The Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale

by: Average Joe June 25 2006

The UFC crowned two new “TUF” champions, a legend was inducted into the hall of fame, and we were all treated to some amazing fights.

Last night Spike TV aired the third finale for their "The Ultimate Fighter" series, and fans of the UFC were treated to some amazing fights, previews up the upcoming UFC 61: Bitter Rivals, and the induction of one of the greatest fighters to ever step in the octagon, Randy “The Natural” Couture. I’d like to touch base on everything that happened, but first let’s recap the fights for those people that are either living under a rock, or weren’t home and still don’t know what a DVR is.

Kieth Jardine VS Wilson Gouveia: Light Heavyweight Match
Jardine was opened up early on in the first round, and nearly taken off of his feet by a number of devastating leg blows delivered by Gouveai. Jardine was believed to be a beaten man by round’s end, however “The Dean of Mean” rebounded in with a great secound round that eventually won him the unanimous three-round decision over Gouveai.
Winner by unanimous decision: Keith Jardine
My Thoughts: Personally I thought Jardine was pretty much out of it by the end of the first round. His face was covered in blood, and he looked to be exhausted, and standing on one leg after those countless leg kicks by Gouveai. In the second round he rebounded and landed some nice shots. I’d definitely say the judges scored the bout correctly as Jardine was clearly the victor.

Ed Herman VS Kendall Grove: UFC Middleweight “TUF” Championship Match
Herman didn’t waste anytime in taking Grove to the mat early on in the first round, and opening him up with a hail of punches that had many believing Herman would make short work of Grove. Kendall managed to secure an arm, but Herman quickly countered by delivering some knees that forced Kendall to break the hold. Both men returned to their feet only to see Grove get taken down for a second time before the round’s end. In the second round things looked bad once again for Grove when he was taken down again by Herman, however Kendall managed to secure a triangle on “Short Fuse” who managed to escape once again. The rest of the round went like this—Both fighters went back and forth with their own submission attempts and near misses. Grove once again landed a triangle, and a rear naked choke that nearly had Herman KO’ed. Herman, however landed some beautiful shots on Grove, and locked in his own submissions on “Da Spyder’s” arms that nearly saw him tap as well. By the end of the third round, both Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan believed it would be declared a draw...this was not the case as a strong argument for each fighter’s victory could be made.
Winner by decision: Kendall Grove
My Thoughts: Personally, I think Herman won the fight. He easily took the first round by dropping Kendall and landing some pretty heavy shots. Both men showed a lot of heart by not only attempting submissions, but finding a way to counter their opponents. It was easy to see that Herman was disappointed with the decision, but Dana White awarding him the contract as well was, IMO the right thing to do. Like I said, an argument could be made either way as to who won the fight, and I look forward to seeing what both of these guys can do in the future.

Michael Bisping VS Josh Haynes: UFC Light Heavyweight “TUF” Championship Match
It was pretty clear that most of the crowd was behind Bisping for this fight. Despite being from the UK, it was Bisping’s charisma and level of skill that won over his critics early on in “TUF.” Much to no one’s surprise Hayne’s went into this fight swinging for the fences. Early in the round Bisping nailed Hayne’s with a devastating knee to the head. Bisping backed off seemingly thinking he had just KO’ed Hayes. Ref. John McCarthy deducted a point from “The Count” for kneeing a still downed opponent. Bisping took the first round, but the score was now even at 9-9 after the 1 point deduction.

The second round saw Bisping systematically pick apart Haynes with a flying knee, a sleu of submissions, and some hard shots to the head. To his credit Hayne’s would not back down, and actually landed some of his own shots, that at one point looked like they rocked Bisping for a second. In the final minute of the last round, Bisping was able to stun Hayne’s and just let loose with an array of punches to the head. Hayne’s couldn’t take anymore and literally collapsed to the mat—Ref. John McCarthy stopped the fight at 4:14sec of the second round.
Winner by referee stoppage: Michael “The Count” Bisping
My Thoughts: This one’s a no brainer, Bisping picked Haynes apart, and by the time “Big” John called the match it was apparent that Hayne’s couldn’t take anymore. This fight pretty much went as I expected it to. I will give a lot of credit to Hayne’s for showing an incredible amount of heart during the match and not giving in to the countless submission attempts by Bisping. I look forward to seeing Bisping in the future, because if there’s one word to describe this guy it would have to be “vicious."

Kenny Florian VS Sam Stout: “TUF” Season 3 Finale Main Event
I can sum this one up preatty easily. Fight starts, and almost immediately, Florian gets Stout with the takedown. Florian secured the full mount, worked his magic and then locked in the rear naked choke the instant Stout gave up his back.
Winner by submission: Kenny Florian
My Thoughts: Florian pretty much dismantled Stout, ‘nuff said.

Matt Hammil VS Jesse Forbes: Pre-liminary Match
Hammil pretty much shut down Forbes in 4:47 of the initial round. After landing some heavy shots, Hammil FINALLY displayed some of those much-talked-about wrestling moves and took Forbes down. From there it was pretty much ground and pound until Ref. Yves Lavigne put an end to the beating, after Forbes had no answer for Hammil’s countless shots.
Winner by referee stoppage: Matt “The Hammer” Hammil
My Thoughts: Hammil kicked Forbes’ ass from the very beginning. I was disappointed with Hammil’s first match during “TUF,” but now I’d have to agree that given some time, this guy could be a SERIOUS threat in the UFC.

UFC Hall of Fame Ceremony: Randy “The Natural” Couture
It was nice to see “Captain America” finally get inducted into the hall of fame, but at the same time it was also sad to see one of my favorites officially call an end to his legendary career. I was a bit disappointed with the ceremony as all it was, was Dana White handing him a plaque (an awesome one at that), Joe Rogan interviewing him, and that’s it. It was obvious that Couture was choked up, and a speech would’ve been nice...no such luck. At least the man received the recognition he deserved as one of the greatest fighters to ever step inside the octagon

All-in-all I thought it was a great night for UFC fans. Not only did we crown two new “TUF” champions, but another, well deserving fighter received a contract after an impressive battle. I’m really looking forward to the Shamrock VS Ortiz 2, since it’s apparent these two guys can’t wait to get at eachother again...they can’t even agree on the prizes they get for being the coaches on the show! either way, the PPV should be great, and I can’t wait to see what these new UFC fighters can do.