Ultimate Fighter 8 finalists advance to Las Vegas finale on Dec. 13
by MMAmania.com on Dec 4, 2008 12:00 AM EST
47 comments
The mix of the 32 lightweights and light heavyweights who began season eight of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) about 12 weeks ago has finally been whittled down to four finalists.
Ryan Bader and Vinicius Magalhães will battle for the 205-pound season crown, while Phillipe Nover and Efrain Escudero will collide to determine the top 155-pound fighter in the house.
It will all go down at TUF 8 Finale at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday, December 13, 2008. The action will begin to air at 9 p.m. ET on Spike TV on fight night.
"Darth" Bader -- who took out Kyle Kingsbury, Tom Lawlor and Eliot Marshall en route to the finals -- and the baddest nurse in all of Brooklyn. N.Y., Phillipe Nover -- who ran through Joe Duarte, David Kaplan and George Roop to earn his spot -- appear to be the early favorites in their respective weight divisions.
However, Magalhães showed that he is a dangerous Brazilian jiu-jitsu threat with wins over Lance Evans, Jules Bruchez and Krzysztof Soszynski. And Escudero demonstrated similar ground acumen by choking out Ido Pariente, Shane Nelson and the lovable Junie Browning.
It's going to be a solid conclusion to a solid season, which ultimately saw Team Nogueira send three fighters to the finals versus just one representative from Team Mir.
In addition to the TUF 8 final bouts, two other intriguing match ups will round out the televised main card. Middleweights Jason MaDonald and Wilson Gouveia will hook 'em up and welterweights Kevin Burns and Anthony Johnson will meet in a rematch to erase the memory of the controversial result in their first encounter.
The entire TUF 8 Finale card should be announced very soon. In the meantime, check out the latest fight card here and complete event archive right here.
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Vinny 1st rnd sub
Nover will win a split dec. bank on it
by punk on Dec 4, 2008 12:07 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
I have to think about Vinny v Bader a bit more. I think Bader’s strength could pose some problems for Vinny. As for Phillipe v Efrain, Phillipe is gonna stop him. I don’t see it going to decision let alone split decision.
by RedDog on Dec 4, 2008 4:21 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
whats to think about, boring bader will get subbed quick. bader is a sober jt money, or an oversized manville.
by b.w. on Dec 4, 2008 11:13 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I kept rewinding the part where junie was getting choked out. Best part of the season. Bader rd 1 KO and Nover rd 2 tko.
by NameNotRequired on Dec 4, 2008 12:15 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I kept rewinding it too. I live in Lexington, KY. I saw Junie in McDonalds about 6 weeks back. This was after his fight aired on Spike when he gassed out (and of course after the show was taped). He was out in the parking lot shadow boxing his reflection in the car’s window. And he was joking around by throwing roundhouse kicks at his buddies inside McDonalds. Dude has serious issues. Glad to see him gone. Oh, and I thought Mir knew Junie was from KY..what was he thinking when he kept trying to get Junie to throw 3 punches at a time? We can’t count that high.
by UFC_Fan on Dec 4, 2008 12:52 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Was he on his 15 minute break, taking out the trash, or dumping the mop water?
by the_mexicutioner on Dec 4, 2008 8:45 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
one day junie will make it to junior fry technician – if he works hard enough
by jerrolds on Dec 4, 2008 2:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
i agree….vinny is in a different league compared to anyone else on the show. give this guy some stand up and he will be the champ soon enough. this kid will be dangerous.
by bradpittfightclub on Dec 4, 2008 1:05 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
WOW, I called 3 of the 4 finalists. bader was the only one I got wrong, I really like Elliot’s attitude and was hoping he’d win. Vinny was the pick most of you disagreed with, the other two were obvious!
