The TUF 27 TUFtermath
We’ve now arrived at episode nine of TUF 27! This week, Daniel Cormier and his squad will be off to the side as Stipe Miocic charges John Gunther and Mike Trizano do battle in the first lightweight semi-final match. Cormier and Miocic also square off in the Coaches’ Challenge.
The Big Three
#1) Track Time – Team Cormier and Team Miocic were given a chance to blow off some steam racing exotic cars on a private track. This is notable because nobody got hurt, which is a shocking turn of events this season!
#2) Talent Show – The fighters decided to tempt fate twice in this episode. They staged a talent competition, which of course featured a plethora of different acts. Kyler Phillips did a breakdancing routine, Bryce Mitchell attempted to shoot an apple off of Luis Pena’s head with his homemade bow and arrows, and John Gunther teamed up with Mike Trizano for a psuedo-little person act. Once again, by some miracle, nobody was injured..
#3) Not All Records Are Equal – John Gunther and Mike Trizano went into this show with undefeated records, it’s quite clear that the quality of competition they faced was different. This should be a lesson to all prospect-watchers.
The Stock Report
Stock Up – John Gunther. While he lost the fight, and was shown to be outclassed as the bout wore on, Gunther went the distance this week. That’s a lot better than his first fight on the show.
Stock Up – Mike Trizano. Trizano listened well to his coaches, and made good use of uppercuts and intercepting knees as he battered John Gunther. This bodes well for him in the finals.
The Fight
Round One was definitely a round of contrasts. In the first 55%-60% of the round, John Gunther looked to be winning the fight. He was able to pressure Mike Trizano, land strikes, and even scored a takedown against the fence. The TD, however, led to little more than significant time in top position. After the fight returned to the feet, however, it went downhill. Trizano started to land strikes almost at will as Gunther’s defense dropped to Homer Simpson-esque levels. It was a close round, all told, that ended with Trizano in control and Gunther bleeding.
The second round started with John Gunther moving forward and throwing bungalos in an effort to set-up a takedown on Mike Trizano. It took a couple of minutes of eating counter shots for this strategy to work, and Gunther ate a solid knee before getting the first takedown of the round. Much like the first round, he couldn’t really do much with it. A second takedown saw Gunther end up in Trizano’s guard, where he was slightly more successful in landing strikes. Again though, Trizano took over in the latter portion of the round, landing counter strikes and even securing a takedown of his own. A tactical error, though, led to Trizano ending the stanza in a reverse triangle choke from Gunther.
Going into a third round, John Gunther began swinging more for the fences. This includes some ill-advised spinning kicks. Mike Trizano, though, kept his calm, and landed a high volume of jabs and uppercuts. One of those suppercuts even knocked Gunther’s mouthpiece out, prompt the referee to pause the match-up to allow John to put it back in. Near the end of the round, Trizano landed a pair of takedowns and was able to land more strikes on the ground in the last minute of the fight than Gunther did in the two previous rounds. Once the third round ended, though, the judges awarded the fight to Mike Trizano.
The semi-finals roll on next week as Brad Katona and Bryce Mitchell of Team Cormier square off in the first featherweight semi-final. Keep it locked to MMASucka.com for the next TUF 27 TUFtermath!
