Issue 080

October 2011

Amidst the shenanigans, The Ultimate Fighter is about winning fights and advancing to the finale. In the show’s 13-season history, the UFC Training Center has hosted over 240 fights. Andrew Garvey looks back at five of the very best

1 Josh Koscheck vs Chris Leben (TUF 1)

The worst bell-to-bell fight on this list by miles, Koscheck and Leben’s grudge match, deserves a place for its sheer importance. Set up by Leben’s drinking, personality and troubled past, and Koscheck’s incredible job of playing ‘bad guy’ (which he still does to this day), the two faced off in a genuine grudge match where Leben planned “to punch all [Koscheck’s] teeth out.” However, Kos’ used his far superior wrestling to pin Leben either to the mat or the fence for the majority of the fight and take a unanimous two-round decision. Pulling the highest TV ratings of any weekly episode in the first few seasons and, at the time, the most-watched MMA program in North American history, this one put the reality show, and its two main protagonists, firmly on the map.

2 Jason Von Flue vs Jorge Gurgel (TUF 2)

A few years on, some fighters have learned and developed immeasurably since the Ultimate Fighter experience. Rich Franklin’s friend and BJJ coach, and one of his season-two fighters, Jorge Gurgel is a very gifted grappler but seems thoroughly obsessed with ‘standing and banging.’ It’s an attitude that’s earned him some fan acclaim and a few bonus checks but also lost him several fights, including this one against Team Hughes outcast Jason Von Flue. Exhausted by the start of round two, Von Flue and Gurgel’s fight descended into rousingly sloppy bar-fight chaos where neither had the presence of mind to block or evade punches, nor the energy to actually generate much power. By the end of the third, ‘sudden death’ round Von Flue looked a bloody mess, to put it lightly, but emerged the winner by unanimous decision.

3 Nate Diaz vs Rob Emerson (TUF 5)

Even by the third episode of the season, Nick Diaz’s little brother, Nate, was just itching to beat someone up. And trash-talking Rob Emerson was as good a victim as any. The fight itself, which Nate won with a late second-round rear naked choke, was fought at a frenzied pace. A close, exciting, and mostly stand-up, first round saw Emerson tiring, while Diaz, sporting some of his family’s legendary cardio, seemed happy to fight for hours. As Emerson wilted, Diaz took over, took him down and went for a dizzying barrage of submission attempts that Emerson valiantly fought off until, eventually, Diaz sunk in the choke to end what Dana White immediately called one of the best fights in the show’s history.

4 Tim Credeur vs Matt Riddle (TUF 7)

Promising to “beat the dreams” out of the 22-year-old Matt Riddle, the older, far more experienced Tim Credeur took the first round of a fast-paced, largely ground-based battle. Powerful high-school wrestler Riddle took Credeur down early, but Credeur, the slicker grappler, grabbed the advantage, landing punches before nearly catching Riddle in a choke. In the dying moments of the second round, after yet more furious scrapping on the ground, and with both men seemingly exhausted, Credeur ignored the advice of coach Forrest Griffin to maintain his position and wait for the final bell, instead slapping on an armbar for the submission and the $5,000 bonus. A great ending to a cracking fight.

5 DaMarques Johnson vs Nick Osipczak (TUF 9)

With a finale place up for grabs, welterweights Nick Osipczak and Damarques Johnson did their best to reprise the Anglo-American War of 1812 with a three-round TUF classic. Taken down and held there for much of the first round, England’s Osipczak got to his feet and hammered Johnson, kicking off a frenetic final few moments. Johnson dominated the second on the ground, battering Osipczak with punches that clearly had the referee on the verge of stopping the fight several times. Surviving into a dramatic third round, Osipczak took it to the American, wildly advancing and throwing his limbs around. Johnson fired back in similar fashion and, in the end, took a well-earned decision victory.