The show has produced at least one remarkable story and a character fans can get behind though. Luke Cummo. His final fight here with Joe Stevenson could be a cracker. Oh, and the TUF Heavyweight champion will be decided too as Rashad Evans takes on ‘Hillbilly Heart-throb’ Brad Imes but given how abysmal the heavyweight matches have tended to be throughout the show, that’s hardly something to get overexcited about. Still, sometimes the most unappealing fights can turn into memorable battles and both men had entertaining semi-final fights. Like April’s TUF1 Finale, Zuffa have also offered up a high quality main event that could potentially have drawn some pay-per-view buys if it had been held off a little longer. Not as many as Shamrock-Franklin certainly, but the Diaz-Sanchez fight would have been a nice addition to any UFC pay-per-view. But it’s fitting that TUF1 winner Sanchez gets his first major test (and what a test it is) on Spike TV.

Line-up:

Diego Sanchez vs. Nick Diaz
Rashad Evans vs. Brad Imes
Luke Cummo vs. Joe Stevenson
Kenny Florian vs. Kit Cope
Keith Jardine vs. Kerry Schall
Marcus Davis vs. Melvin Guillard
Josh Burkman vs. Sammy Morgan

Due to the short notice announcing this card, the preview will cover only the first four fights. For the same reason, photo's of the TUF 2 fighters in action cannot be used.

Nick Diaz vs. Diego Sanchez

It’s hard to believe it was just 8 months ago the charismatic Diego ‘Nightmare’ Sanchez (13-0) was facing Kenny Florian in the first TUF live finale. Now, he’s back on prime time TV and all the critics who complain the TUF alumni have been protected against weak fighters have been answered here as Sanchez meets a genuine contender in Nick Diaz (11-3). This is an incredibly risky, almost reckless fight for the former reality TV contestant. Yes, Sanchez has some excellent ground skills. He’s also a strong, aggressive fighter, has recovered from the hip injury that was bothering him for so long, is approaching his physical prime and is continually improving his striking. The problem is, Diaz is simply better than him. Realistically, the only advantages Sanchez has are physical. He’s bigger and stronger. Well, actually, he may be even more arrogant than Diaz (which is quite an achievement all by itself) but that won’t help him win this fight. At least we’ll get to see how well Sanchez can back up some of his more ludicrous boasts about being one of the very best 170 pounders around.

Sanchez's entrance at April’s TUF Finale, complete with Mariachi band, seemed to indicate Zuffa were really serious about trying to use the Albuquerque based fighter to pull in the Hispanic audience. His fight at UFC 54 seemed to further that impression as he was matched up with the very experienced but most crucially, weak on the mat, Brian Gassaway. But now Zuffa are taking a serious risk by pitching him in there with one of the division’s best fighters. Ceasar Gracie student Diaz will be making his sixth UFC appearance here and in different ways, he’s looked good in each of his previous fights. He showed off some beautiful BJJ in armbarring old rival Jeremy Jackson at UFC 44, shockingly KO’d Robbie Lawler at UFC 47, took Karo Parisyan to the absolute limit in losing a split decision at UFC 49, hammered Drew Fickett at UFC 51 and destroyed Koji Oishi at UFC 53. True Oishi seemed to have no idea what he was doing in there and Diaz・stamina looked very questionable against ‘The Heat’ but he’s gone 4-1 inside the Octagon against some very good fighters. Throw in pre-UFC wins over Chris Lytle and Joe Hurley and a victory in no-Gi grappling over the hugely experienced, highly respected Jorge ‘Macaco’ Patino and Diaz is easily Sanchez・toughest opponents to date. Diaz also trains with an excellent team that includes David Terrell, Gil Castillo, Gilbert Melendez and Jake Shields. His striking skills in the Lawler fight were a massive surprise but now everyone is aware of what the ever-improving Diaz can do with his fists. The problem is he’s so unorthodox that it’s hard to prepare for his stand-up skills. Diaz also has some very good, technically sound takedowns and a decent (though not great) takedown defense. Of course, he rarely cares whether someone takes him down anyway as he’s so good on the mat. It looks like this could be a real wake-up call for Sanchez.

