(L-R) Urijah Faber punches Scott Jorgensen in their bantamweight fight at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on April 13, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

When the UFC announced the end of “TUF 17” would occur in an event named “Finale,” and not with the usual numbering of the organization, many people balked. But after the fights, this card has no way to deny that it was one of the best of 2013.

Filled with submissions, the TUF 17 Finale was marked not only by the finale of an American reality show, but the second duel of women in the UFC, in which there was a controversial knockout, Travis Browne over Gabriel Gonzaga, and the fight between bantamweight friends Urijah Faber and Scott Jorgensen.

The end featured fighters from Team Sonnen, but in the preliminary fights, the athletes from Team Jones carried the day, and dug three wins against only one of the rival group. Dylan Andrews, semifinalist on the program, beat Jimmy Quinlan by TKO. Josh Samman got the same result over Kevin Casey after having survived countless near finishes in the first round. Luke Barnnat had the presence of Chael Sonnen in his corner, and defeated Collin Hart with a unanimous decision. Clint Hester also knocked out Bristol Marunde.

The five main card fights were devastating. Opening the card, pupil of Jon Jones, Bubba McDaniel showed superiority on the ground, and finished more experienced teammate Gilbert Smith in a triangle very well fitted. Despite having snatched the three pats on the opponent, Bubba was already winning the first two rounds on points.

Photo via Getty Images/Josh Hedges/Zuffa

The only Brazilian in the TUF 17 Finale, Gabriel Gonzaga started very well in combat, pressing Travis Browne and clinching him against the cage. However, the American delivered several elbows in his opponent’s clinch, eventually knocking out the Jiu-Jitsu black belt. Replays showed that some shots may have hit the back of Gonzaga’s head, but the referee saw no irregularity. Browne still got the knockout of the night bonus, and pocketed $50,000.

Gabriel had two straight wins since returning to the UFC, both by submission.Travis, in his previous challenge in the UFC, in October 2012, suffered the first loss of his career against Antonio Silva. On that occasion the Brazilian heavyweight knocked out the American.

Through Facebook, Gabriel Gonzaga’s coach, Marco Alvan, revealed that they will appeal the outcome of Saturday’s fight because they believe that the Brazilian took illegal elbows. At the press conference after the event, Browne defended the suspicions and said, “I remember having hit an elbow, but the referee was right there and found no irregularities. I hit two more, but he was already knocked out.”

(R-L) Cat Zingano kicks Miesha Tate in their bantamweight fight at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on April 13, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Continuing the show’s second UFC fight of women was one of the most active of the night, and even won the best fight of the event. Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano were not out to play and showed good game standing and on the ground. Miesha, who was the Strikeforce champion used her experience, seeking submissions of all kinds: guillotine, armbar, heel hook, but the undefeated Cat Zingano defended from all positions, and fought back with hurtful blows to the face of opposition.

In the third round and needing a knockout or submission to win, Zingano did not listen to her corner, who spoke to her to take the fight down, and a sequence of devastating knees made the referee stop the duel, declaring victory by TKO.

Ronda Rousey was Octagon-side, watching everything close. She and Zingano secured the right to be the next coaches on The Ultimate Fighter, which will have two mixed teams, composed of men and women. At the end of the season, the two will face each other for the women’s UFC title.

Miesha left the fight with her face quite bruised, but mostly without the revenge she so dreamed and envisioned against Ronda Rousey. Zingano has already written her name in the history of women’s MMA and conquered everyone with his determination and willpower.

Photo via Getty Images/Josh Hedges/Zuffa

In the co-main event, Uriah Hall and Kelvin Gastelum fought in the finals of TUF 17. Both Team Sonnen, the Jamaican was seen as overwhelming favorite after his knockouts inside the house. He became known for his vicious knockouts, sending his opponents straight to the hospital after the first or second round. Gastelum, the youngest participant in the history of the program, “The Ultimate Fighter” also had good wins on the show, leaving no decision in the hands of the judges. Nevertheless, the 21-year-old athlete was the big underdog in this fight.

Uriah Hall assumed a pretentious attitude at the beginning, lowering his guard and dodging punches, imitating Anderson Silva. Gastelum did not bother, and focused, used his strong wrestling to take the fight to the floor and worked the ground-and-pound in the first and third round. Gastelum managed to not only control his opponent’s game, but also he was aggressive and it earned him a points victory in a split decision.

With this result, Gastelum earned a six-figure contract with the UFC, and even won a Harley Davidson motorcycle. For the best submission in the program, a rear-naked choke against Josh Samman in the semifinals, the U.S. still led the jackpot of $ 25,000.

Uriah Hall will probably also get the chance to continue in the UFC. The middleweight won the award for best knockout of TUF 17, for the amazing spinning kick applied to Adam Cella during the show.

Dylan Andrews and Luke Barnatt received the best fight bonus program, which fought the battle in the quarterfinals. Recalling, in a very busy fighting and portable, Andrews landed a knockout in the third round on Barnatt. The fighters received a hefty $ 25 thousand each.

In the most anticipated duel TUF 17 Finale, bantamweight Urijah Faber and Scott Jorgensen faced off. Friends and former training partners, the athletes were seeking a victory that would draw them closer to a title fight or making their names stand out more in the rankings. As might be expected, the “California Kid” put the fight down to the ground as many times as he wanted, working the ground-and-pound against his opponent.

Listening to his corner, Jorgensen, who seemed to find space to beat Faber, improved in the second and third round. Nevertheless, his effort was not enough to beat Urijah, who in the fourth round fit a rear-naked choke and finished his friend. The two embraced at the end of the fight, showing affection to each other.

Check out the full results of the TUF 17: 

Main Card

• Josh Samman def. Kevin Casey by TKO at 2:17, R2
• Luke Barnatt def. Collin Hart by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Dylan Andrews def. Jimmy Quinlan by TKO at 3:22, R1
• Clint Hester def. