TUF 4 Finale Tonight!

[IX_Equilibrium]

Non-Televised Bouts

Thales Leites vs.
Martin Kampman

Gideon Ray vs.
Charles McCarthy

Scott Smith
Pete Sell vs.

Jeremy Jackson vs.
Pete Spratt

Main Televised Bouts

Edwin Dewees vs.
Jorge Rivera

Rich Clementi vs.
Din Thomas

Middleweight Finalists-

Patrick Cote vs.
Travis Lutter

Welterweight Finalists-

Chris Lytle vs.
Matt Serra

[IX_Equilibrium]

Wow, nobody watched? Free MMA is always great!

My thoughts:

Rivera vs. Dewees: I like Rivera, but I thought the ref stopped the fight too early and Dewees got screwed. Sure, Jorge had Edwin in a compromising position, but the refs need to review the rules. The rule is, the ref should stop the fight when the fighter can no longer intelligently defend himself. Edwin was clearly defending himself and that was the 1st thing he told the ref after the fight was stopped. Rivera might have come away with the victory anyway, but it would have been better if he won with no doubts because of a ref stopping the fight.

Smith vs. Sell: What a great fight! Possible the craziest ending I have ever seen in an MMA fight. These guys came to bang, and they delivered with plenty of leather being thrown. I saw Smith was in trouble when he got hit with that body shot from Sell. I thought it was odd that it affected him as much as it did. When Sell went in for the kill, BAM! Smith threw a desparation shot to Sell's jaw and knocked him out. It was almost funny to see the winner go down in pain and not be able get up for over a minute. Smith proved he has a ton of heart.

http://www.hotlinkthis.com/albums/data/502/weirdfinish.gif

Lutter vs Cote: Wow, I picked Lutter to win the fight, but I didn't think it woould be that easy. He was all over Cote like a wet blanket and pulled out an easy sub. I think he definately has a better chance than Cote to beat Silva, which is why I wanted him to win. Cote is a standup fighter and I don't think he would have been able to hang with Silva's striking. We will see how Silva's takedown defense fares against Lutter's onslaught to take him to the mat. No doubt Silva will be working on his ground game in the event Lutter does take him down. Lutter will need to work on not getting caught in Silva's Muay Thai clench. I think it's definately safe to say that Lutter will have a much smarter gameplan than Rich Franklin had. Frankin's gameplan could not have been any worse. I'm still shaking my head at how dumb he fought that fight.

Lytle vs. Serra: Pretty even fight. They seemed to neutralize each other the entire match, which put the action on hold. I am dissapointed because I was really pulling for Lytle.

[desflood]

Normally, I hate judging a fight by the ending, but I think in this case the ending is what made Sell/Smith the fight of the night.

[cornbread]

All in all it was a great show. The Serra/Lytle fight was a snoozefest but the other matches more than made up for it. Smith/Sell was crazy for so many reasons! I've never seen guys enjoy beating the shit out of each other as much these guys did. The ko was pretty incredible too. At first I thought Smith was playing possum with that hit to the ribs but it became clear quickly that the hit really did hurt him. Great ko.

It's awesome to see a world class bjj guy like Travis do his thing. Some people think his style is boring but I'm a fan.

But now I'm torn...I wanted GSP to beat Hughes this weekend but I'd much rather see Serra match up with Hughes. Oh well. There's really nothing to complain about. They should all be great matches.

[desflood]

Matt Serra has wicked skill, but I don't think he's strong enough to take either Hughes or GSP (on that note, I hope to see George St. Pierre embarrass Matt Hughes this weekend).

[IX_Equilibrium]

(on that note, I hope to see George St. Pierre embarrass Matt Hughes this weekend).


Not gonna happen. I don't think either fighter will embarrass the other. It will be a hard fought match. I like both fighters, but my pick is Hughes.

In my opinion, he is the 2nd greatest MMA champ/fighter ever. People don't like him because he isn't the friendliest guy in the world. But him not being affable doesn't bother me.

I laugh at the people who like characters like Baroni or Rampage, while at the same time rip on Matt Hughes for being cocky.

[IX_Equilibrium]

It's awesome to see a world class bjj guy like Travis do his thing. Some people think his style is boring but I'm a fan.



I am a fan of Travis, but I am afraid he is too much of a lone ranger when it comes to training. I would like to see him get more versatile and train with others around the country for a while to become more of a complete fighter.

[LEONARD]

1. Best Finale so far IMO. Glad to see it 3 hrs with 2 extra fights...

2. Crazy finish to Sell / Smith...CRAZY!!

3. Serra will get killed by Hughes or GSP. I'm still pulling hard for GSP.

4. I fear for Travis...seriously...he's going to get Franklin'd!!

[cornbread]

I would like to see him get more versatile and train with others around the country for a while to become more of a complete fighter.

I agree. It looks like he doesn't the whole team/camp training thing. It probably could help his game to train with a versatile group.

I knew going into this season that Travis was an amazing bjj practioner. What suprised me about him is that his wrestling is also pretty damn good. He hasn't had much trouble getting people to the ground at all.

[cornbread]

1. Best Finale so far IMO. Glad to see it 3 hrs with 2 extra fights...
-yep, I can't think of a better one

2. Crazy finish to Sell / Smith...CRAZY!!
-nuf said

3. Serra will get killed by Hughes or GSP. I'm still pulling hard for GSP.
-yep, I still look forward to the match though

4. I fear for Travis...seriously...he's going to get Franklin'd!!
-yep, Travis' nose will probably be touching his earlobe by the end of the fight but I'll still cheer for Texas bjj

[IX_Equilibrium]

I fear for Travis...seriously...he's going to get Franklin'd!!
-yep, Travis' nose will probably be touching his earlobe by the end of the fight but I'll still cheer for Texas bjj


Again, Lutter will have a much better gameplan than Franklin. He won't try to stand with Silva! He may lose, but I don't think it will be as one sided as the way Franklin got beat.

Here is a recent interview with Franklin where he talks about the fight with Silva.

http://www.bloodyknux.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22136

[spurs=bling]

I didn't get to see it, I was in Crystal City since Friday.

[LEONARD]

Again, Lutter will have a much better gameplan than Franklin. He won't try to stand with Silva! He may lose, but I don't think it will be as one sided as the way Franklin got beat.

Oh I know he won't TRY to stand, I just don't think he'll have a choice. IF he gets him down he won't be able to keep him down. Silva is no joke on the ground either, and I think he'll be WAY too strong for Travis. He was towering over Travis in the ring after the fight...

[cornbread]

Here is a recent interview with Franklin where he talks about the fight with Silva.

http://www.bloodyknux.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22136

Good interview, thanks for posting.

[IX_Equilibrium]

Oh I know he won't TRY to stand, I just don't think he'll have a choice. IF he gets him down he won't be able to keep him down. Silva is no joke on the ground either, and I think he'll be WAY too strong for Travis. He was towering over Travis in the ring after the fight...

You sound pretty confident that Lutter has no chance. Perhaps you are right. You know that greater strength can be neutralized through solid BJJ techniques. And of course a 5 inch won't matter much on the ground.

[LEONARD]

You sound pretty confident that Lutter has no chance. Perhaps you are right. You know that greater strength can be neutralized through solid BJJ techniques. And of course a 5 inch won't matter much on the ground.

He has a slight chance IMO, but I think the more likely outcome isn't just to loss, but a loss with significant facial injuries. That's why I fear for the guy. I think Silva is too strong for Lutter to get down and KEEP down.

I like Lutter though, and he's from Ft Worth... :fro

[Horry For 3!]

I watched it, I liked the ending when Smith knocked Sell tha fuck out.