TUF 17 Ep. 12: Expect the Unexpected, and Expected, to Make the Finale

We quickly started the episode with a giant plug for Harley-Davidson as the coaches and fighters visited a local dealership to customize motorcycles that the winning coach and fighter will receive.

With two fights on the docket, the action quickly transitioned to the first bout between Josh Samman (9-2) and Kelvin Gastellum (5-0).

Josh appeared confident, but the younger fighter opened the fight by controlling the ring on his feet -- and then taking the Team Jones fighter to the ground.  Kelvin continued to ride Josh on the mat and control the top position, but was struggling to land significant strikes.

As the round advanced, Josh attempted to move to his feet, which allowed the wrestler to take his back.  After a few moments of positioning, Kelvin was able to sink in a surprisingly easy rear naked choke for the victory.

After a brief session of tomfoolery -- including a cursing Dana White impression by Dylan Andrews -- the episode maneuvered to the second fight between Coach Jones’ Dylan (16-4-1) against the TUF 17 favorite Uriah Hall (7-2) from Chael Sonnen’s team.

The first round began with both fighters dancing to feel each other out, but Uriah began peppering Dylan with hard jabs.  Dylan attempted to stalk Uriah from the center of the ring, but appeared slow and intimidated and threw a minimal amount of strikes.  While it didn’t appear Uriah landed any outrageously strong punches, the Kiwi left the first round with a swollen face from repeated jabs.

The second round started by mirroring the first as Dylan controlled the center of the ring, yet appeared hesitant to strike -- and gave Uriah continued opportunities to attack.  However, Dylan managed a takedown and secured top position, but the Team Sonnen fighter immediately fought for a kimura and neutralized Dylan’s attack.  With less than a minute to go, Uriah released Dylan’s right arm and began striking from his back before reversing position and securing a ground-and-pound victory.

The results set up a finale between the heavily favored Uriah against the upstart Kelvin in a battle or brawlers on Saturday, April 13.

While the penultimate episode lacked spectacular fights and ancillary action, the TUF 17 season was of the most interesting in recent memory and featured an impressive array of fighters -- and many will be featured on the TUF finale card.