The show opens with a look at last week’s fights with Dylan Andrews and Kalvin Gastelum advancing to the semi-finals and setting up tonight’s fights with Bubba McDaniel meeting Urijah Hall and Jimmy Quinlan versus Josh Samman.
We begin with a Jones training session. McDaniel has a fight upcoming but isn’t training, complaining of lingering injuries. Meanwhile, Clint Hester is on the treadmill, being prepared to step up to the plate if his teammate cannot compete against Hall.
Samman feels that he is the top seed in this tournament and his coaching crew seem to agree. However, his leg is still bothering him and is far from 100 percent.
McDaniel complains to Coach Jones, indicating that the only person he didn’t want to fight was Hall and Dana White paired him with the devastating knockout artist and that White wants him out of the field.
McDaniel, the training partner to Jones back in Albuquerque, New Mexico made it clear that he intends on going through with the fight though.
Quinlan makes no bones about his strategy, feeling confident that Samman has no answer for his powerhouse wrestling base.
McDaniel opted to go to see a doctor, suspecting that he may have issues with his kidneys so the door could be open for Hester to bounce in as a replacement.
Jimmy Quinlan (Team Sonnen) vs. Josh Samman (Team Jones)
Quinlan gets tagged with a shot before shooting in for a takedown, picking up Samman and slamming him to the canvas. Samman is active from his back, landing a number of elbows to the side of Quinlan. The Team Sonnen fighter is bleeding, attempting to escape falls into an armbar attempt from Samman but he doesn’t sink it in. Quinlan passes to side control but doesn’t keep it for long, back to full-guard. Samman has great activity from the bottom, landing punches and elbows at will. Quinlan stands and slams the Team Jones fighter and remains in his guard and lands shots but he is being out-struck by Samman despite being in the dominate position. Quinlan takes side control and slams a knee. Samman stands up and breaks free from Quinlan with a knee before pouncing on him with punches, taking his back and looking for a rear-naked-choke. Samman double-fists Quinlan who shows no movement before referee Steve Mazzagatti stopped the action with seconds on the clock.
Josh Samman def. Jimmy Quinlan by first round TKO (strikes)
UFC President Dana White said in his post-fight comments that Samman broke Quinlan and forced him to quit and Quinlan agreed.
McDaniel got his news back from the doctor and was given a green light to compete.
Gilbert Smith told Hall that McDaniel is afraid to fight him and the rest of the team seems to agree and the Team Sonnen fighter sees that as a major edge heading into the fight.
Sonnen continues to be one of the best coaches in TUF history, telling Hall that the opposing team is counting on him to defeat himself and that’s the only was he loses.
Urijah Hall (Team Sonnen) vs. Bubba McDaniel (Team Jones)
Hall hits with a knee, McDaniel shoots for a takedown andeats a punch from the New Yorker who pummels him on the floor with punches before the fight is stopped, McDaniel is bleeding and not moving, scary scene.
Urijah Hall def. Bubba McDaniel by first round TKO (strikes)
Hall apologises to his adversary who laughs it off, saying “I wouldn’t done the same to you man.”
White is joined by the two coaches who are about to set up the semi-final matches for next week.
Both coaches agree with Gastelum fighting Andrews and Hall meeting Samman but White mixes things up – Quinlan vs. Samman and Andrews vs. Hall are the matches next week.
