TUF 14 Finale Live Blog

Bisping vs. Mayhem? The last-ever finale of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike? Yep, tonight demands a live blog. Join us back here at 7pm CT/8pm ET for my live thoughts on the TUF 14 Finale as it happens. Be sure to refresh your browser window every few minutes for updates once the show starts.

7:00- Welcome to the TUF 14 Finale live blog! Should be a good night of fights, hopefully my quips will appropriately supplement your viewing experience. Let’s get started.

7:02- “TIME TO END THIS SUFFERING! I NEED A MINUTE TO MYSELF!” starts us off yet again before the reliable commentary pair of Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg give us the rundown on the bantamweight and featherweight finalists of this season of TUF.

7:06- It’s always weird to hear that these guys are making their “UFC debut” when we’ve seen them fight several times already on The Ultimate Fighter. Now that all the fights will be live when TUF 15 begins on FX, one can only assume the fights will be counted on fighters’ official records during the show. The reason they haven’t been counted until now is that if they were, the results would be public as soon as the fights ended and everyone would know what happened weeks in advance.

7:10- Louis Gaudinot and Johnny Bedford will get us started. Gaudinot, with his long, curly green hair looks like the bastard lovechild of Hermes Franca and Diego Sanchez. It’s a bizarre combination, the facial features of Sanchez, who takes himself a little too seriously (as you may have heard), and the ridiculous green mop.

7:16- The tale of the tape reveals a seven-inch height and eight-inch reach advantage for Bedford. I’ve never been a fan of using a wingspan for reach. All that matters is the length of each individual arm.

7:18- Goldberg says that Bedford “got caught, literally” in his fight with John Dodson. No, actually, he didn’t. He literally got punched in the face. I don’t think Goldberg knows what “literally” means.

7:21- Bedford gets full mount halfway through the round and postures up, throwing shots and forcing Gaudinot to give up his back. Gaudinot finally rolls back over and gets half-guard, then full guard but isn’t offering any real resistance as Bedford peppers him. Round one easily goes to Bedford, 10-9. A 10-8 wouldn’t really be out of the question.

7:24- As with the Dodson fight, Bedford’s punches seem to have lost much of their snap already, although he doesn’t appear to be all that tired. Doesn’t matter though, he’s got another takedown and will likely control his way to another win in round two.

7:28- Yep, although that doesn’t necessarily make me Nostradamus. Another round that easily could be seen as a 10-8. Gaudinot has done nothing.

7:31- Nice spinning back fist for Gaudinot provides his only highlight thus far, but Bedford won’t let him be satisfied for even an instant, countering with vicious uppercuts to the body and a knee to the dome that drops him. Gaudinot is just covering up on the ground and it’s a matter of time. TKO stoppage by referee Steve Mazzagatti (or as Bruce Buffer calls him, “Schteeeve Mazzhagattay”.

7:37- Oh, God…these Miller Lite commercials. As if they weren’t dumb enough (and they are), the premise of recommending a product because of something as vague as having “more taste” makes no sense. Not “better” taste, just “more” taste? You know what other liquid probably has a strong taste? Urine. Urine probably has “more” taste than water, right? I don’t think we’ll see anyone skipping past the Aquafina to run home and bottle their own special brew, though. How does “more taste” mean anything? The worst-tasting things in the world have a strong taste!

7:45- I’d forgotten how awful the pacing on these Spike TV events can be. So. Many. Commercials. Though I almost don’t mind since poor ol’ Spike is just trying to squeeze out all the money they can from the UFC before it goes bye-bye for good. Oh, and watching Montell Williams as the face of predatory lending is always good, too.

7:47- If Tony Ferguson can beat Yves Edwards, color me impressed. I wouldn’t have even considered the idea until Ferguson beat the tough Aaron Riley in impressive fashion.

7:53- What a first round for both fighters. I liked Yves early and he was landing the better shots by far, but Ferguson kept plugging away with the lead leg kick and eventually landed some very good shots. Two head kicks from Edwards, too! Gotta go 10-9 Ferguson, though.

7:56- When the two go to a more measured pace, it seems to favor Edwards a bit. However, Ferguson is starting to settle in again at the middle of the round and land the better shots.

7:59- I’ll give the second to Ferguson again, although it was close. Edwards is landing his head kicks at a very high rate, and why? Because he’s leading with punches to set them up. Once he starts punching, Ferguson drops his hands. Ferguson, on the other hand, throws them without a setup and they are easily blocked by Edwards.

8:02- I’m really impressed by the speed and accuracy of Ferguson’s straight right. He’s using it constantly to keep Edwards at bay. The body kicks are nice, too.

8:06- Really close third round and a great fight overall- possibly Fight of the Night material. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone land more head kicks in one fight than Edwards did there. Also, there was an awkward moment with like three seconds left where the referee was already getting between them to prepare to stop the fight at the horn and had to get out of the way of a strike or two. I’ll go 10-9 Ferguson again.