I think my dog actually has a higher IQ than Junie! He just said that if he was at home, he would have won. He said that he wasn’t getting the proper training! So let me get this straight, you’re training with some of the best fighters in the world, have no tv, no radio, no newspaper (but I’m not convinced he can read), basically have NOTHING to do but train, but you would be better off at team redneck in kentucky training. OK! My only question is what the hell does this kid have on Dana White? Does he have a Dana White/Arianny sex tape? He has to have some big time ammo to have not gotten thrown off this show! He’s an average fighter at best, he’s dumb as nails and yet is still on the show?! At least it all worked out in the end, and we all got to see him lose!
I stated in another thread, I think you guys are underestimating Mir vs. nog! I’m not saying he will win, but I give him a lot better chance than 90% of you guys do!
my predictions for the finale
Vinny and Nover!
by kevin on Dec 4, 2008 3:18 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
What’s up kevin? You ain’t shittin about your dog being smarter than junie. That fuckstick has to be in-bred or somethin….. I got nover, but if bader can land a big shot early I think he’ll take it. Vinny has the technique, but sometimes it doesn’t matter. We’ve seen how poor vinnys striking is so you know baders gonna try to take advantage of it. If I was bader, I’d do WHATEVER I had to, to keep it standing. Cuz we all know, if vinny pulls guard, it’s pretty much over!
by allamerican on Dec 4, 2008 8:29 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Guys.. My favorite Nog line of the whole show " I aint’ playing around ".. oh I loved it!!
by PhilQNY on Dec 4, 2008 9:35 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
one more thing, what kinda cunt bitch throws a cup at someone? smash it over his head maybe, but throw it like a bitch? and for what??? because the guy said “show me, anyone can talk?”
by kevin on Dec 4, 2008 3:20 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
off topic. Kevin you requested it awhile back. not sure how long its been there agian, but the column on the right side of the screen with the latest posts from the bloggers is up again.
by Synyster on Dec 4, 2008 10:13 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I know it is, I don’t know why, but I love that feature. It’s good in the early evening when moderation happens most, if a comment number goes from 99 to 101, I can click the two on that feature instead of searching for new comments!
by kevin on Dec 4, 2008 10:29 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I dunno with the TUF finale. Obviously, Wilson by TKO and Rumble by TKO as well. But Efrain is a tough dude, and every season has had a dude go undefeated for a while (Deigo, Rashad, Bisping, Gray) and with Efrain being 10-0, seems like he’d fit the trend. But wait, Fainting Phillipe and Bader are both undefeated. Damn.
Its either: Vinny by armbar, or Bader by decision
And then… I dunno. I predict a Split Decision.
by synyster on Dec 4, 2008 12:19 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Vinny will catch bader in a sub, Bader was not impressive at all tonight. He wont be able to lay on vinny like that without getting sub’ed. And Novar what can you say about him, quite talented and very confident, he will get the W by knockout
by See What Had Happend Was !!!! on Dec 4, 2008 12:23 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
I agree…
Vinny 1st round sub after Bader sits on him for 3 min.
Novar winner by TKO or decision
by Ben on Dec 4, 2008 1:04 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Bader used Elliot like a posturepedic matress….the ref was aweful. I applaud the ground game but Bader was in no hurry to pass guard or keep busy. Sad fight for both as Elliot was looking like a fish out of water also. Junie is gone …ha ha …..that was hilarious …‘flippin’ burgers’ and poor George Roop…poor cat got owned. I would love to see Bader go to the floor with Vinny….his ‘make sweet love’ technique will get him a flight back to CB Dollaway’s loving arms…
by BigPelly on Dec 4, 2008 12:49 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Vinny
Novar
Both First Round!
Stupid Season!!!!
by DBG on Dec 4, 2008 12:57 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Seriously, Bader doesn’t seem like he has a chance.
Awesome takedowns vs. a guy who likes to take you down and put you in his full guard.
Seems like an easy sub win for Vinny
by Ben on Dec 4, 2008 1:03 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Should Bader’s nickname be “Darth Bader” or “Boring a$$ watching him takedown, sit in full guard, be stood up and then do it all over again 10 times Bader”?
by Ben on Dec 4, 2008 1:06 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
vinny by submission
nover by tko
botth r gonnna be very good fights it seems
by travis on Dec 4, 2008 1:29 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
For some reason i was uniterested in this season of TUF. I have watched all the previous seasons and never missed and episode, but i didnt manage to catch even 1 of this season’s!
How do you guys think in was in comparison the the past TUF’s!?
by SoCalStunNa on Dec 4, 2008 2:13 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
I guess it depends on the season. It was better than last season, which was absolutely awful in my opinion.
by naturalshadow on Dec 4, 2008 2:52 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
This season was the worst by far. There were some entertaining moments but it really lacked an edge. The format needs to change and I hink its better if you have 16 fighters in the same weight class. With 8 you know who is going to be in the finals after 1 episode.
For me the best was either the first series or the Penn / Pulver one (5th one ????)
by Billy Boy on Dec 4, 2008 2:55 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
im so glad junie is out. he doesnt deserve to be in the ufc
by danny on Dec 4, 2008 3:10 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Junie didn’t even get outclassed, he got outworked and mentally broke to a tougher fighter. Junie is typical bully mentality, when someone bully’s him, he gives up!
by THORAZINE on Dec 4, 2008 3:18 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
This season may have been the worst even worse than seasons 2 and 4.
by tyler on Dec 4, 2008 3:32 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Nover and Escudero both seem to have more promise than Vinny or Bader.
by EazyEismydad on Dec 4, 2008 4:45 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
if Bader spends as much time in guard with Vinny as he did last night he’s done
by McArthur on Dec 4, 2008 7:28 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
If I was Bader I would avoid ground and pound.
Vinny does not like to bang.
by kayriss on Dec 4, 2008 7:54 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
I agree-Vinny’s stand up is pretty poor. Keeping it on the feet is Baders only chance and he does have good wrestling, so I wouldnt count him out if he has a smart gameplan.
by BritishBulldog on Dec 4, 2008 8:53 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I’ll never forget JB’s instant classic post here:
http://mmamania.com/2008/11/26/programming-reminder-tuf-on-turkey-hiatus-until-dec-3/
-
Comment by JB:
“man, the lhw were easy to call in this one. when they first announced the names i called krystof on this board like months ago.”
What a joke!
by JonnyBoy on Dec 4, 2008 8:03 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
I think Junie is pretty good at what he does, but he is a pure retard. When dana white asks him if he is retarded, I start laughing and so does junie because he knows thats exactly what everyone thinks of him. I bet you when he fights live at the pearl he is going to woop the hell out of his oppenent. He just couldnt take living in that house is all. He snaps really quickly and the whole experience got him. Dont get me wrong, he is an idiot because 15 other guys were there and noone threw glass at anyone else. I know what he was saying but as far as fighting..you will see he is good. I would def pack my sh!t and get out kentucky.
by What? on Dec 4, 2008 8:48 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg60On4jh3k
9:53
I will never understand why Junie got chance after chance, but guys like Jesse Taylor got the boot for one dumb night. Then Dana’s buddy-buddy with him now. What are we supposed to think?
by Brian on Dec 4, 2008 10:11 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
He must have pictures of Dana doing something he shouldnt be doing. Junie is wack and a punk and an idiot. Who throws a glass, not once but twice He is so lucky that he has not seriously injured someone to this point, F’ing guy is a headcase. I certainly would not want to be around him, he’s a danger to anyone thats around him.
by Spyder on Dec 4, 2008 2:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
bader sucks…….worst fighter to make it to the finals
by Matty B on Dec 4, 2008 10:49 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
why is it lnp for the guy on top?all i have seen is a bunch of pussy bjj guys holding on for dear life.its just as much of the bottom guys fault if not more.if you dont want to be on your backs like a two cent whore learn some T.D.
by durty kurty on Dec 5, 2008 12:01 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
BADER is so boring I cant believe it! Vinny better flying arm bar his azz quick! Vinny is going to stop him in the 2nd. 1st if nerves dont get em watch!
by Geesus on Dec 6, 2008 1:39 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
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