Undefeated Sanchez simply hasn’t faced anyone of Diaz's level yet. His wins over good fighters like John Cronk, Ray Elbe and Jorge Santiago are pretty impressive stuff and he’s looked phenomenal in his last two fights, crushing the undersized, outclassed Kenny Florian to win his TUF weight class and displaying some real viciousness in his destruction of Gassaway. But his stand-up is still weak and his fight during TUF against Josh Koscheck (he won by decision) may be a cause for concern. At times he really struggled with the still very one-dimensional wrestler and while he was bothered by the hip injury there, that fight is still a cause for concern. Diaz may only have been fighting professionally for a year longer than Sanchez, but he just seems more experienced, more well-rounded and most importantly, has gained that experience against higher quality opposition. Sanchez・best hope is to try and physically bully Diaz. He needs to get in close and outmuscle the leaner, smaller man, stay on him and just keep on punching, kneeing and elbowing. If he gives Diaz any room and time to work, he’ll be in trouble. That was how Parisyan beat Diaz but few would expect Sanchez will be able to do it as well as the Armenian-American Judo stylist. This should be a fascinating fight, particularly on the ground but for me, Diaz is just too skilled for Sanchez right now. I’m expecting this one to go the distance and looking for Diaz to take a fairly comfortable win and, at least temporarily, derail the Sanchez bandwagon.

PREDICTION: Diaz by decision.

TUF2 Welterweight Final: Luke Cummo vs. Joe Stevenson

From being picked last, to being the star of the early episodes, right through to his gripping fight with Sam Morgan, the 25 year-old Cummo (4-1) has consistently been one of the show’s most compelling and interesting characters. Even his interviews, given in his bland, flat voice have a strange anti-charismatic quality to them that makes them far more interesting than they should be. He’s a unique character and best of all, he can back it up during a fight. A product of the New Jersey based Ring of Combat circuit like Josh Koscheck (the only man to ever beat Cummo in a professional fight) and Pete Sell, ‘The Silent Assassin’ is an excellent striker. And as a long time student of Matt Serra, has some very underrated grappling skills too. In his dramatic TUF semi-final with the heavily favored Sam Morgan (owner of wins over Duane Ludwig and Aaron Riley), Cummo showed off a variety of skills and qualities. He scored some good takedowns, had great defense on the ground, threw some beautiful knees to the body from the clinch and somehow survived until the end of the first round when trapped in what looked to be a very painful armbar. Early in the second Morgan hurt him with a right hook but Cummo recovered well and after again displaying some good ground skills, almost floored Morgan with a single punch. Following up intelligently, Cummo scored the best KO of the season with a perfect right knee to the face that switched Morgan’s lights off. Cummo had also looked very good at times in his decision win over Anthony Torres. He just seemed to lack the finishing skills needed. Well, he more than made up for that in his win over Morgan.

Joe Stevenson (23-5) looked unstoppable in his first TUF fight with New England boxer Marcus Davis. Stevenson hammered him into a first round submission with some brutal elbows that cemented his position as one of the favourites to win his weightclass. In his semi-final he seemed happy to stand and trade with awkward Chuck Liddell protégé Jason Von Flue before being tagged a couple of times. That was enough for him to take Von Flue down and lay in some heavy elbows. Stevenson showed excellent balance and technique, as well as the viciousness he displayed against Davis, before finishing the fight late in the first with an opportunistic armbar. It’s unsurprising the highly experienced 23 year old has made it this far. His professional MMA career started back in 1999 and he fought Jens Pulver and Chris Brennan as a teenager, losing to both of them. A KOTC and Gladiator Challenge regular, Stevenson has used his wrestling, quality BJJ, strength and aggression to beat some notable fighters. His record shows victories over Thomas Denny, Jeremy Jackson, Brad Gumm and Edwin Dewees ・all of them decent fighters. Stevenson also hasn’t lost since dropping a decision in October 2002 against Romi Aram. Including his two TUF fights, Stevenson is riding a 10 fight winning streak and may just be too strong, too well-rounded for Cummo. He’ll likely have serious trouble with Cummo’s crisp Muay Thai skills but Stevenson has a real advantage in terms of wrestling and BJJ. Don’t expect Stevenson to stand for long with the taller, longer limbed striker. Look for him to take Cummo down early. From there he should be able to slowly grind out a TKO win, probably with those nasty elbows. Cummo will make it incredibly difficult for him, using all his ground skill, flexibility and toughness but it will probably just mean delaying the inevitable as sooner or later, Stevenson will start landing those elbows and punches and do some serious damage.

PREDICTION: Stevenson by TKO midway through the second.

