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The Ultimate Fighter II Finale Results
November 5, 2005 The Joint Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, Nevada
Televised Order: Fight 1 - Welterweight Bout Kenny Florian wins by submission (rear naked choke) at :37 of the second round over Kit Cope
Fight 2 - TUF Welterweight Final Joe Stevenson wins a three round unanimous decision (29-82, 30-27, 29-28) over Luke Cummo - Stevenson wins The Ultimate Fighter Season II welterweight competition
Fight 3- TUF Heavyweight Final Rashad Evans wins a three round split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) over Brad Imes - Evans wins The Ultimate Fighter Season II heavyweight competition
Fight 4 - Welterweight Bout Diego Sanchez wins a three round unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) over Nick Diaz
Prelims (not televised - results from the UFC: Welterweight Bout Josh Burkman wins by knockout at :21 of the first round over Sammy Morgan
Welterweight Bout Melvin Guillard wins by TKO at 2:55 of the second round over Marcus Davis
Heavyweight Bout Keith Jardine wins by TKO at 3:28 of the second round over Kerry Schall
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Evans and Stevenson - Tonights Ultimate Fighters
Sanchez Becomes Diaz’ Nightmare In Finale Main Event
LAS VEGAS, NV – Rashad Evans and Joe Stevenson came into The Ultimate Fighter™ reality series this season from vastly different places in terms of expectations. But at the end of tonight’s The Ultimate Fighter™ Season 2 finale at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, the underdog and the favorite finally had something in common: They were Ultimate Fighters.
In the heavyweight finale, Evans out-pointed Brad Imes via split decision in a classic slugfest, and Stevenson also won via points, unanimously outscoring Luke Cummo to earn this season’s welterweight crown. Both Evans and Stevenson took home six figure UFC contracts with their victories, as well as Toyota Scion automobiles.
When the 5’11” 224 lbs. Evans squared off against the 6’7”, 250 lbs. Imes, many expected the height and weight disparity between the two to be too much for the former Michigan State wrestler. And early on, things went according to form, with Evans’ faster hands getting nullified by Imes’ Thai clinch and knees.
But by late in the first round, Evans started finding a home for his left hooks, while just missing with a right hand finisher. In the second, Imes again used his reach advantage to spear Evans from long range, and as fatigue started to become an issue for both fighters, the real fight began, with both fighters taking turns rocking each other with solid shots to the head.
The third round had the packed house on its feet, but Imes wasn’t so lucky when Evans finally connected with the left hook right hand combo, sending the Iowa resident crashing to the canvas. Evans pounced, but was unable to finish.
“I’m happy, excited, and privileged to be in the position I’m in,” said Evans of his UFC victory, who admitted that he might move down to the light heavyweight division as to avoid facing 250 pounders every night.
Imes was gracious in defeat.
“I’ve gotten better since the show, but I still have a lot to learn,” he said. “That’s no excuse though because Rashad fought a helluva fight and he’s a great fighter.”
In the welterweight finale, Joe Stevenson battled against Luke Cummo for all three rounds.
In the first round, Stevenson appeared to be on his way to victory early, as he easily avoided Cummo’s strikes and took him to the mat almost immediately and dominated the ground action. The war picked up in round two, as Cummo dropped Stevenson to the canvas with a right hand, only to fall back into a ground game. But he began to handle himself better, and escaped danger by striking in retaliation.
In the third round, Cummo came on
fast again, but Stevenson had better control on the mat. There was no question
when the scorecards were announced, and the win went to Stevenson by unanimous
decision. crown held by Matt Hughes as he scored a shutout three round decision over heated rival Nick Diaz.
Scores for ‘The Nightmare’ were 30-27 across the board.
“I believe I was in control the whole way,” said Sanchez, who is unbeaten in the UFC®. “There’s no messing around for Diego Sanchez, I’m on my way to the top.”
Avoiding Diaz’ superior standup skills from the opening bell, Sanchez dominated the action on the ground with a mixture of well-placed strikes, frenetic grapples, and side control. Diaz, who never seemed to get into a rhythm in the bout, kept trying to lock in submissions on Sanchez, but ‘The Nightmare’ was too fast and slick.
In the second round, Diaz landed his only damaging strike of the night, a flush kick to the face from the ground, but Sanchez quickly recovered and got back to business, which wasn’t pretty – but it was effective.
