Brad showed some fast hands and forced Seth to take Brad down again. Remember now, Brad won his previous fight while in submission on his back, so there was no advantage to be gained by going to the ground. The fight was slowly slipping away from Seth who continued to be ineffective in the guard-position. Seth kept diving uselessly into Brad's guard. It was extra difficult for a short Seth to try and climb over Brad's tall frame. Brad was scoring baby shots as he tied up Seth. More importantly, Brad scored where it was important - he scored with the judges.
"Five minutes is forever."
Rich Franklin always motivated his fighters in the last round with that phrase. What does it really mean? How does that motivate the fighters? I was still trying to figure Rich's 'wisdom' when the third round began. Seth was so winded that his cut-kicks no longer had any power behind them. He was not countering Brad anymore, but reeling and backing up quickly. Brad took advantage and took Seth to the ground. There, he performed the ground-and-pound routine better than Seth.
Brad rushed in with purpose, he was not hesitant and was more effective on the ground on top-position and on the bottom. He was also more conditioned than Seth. Dana White did not agree with the judge's split decision, and felt it should have been a unanimous decision for Brad. But winning is what mattered, and we arrived to the final match-ups for The Ultimate Finale this Saturday.
- Rashad Evans vs. Brad Imes
- Luke Cummo vs. Joe Stevenson
Ironically, the heavyweight and welterweight that were picked last have both made it to the finals. A thought about this episode was that it was jam packed with wall-to-wall action; a welcomed change from the normal mundane activity reports and the uninspiring challenges that plagued this season. There should be more fights, more training scenes. Perhaps the UFC should re-visit season three as a bona-fide tournament format that is broadcast over the season? The tournament format was how the UFC was founded in the first place! Just an idea to consider!
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