Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick Highlight Knockout-Filled Week of UFC Action

Two December events down, one to go.

The UFC completed a busy week Saturday, putting on their second event in four days with the finale of The Ultimate Fighter coming on the heels of a huge fundraiser event on Wednesday. As the organization prepares for the year-ending The Ultimate pay-per-view, this month has truly highlighted what has been another big year for the UFC as they prepare for an even bigger 2009.

It all started on Wednesday as UFC put on Fight For The Troops, a night of bouts centered around raising money for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. Coming from Fayetteville, NC, the Fight Night card was full of highlight-reel knockouts and several fighters improving their standing in their respective divisions.

• Jim Miller's unanimous decision victory over Matt Wiman started the show in impressive fashion as Miller put on a near-dominant performance. Taking the fight on eight days notice, Miller (13-1) pushed the pace and did everything he needed to do in defeating a game Wiman (10-4) who was preparing for an injured Frankie Edgar. Both fighters took home $30k bonuses for Fight of the Night.
• Former TUF competitor Tim Credeur (12-4) was up next, battering previously undefeated Nate Loughran for two rounds and winning via TKO when Loughran (9-1) didn't come out for the third round.
• Sickening submission of the night came when Steve Cantwell (7-1) pulled off an impressive first-round armbar submission of Razak Al-Hassan (7-1) in the light heavyweight division. The replay showed Hassan's arm breaking as Cantwell reared back. Ugh. Cantwell won a $30k bonus for Submission of the Night.
• Mike Swick hasn't looked great in winning his past several fights at a new fighting weight, but he finally came through and delivered a beatdown of Jonathan Goulet in just 33 seconds. Looking more comfortable and not emaciated, Swick improved to 13-2 by aggressively punching Goulet (22-10-1) who had nothing in response.
• The best description of Ben Saunders (7-0-2) and his 1:49 decimation of Brandon Wolff? A Muay Thay clinic. The lanky TUF alum connected with knee after knee after knee in making a bloody mess of Wolff's face. All in all, a impressive win for Saunders.
• Completing the night of notable finishes was Josh Koscheck - just 46 days removed from a loss to Thiago Alves - and his brutal knockout win over Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Koscheck (14-3) connected with a straight right to Yoshida that had him knocked out on his feet, then unleashed a roundhouse right that ended the fight at 2:15 of the first round. Not surprisingly, Koscheck (seen above) won a $30k bonus for Knockout of the Night.
• Steve Bruno defeated Johnny Rees via second-round rear naked choke submission. Most notable in the fight was was commentator Joe Rogan admonishing the referee several times for his handling of the fighters.

From there, it was onto Las Vegas on Saturday night for The Ultimate Fighter season 8 finale, which featured an upset win, some redemption and a nice bookend to a week of free events on Spike TV.

• The controversial Junie Browning opened up the show, defeating fellow Team Mir member Dave Kaplan 92 seconds into the 2nd round via armbar. Browning looked great and wasn't really booed despite the character he played on the show.
  
  Post-fight, he apologized to Frank Mir for his antics during the show and looks to now be a mainstay in the UFC. He earned $41k total for the win, which includes a Fight of The Night $25k bonus. Kaplan took him $33k, including the bonus.

• Eliot Marshall downed Jules Bruchez with a rear naked choke at 1:27 of the first round and looked great in doing so. I barely remember Bruchez from the series. Marshall took home $16k while Bruchez earned $8k.
• Wilson Gouveia was awesome in defeating Jason Macdonald via ref stoppage in the 1st round, opening up a nasty cut and relentlessly finishing him off with punches and elbows. Gouveia took home $36,800 despite losing 20% of his purse for not making weight. Macdonald earned $35,200.
• The rematch between Kevin Burns and Anthony Johnson was fairly non-descript until Johnson's head kick knocked Burns out cold in the early part of the 3rd round. That kick earned Johnson Knockout of the Night honors, helping him take home $43k total. Burns earned just $7k for his effort.
• Ryan Bader (right) welcomed himself into the light heavyweight division by knocking out Vinny Magalhaes at 2:18 of the first round and winning the TUF light heavy title. I thought it was interesting that Bader is the second-straight Arizona State University wrestler to make it to the finals as his roommate CB Dollaway preceded him.
  
  The finishing shot from Bader looked like it barely connected behind Magalhaes' ear. Bader won $16k and the contract, while Magalhaes earned $8k.
• In another battle of TUF competitors, Krzysztof Soszynski finished Shane Primm at 3:26 of the second round with an armbar finish, good for Submission of the Night honors.
  
  Long-term, Soszynski seems like another Keith Jardine to me, while I'm not that excited to see Primm fight again anytime soon. Krzysztof earned $41k for this night, while Primm earned $8k.
• Then, it was time for the finals of the 155-pound TUF competition with Efrain Escudero taking on favorite Phillipe Nover. So much for being the next GSP as Escudero took Nover down at will and surprised a lot of people with a unanimous decision victory.
  
  Nover attempted to lock in an armbar late in the 3rd to pull out the win, but Escudero held on and earned a huge win. No doubt that Nover will get another shot, but this certainly wasn't the launching point he was hoping for given all the hype. Escudero earned $16k for the night while Nover took home $8.

In Other News

• The winner of the January 17th Dan Henderson/Rich Franklin will be the U.S. coach for season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter opposite UK coach Michael Bisping.
• Diego Sanchez will be dropping down in weight again to fight at an increasingly improving 155-pound division. He had been fighting in the welterweight division at 170 pounds.
• Corey Hill will be out 12-18 months after undergoing surgery to repair his shin which was busted up in the second round of his Wednesday fight with Dale Hartt. Hill hit a kick on Hartt's leg and his own leg immediately snapped, dangling as he fell backward. It's a bit disturbing to watch, but you can catch it here.
• Lightweight prospect Ronys Torres and welterweight prospect John Howard are reportedly heading to the UFC, while Johnny Rees is rumored to be heading out.
• Roger Huerta has signed a new five-fight deal.

Josh Nason—josh [at] ropesringandcage [dot com]—has published MMA, wrestling, and boxing blog Ropes, Ring and Cage.com since 2007. If you are using any content or recapping from this site, please include a link to www.ropesringandcage.com. Thank you for your support!