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mercoledì 6 febbraio 2013

UFC Ultimate Fighter TV report week three


LAST WEEK: Jon Jones tactic of calling out Team Sonnen's top pick backfired when Luke Barnatt knocked out Gilbert Smith with a flying knee.

THIS WEEK: With the victory Chael matched up flashy kickboxer Uriah Hall to take on Team Jones' Adam Cella, and apparently someone is getting an ambulance ride....probably Cella.

Cella recognizes that the fight will probably take place on the feet, in the locker room Team Jones is confident in Cella's skills and are surprised they didn't challenge Cella with a wrestler.

Last week Team Jones' Bubba McDaniel called out Kevin Casey in an attempt to retain control for Team Jones. Casey took affront at this and the feud between the two continued to be built this week with the two trash talking each other in the house. Casey says the two will definitely get down at some point but is reticent to challenge McDaniel in the opening round, putting it down to the cut over his eye and just wanting to advance. Chael later announces that after Hall wins that they're looking to use Casey in their next match-up.

Uriah Hall discusses being bullied growing up, and how that led him to martial arts. He says even now whenever someone confronts him even benignly that it sets off something inside him and he wants to react fiercely. Chael is really high on Hall. "For Uriah it's no secret, Uriah's the best athlete here, he outworks everyone, and he has more talent than anyone here."
We also see Hall's competitive side, after getting caught by a Casey armbar he's upset and wants to get his shine back immediately. Chael calls Hall his own worst enemy, which is the theme for how his opponents could have a chance to defeat him.

Jon Jones works with Cella on taking Hall down off his kick attempts, they don't want Cella blocking too many kicks with his arms as apparently Hall broke Andy Enz' arm with a kick in the preliminary round. Jones also feels that Cella's ground game needs work and drills his team on throwing short elbows from on top in guard.

Hall also talks with Sonnen about his confidence, how even with other people talking him up he still faces self-doubt. Sonnen says he knows exactly where Hall is coming from and talks about his string of second round submission defeats, and how he knew there must be a mental component to these failures.

"I treated it like an alcoholic. The first step was admitting I needed help. I went in to see a guy, a sports psychologist. He made me realize that everybody's going through it. I used to think there was something wrong with me, I was embarrassed about it. I talked to Randy Couture about it and he said the thing is that you can never defeat it, the second guessing, or the negative voices. I just have to learn to compete with it." Chael Sonnen is great on this show. "Failure is always an option, but it's a choice."

OPENING ROUND #2 URIAH HALL vs. ADAM CELLA
Uriah Hall (7-2), Notable Wins: A whole bunch of journeymen...which isn't an insult, there's value in handling Mitch Whitesel, Aung La Nsang and co.
Notable Losses: Chris Weidman, Costas Phillipou.

Strengths: The Team Tiger Schulmann property can do really do it all on the feet, he's crazy athletic with power and accuracy, firing superman punches, counter shots, switch kicks, head kicks, wheel kicks, and hard knees. He has also fought smart tactically tripping opponents down and riding out rounds on top to ensure he's winning, but it's his kickboxing that can be absolutely frightening.

Weaknesses: Hall is guilty of sometimes starting slow, or fighting passively or in bursts which allows a lot of lesser opponents to hang around. This could be due to him conserving energy or potentially having cardio concerns. Hall's defensive wrestling has always been a question and Weidman absolutely mauled him on the ground.....although that's no great sin. Hall has given up position in scrambles and doesn't have the tightest or most active top game.

Adam Cella (4-0) Notable Wins: None really. Notable Losses: None.

Strengths: Cella is an exciting but largely untested prospect that could use some polishing. Cella has a really high workrate and throws straight and hard. He's constantly firing punches and kicks, knees and counterpunches. Cella is very aggressive on the mat as well and has shown some submission ability.

Weaknesses: Cella's entertaining but that high workrate leaves his defense lacking with him being open to return shots and getting reversed when he's on top. He's also largely untested although his exciting style has led to some back and forth affairs against lesser opposition.

ROUND ONE
It's Cella who comes out aggressive and takes the centre of the cage. Hall outlands Cella from the backfoot pushing Cella back with jabs, hard leg kicks and a push kick. Cella looks for a leg but eats several hard knees to the body from the clinch for his troubles. Hall catches a Cella leg and takes him down, Hall buries his head into Cella's chest and is largely inactive until Cella threatens with his legs and forces Hall to back out to his feet.

Hall continues to circle and keep his distance. He isn't throwing a lot, but when he does it's HARD. A crackling leg kick, a nice jab, and a head kick that glances home. Cella is struggling to close the distance and land effectively. Hall knocks Cella off-balance with thrust kicks to the body a few times and is also showing really nice head movement to avoid Cella's flurries.

Hall looks to close out the round completely controlling the stand-up with his jab, leg kicks and push kicks. UNTIL: GOOD GOD! WITH SEVEN SECONDS LEFT HALL THROWS A SPINNING HOOK KICK TO THE CHIN! CELLA TOPPLES OVER LIKE A REDWOOD!

Winner: Uriah Hall by KO (Head Kick) at 4:52 of Round One.

Maybe the best knockout in TUF history, watch it!

Hall showed his strengths and some weaknesses here. Crazy, crazy powerful, hard, effective kickboxing. But he does fight in spurts, looking good but relatively passive until the killer KO with an inert ground game that lacks the crackle of his stand-up. Still, Uriah Hall rules.

Cella is eventually roused and manages to get to his feet and asks Hall, "What happened bro?" Everyone concedes the KO of the season to Hall. Steve Mazzagatti alerts the Jones locker room that Cella appears to be fine but that he's going to the hospital to get a CAT scan.

For third fight pick Sonnen retains control and selects Kevin Casey to take on Collin Hart. Hart is a relatively untested prospect who has easily handled lesser competition while Casey is a BJJ black belt who has been closely associated with both Rickson Gracie and Spencer Pratt....but he's also looked like a corpse at times in fights, so we'll see, I'm not too jazzed for it.

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