and knocked himself out! The decision was that since neither man was able to continue, the fight was ruled a "No Contest".

In a post fight interview Maynard tried to argue that he wasn't out, but simply tired. This was patently NOT THE CASE. Maynard was knocked senseless by his own slam and to argue otherwise [especially as the video of him with his eyes rolled back and then waking up and trying to raise up but instead falling over] was ridiculous. I do think that an argument could be made that since Emerson tapped before it was clear that Maynard was out, he should have won. Maynard was dominating and had he not knocked himself out would have won.

Manny Gamburyan Vs. Nathan Diaz was somewhat anti-climatic. Gamburyan won the first round despite repeated efforts by Diaz to gain a submission. The second round ended abruptly when Gamburyan shot in for a takedown and dislocated his own shoulder! [At least he didn't knock himself out.] Diaz was awarded the "title" of the Ultimate Fighter for season five and a six figure contract with the UFC.

The final fight of the night was Penn vs Pulver. Penn had won in their previous meeting five years ago. There had been bad blood between them since. That all ended when BJ Penn submitted Pulver with a rear naked choke at 3:12 of the second round. Both Penn and Pulver congratulated each other on a tough fight and even agreed to work together in the future. I was glad to see that their feud had ended. I like both of these guys and couldn't decide who I would pull for. Ultimately, I like that Penn won and things were settled.

Season Six of the Ultimate Fighter is set to have Matt Serra and Matt Hughes as opposing coaches and we can be sure that they'll fight in the finale.

In other MMA news: last night Kimbo Slice easily won his mixed martial arts debut against 46-year old former heavyweight boxing champion Ray Mercer. Kimbo submittd Mercer with a guillotine at 1:12 into the first round. Kimbo then issued a post fight challenge to "Tank" Abbott to fight on September 14th. Kimbo is best known for his extremely popular "underground" fights that began appearing on You-Tube. It will be interesting to see how Kimbo does when he meets an real MMA fighter.