8:07- Funny moment as Ferguson jokes that he’s got one round left in him and Edwards tops it, yelling “I’ve got two left in me!” All three judges score it for Ferguson and it’s a unanimous decision, albeit a close one.

8:21- After what can only be called an “extended” commercial break, we get the hype videos for TJ Dillashaw and John Dodson. We see Master Thong holding the mitts and I almost didn’t recognize him, as he’s not showing off the guns with a ridiculously tight t-shirt.

8:24- Dodson says Dillashaw didn’t want to fight him in the house because he “knew he couldn’t take me down.” Oh, snap! He and Diego Brandao are “like brothers”, which seems strange considering Dodson’s um, over-the-top personality and Brandao’s limited tolerance for hijinx.

8:29- It’s hard to remember a TUF final between two guys from bigger camps than these two: Jackson’s MMA and Team Alpha Male. Is it rare because the bigger camps don’t need to rely on TUF to get their guys into the UFC? I’d guess so.

8:31- Dodson lands a powerful straight left early on that gives Dillashaw pause. Dodson’s got some power! On another note, I’m not getting all the Ferguson-Edwards outrage. Furthermore, if all three rounds could go either way, why is it unfathomable to score it 30-27 for either guy?

8:32- HOLY CRAP JOHN DODSON.

8:34- Replay shows something we’ve been seeing more and more frequently- the shot that hurt Dillashaw actually caught him behind the ear. MMA fighters need to be careful to cover that area even if they’re slipping a punch or weaving underneath. I think Rampage Jackson’s method of keeping his fist behind his ear and elbow pointing toward his opponent is the best way to go.

8:40- Stoppage aside (which I feel was just, if a little early), why boo John Dodson? I get that he’s a little annoying, and I wouldn’t want to go on a road trip with him, but he deserves some credit.

8:45- “I’m gonna go for you, Dennis. You’re not gonna pass, bro,” advises Diego Brandao in his hype video. Dennis Bermudez is our first finalist that doesn’t come from a marquee MMA camp. He says “losing isn’t in my vocabulary” as he says the word four times in one sentence.

8:52- Haha, Brandao is one intense little dude. Let’s see if another guy wilts in the face of his constant pressure.

8:57- Bermudez fought a smart early fight, avoiding the early storm altogether by pressuring Brandao himself. However, both end up seriously rocked before it’s all said and done.

8:59- Ridiculous finish as Brandao goes from barely surviving on the bottom to swinging his right leg over for a quick armbar that ends up apparently breaking Bermudez’s arm. Sick armbar, great finish, excellent fight. Brandao wins it just before the end of the first round.

9:09- I get what the UFC is doing with the “Art Comes Alive” Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida commercial, but it’s still a bit corny. I expected it to say, “Except instead of paintbrushes, they use PAINbrushes!” at the end.

9:15- His nickname is “Prince”. Like “Prince” Albert. Get it? Ha ha…”Prince” Albert! Har har! Mehhhhhhhh.

9:27- Did Bisping just look at Mayhem and tell him, “Two minutes”?!? He’s lost his damn mind.

9:32- So far, Mayhem is keeping his promise to pressure Bisping and not let him “jab and run”, as he put it. Takedown early is big, too.

9:35- Good round for Mayhem, though Bisping closed the gap considerably with a couple of nice power shots late. 10-9 Mayhem but I’m concerned about his ability to last through much more of that kind of standup.

9:38- I’ll bet if Bisping was fighting Floyd Mayweather he wouldn’t just turn and walk away after a headbutt like that without waiting for the ref to momentarily stop the fight. That’s a bad habit that too many MMA fighters have gotten into.

9:40- Bisping whiffs on a head kick while Mayhem’s knee is clearly down. Wow.

9:42- Probable 10-8 round for Bisping. Mayhem looks awful now. Strangely enough, Bisping looks very tired immediately after rounds but no worse for the wear during the rounds themselves.

9:47- You have to wonder what in the world happened in Mayhem’s training camp. He just looked awful tonight.

9:49- Even Michael Bisping double-takes when Joe Rogan says, “you won, you did it in outstanding fashion” in the post-fight interview.

9:52- Bisping is definitely in a different class than Mayhem, talent-wise. Now, we’ll get to see him step up the ladder and face some of the top guys at 185.

9:54- Great night of fights tonight! A fitting end to a fun season of The Ultimate Fighter, and the end of the show’s lengthy run on Spike TV. Thanks for joining me tonight, and check for my Parting Shots in a couple of days.

E-Mail Jon Hartley

Tags: Dennis Bermudez, Diego Brandao, Jason "Mayhem" Miller, John Dodson, Michael Bisping, The Ultimate Fighter, The Ultimate Fighter 14, TJ Dillashaw, TUF 14, UFC, Yves Edwards