By round three, the heated turf war finally kicked into gear when both suffered cuts – Diaz to his forehead, Sanchez over his eye. The fists started flying with more desperation, and the attempts by both men to finish the fight increased. But by the end of the bout, Diaz’ inability to get his shots off before getting taken down proved to be his downfall. Not that he’s about to give his opponent credit.
“No, I don’t,” said Diaz when asked if he thought Sanchez belonged where he currently stands in the 170 lbs.
division. In the co-feature, Kenny Florian scored perhaps the most impressive victory of his mixed martial arts career, submitting four-time World Muay Thai champion Kit Cope with a rear naked choke at 37 seconds of the second round.
It was actually the second win of the night for Florian, who forced Cope to tap out to an armbar just as the horn ending the round sounded. The win was a satisfying one for the classy Florian, who took some good natured trash talk from Cope leading up to the bout.
“I just want to concentrate on my opponent and the fight itself,” said Florian.
Early on, Florian showed a strong beard as he traded with Cope en route to clinching with his foe against the fence. “It was my strategy to use strikes to get inside on him,” said the Jiu-Jitsu ace. “I try to mix it up.”
The strategy paid dividends late in the round as Cope tired from the consistent pressure and Florian took him to the mat. With 30 seconds left, Florian got into the mount position and then, as the clock ticked, he transitioned into the armbar. Cope resisted and then tapped, but the referee ruled that the round had ended before the tap.
But with his shoulder battered, Cope’s demise was inevitable, and even though he fought back with his only remaining weapons – his feet – once Florian got inside and got the takedown, it was over.
Undercard Bouts Burkman vs. Morgan Welterweight Josh Burkman scored a 21 second knockout of Sam Morgan, sending him to the canvas with a takedown that put the Minnesotan out almost immediately. A follow-up barrage then forced the stoppage, giving Burkman the win, even though he appeared to be shaken up by the ending.
“Our sport’s not about that,” said Burkman, who said he had no idea that the takedown put his opponent out. “I don’t want to hurt anybody.”
Guillard vs. Davis thrashing a game Marcus Davis at 2:55 of the second round.
“I’m young, explosive, and I can strike,” said Guillard. “Kevin Randleman is my hero and tonight I fought like him.”
Flashing fast hands from the opening bell, Guillard nonetheless did his most damage on the ground, locking in a guillotine choke that almost ended the fight.
The second was all Guillard, and once he got Davis back to the mat, he landed a series of elbow strikes, cutting Davis over the left eye. Moments later, the bout was halted on advice from the ringside physician, giving Guillard his first UFC win.
“I’ve dreamed of this since I was 14, and now I’m living my dream,” said Guillard. “But the nerves were the same – a fight’s a fight.”
Jardine vs. Schall In the opener, Keith Jardine scored an impressive stoppage of Kerry Schall, using brutally effective leg kicks to send ‘The Meat Truck’ to defeat in the second round.
Opting to keep the fight standing, both fighters teed off on each other in the opening round, with Jardine’s superior speed and footwork keeping him on step ahead of Schall’s heavier hands. But by the end of the round it was Schall showing the scars of battle, with a nosebleed and a bruise under his left eye.
In the second round, Jardine kept trying to score with a left-right combination to the jaw, but Schall, who continuously moved forward, hoping to land the fight altering haymaker. When Jardine added leg kicks to the mix, the fight was a wrap as Schall’s tender left knee gave way under the consistent attack.
Finally, after a series of shots to the leg, Schall fell to the canvas grasping his knee. The fight was then immediately stopped at the 3:28 mark by referee Jon Schorle. Schall, who was forced to leave The Ultimate Fighter series due to an injury to his left knee, was brought to a local hospital to have the knee looked at once again after tonight’s bout.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship® brand is the world’s leading professional mixed martial arts organization and offers the premier series of MMA sports events. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC® fight programs feature six live pay-per-view events annually through cable and satellite providers. In addition to its U.S. distribution, UFC fight programs are distributed throughout the world including broadcast on WOWOW, Inc. in Japan, Globosat in Brazil and Bravo in the United Kingdom. Zuffa, LLC licenses the distribution of its fight show DVDs through Studioworks Entertainment, a Ventura Distribution company. For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit
www.ufc.tv. Gets, The Octagon and the eight-sided cage design are registered trademarks, trademarks, trade dress or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC or other respective owners. Spike TV, the first network for men, is available in 88 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks
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