The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale Preview

After 11 years and 23 seasons now of the Ultimate Fighter, we’ve seen many rivalries steam from not only fighters on the show but also ones involving the coaches. I think it’s safe to say that this season of the Ultimate Fighter had one of the most heated coach rivalries we’ve ever seen on the show. The rivalry between UFC Woman’s Strawweight champion Joanna Jerdzejcyzk and her challenger Claudia Gadelha this season has had the same level of intensity of the past seasons’ rivalries like Ken Shamrock/Tito Ortiz, Jens Pulver/BJ Penn, Rampage Jackson/Rashad Evans, Mayhem Miller/Michael Bisping etc. The rivalry started back in December 2014 when the two first squared off to decide who was going to be the #1 contender for the then Strawweight champion, Carla Esparza. I re-watched the fight just today and although it was a close fight, I had Gadelha winning. She rallied back after Joanna knocked her down with an uppercut in the first round and took Joanna down in rounds 2&3 and controlled her for the majority of the rounds. Most major MMA media outlets agreed with me, as MMAJunkie, Sheepdog, MMAMania, MMAFighting, all had the same 29-28 scorecard for Claudia Gadelha as I had. But what sparked the rivalry was what took place after the closing bell of the 3rd round, when Claudia punched Joanna right after the bell. Almost giving me flashbacks of Paul Daley & Josh Koscheck, Claudia immediately tried to apologize to Joanna, but she wasn’t having it and since then Joanna has held a grudge with Claudia that carries on today.

Joanna Jedzrejcyzk ended up winning the controversial decision over Claudia Gadelha and then would go on to dominate the first ever UFC Strawweight Champion Carla Esparza en route to becoming the first Polish UFC champion ever. Joanna hasn’t looked back since and has twice defended her title against game fighters Jessica Penne and Valerie Letourneau. On the other end, Claudia Gadelha has earned her way to the #1 contender spot, defeating one of the best woman’s Strawweight fighters in the world and someone who had a ton of hype coming into the UFC, Jessica Aguilar. The UFC decided to pit Joanna and Claudia against each other as coaches on the 23rd season of the Ultimate Fighter to build up their eventual title fight, and it was been a very eventful season where their rivalry has been the main focus of this season. Often sending jabs back and forth at each other, it apparently got physical and turned into a brawl although it wasn’t aired. Regardless, the animosity they have for each other is not fabricated and I don’t believe I’ve seen a women’s rivalry this heated since the UFC introduced the Women’s division. Ronda Rousey & Meisha Tate was heated but it was only that way because of Ronda, whereas Meisha would often hold back. In this case, Claudia and Joanna have both refused to hold back their feelings towards each other and it has provided us with an entertaining rivalry and has given the casual fan many reasons to anticipate this fight.

As far as how I see this fight playing out, Claudia needs to go back to how she fought in rounds 2&3. Press Joanna up against the cage and try to secure the takedown. Claudia is easily the biggest fighter in the division, so it is nearly impossible to stop her takedowns. Joanna actually displayed pretty good takedown defense in their first fight, stuffing a few of Claudia’s takedowns, but eventually Claudia’s size overwhelmed her and she was able to take her down. Joanna really needs to keep her distance and time her strikes at the right moment. When Joanna almost knocked out Claudia in the first round, it looked as if she was holding back on trying to finish her and let time run out instead of pushing for the finish. If Joanna gets another opportunity like this she can’t pass it up. She can’t let Claudia recover because Claudia will be on her like a pitbull. I see Claudia upsetting Joanna for the title in a 5 round fight. I believe she will be able to impose her will and control the fight more as Joanna will try to look for the one shot KO. I expect Claudia to grind out Joanna en route to a decision win.

Also on the card is former Bellator Lightweight champion Will Brooks, making his UFC debut against former Ultimate Fighter winner and long time UFC veteran, Ross Pearson. Will Brooks, after being shafted by Bellator and after they failed to promote him properly, will look to put that chapter in his career past him and prove himself against the top competition in the world. For me personally, this is one of my most anticipated fights of the weekend, because I’ve been a long time advocate of Will Brooks being one of the best Lightweights in the world. Now he will get a chance to prove me right, but he can’t look past Ross Pearson who is always game and could be spoiler to Will Brooks’ debut. Ross Pearson has been in the UFC for 7 years now and has beaten some of the top Lightweights out there but has never been considered a serious contender. Will Brooks has UFC Championship potential and is one of the more well rounded fighters in the division and possesses a high level fight IQ. I feel Will Brooks’ talent level is far beyond Pearson’s and he will dominate in a one sided decision.

On top of that, we find out who will be the next Ultimate Fighter winners. History has shown that TUF winners could either become potential champions or long time contenders. Over the years we’ve seen fighters from TUF house become some of the biggest names in the promotion, such as Rashad Evans, Michael Bisping, Forrest Griffin, Diego Sanchez among many others. So keep your eye on on these fighters in the future.