TUF2 Heavyweight Final: Rashad Evans vs. Brad Imes

Former Michigan State wrestler Rashad Evans (5-0) entered TUF2 with a perfect professional record. He won all five of his fights in less than two months, fighting twice in one night on two separate occasions. He continued his winning ways on TUF with decision victories over Tom Murphy and Mike Whitehead. Those wins put him into the semi-finals against Keith Jardine and again, Evans got the win. This time though, Evans was facing an aggressive opponent, one who actually forced him to fight. And despite some shaky moments, Evans scored a thoroughly deserved decision win, in a fight where both men looked to have real potential. Unfortunately the earlier Murphy and Whitehead wins were both abysmal fights where his opponent did nothing. Evans basically won them just by being there. And at times that was all he did, aside from during the Murphy fight where he danced around like Roy Jones Jr. on some serious prescription medication. Memories of those fiascos were at least partially erased by the Jardine fight and against Imes, Evans will need to use all of his skills ・fast, accurate hands and some very good wrestling, as he faces a much, much bigger man.

Monstrous cowboy hat fetishist Brad Imes (3-0) entered TUF as a three time veteran of WEC shows. The Sacramento man only made his professional debut in late 2004 and quickly reeled off his 3 wins, two of them by submission. True, he wasn’t exactly facing top opposition (one of his opponents has even lost to Sean Gannon) but every fight is a valuable learning experience for the former Arena Football League lineman. In his first fight on TUF he caught the injured Rob MacDonald with a triangle late in the first round and while Imes looked slow, he appeared to have some skills which, along with his physical advantages, could make him something of a force to be reckoned with sometime in the future. At least in UFC’s depleted big man division. Then in his semi-final with Seth Petruzelli he looked on his way to a painful loss. Petruzelli was dominating the exchanges early on, picking the much slower Imes apart with leg kicks before inexplicably forgetting how to fight. Ignoring Rich Franklin’s pleas, Petruzelli, seemingly tired and in real pain from a recently cauliflowered ear took the fight to the ground early in the second. And did nothing. Imes though was surprisingly active from the bottom and evened up the fight. In the third, Imes charged forwards and almost immediately took Petruzelli down. He then spent over four minutes whaling away at poor Seth’s head, repeatedly crashing his oversized fists and elbows into his face and ears. Clearly Imes, having physically dominated the last round and fought a very intelligent fight, thoroughly deserved the decision (whatever the ridiculous Marcos Rosales says). Things could be different against Evans though. Yes, Imes has a massive size advantage but Evans is a slicker puncher than Petruzelli. He’s also much, much faster than Imes and if he can avoid the giant’s bullrushing charges to the fence, he should be able to pick him apart for yet another long distance win.

PREDICTION: Rashad Evans by decision.

Kenny Florian vs. Kit Cope

Likeable, respectful TUF veteran Florian (2-2) meets Vegas based egomaniac Cope (1-2) in a major clash of styles and personalities. Cope’s been dabbling in MMA since the late 1990s but has managed just three fights and one win over an 0-3 fighter. Perhaps a little too much time spent mouthing off on MTV? The only recognizable name on his short record is Tiki Ghosn and in their 2002 fight Cope failed to come out for the last round. Cope lost his MMA debut to William Syrapai with a rear naked choke in a fight where he looked pretty hopeless on the mat. However, Cope does have an excellent Muay Thai pedigree, claiming a 22-1 record and 4 World Championships. Given Cope’s limited MMA experience and unstoppable mouth he’d actually have made an excellent candidate for this year’s TUF at welterweight. But instead he’s been gifted a ‘proper’ UFC debut against the gifted BJJ stylist. Perhaps that has more to do with his ability to sell tickets in Las Vegas (the first TUF Finale drew a pitiful paying crowd of just 778) than his ability but this could be an interesting fight, if quick fight.

According to recent interviews, Florian has been working on his Muay Thai, as well as enlisting the help of Frank Trigg, in preparation for this fight. While he’d be foolish to stand for any length of time with Cope, Florian did eliminate Chris Leben from the original TUF competition with a perfect short elbow that cut the Team Quest fighter badly enough to end the fight. Although Leben looked on his way to a win in that one, the much smaller Florian kept his composure, weathered the storm and found a way to win. At April’s live finale though, he took a real pasting from Diego Sanchez in his only loss inside the distance. Florian’s only other defeat came by decision against Drew Fickett. Florian rebounded from the Sanchez mauling and in August battered fellow TUF contestant Alex Karalexis in less than 3 minutes. This looks to be a very difficult fight for Cope though he has done plenty of training at Team Punishment in the past so should be more well rounded than many might expect. Florian though, has the edge in UFC experience, he clearly has vastly superior grappling skills and has been much more active than Cope under MMA rules. Look for Florian to bring the fight to the ground early and tap Cope out.

PREDICTION: Florian by submission midway through the first round.

Predictions Re-cap:

Nick Diaz DEC3 Diego Sanchez

Joes Stevenson TKO2 Luke Cummo

Rashad Evans DEC3 Brad Imes

Kenny Florian SUB1 Kit Cope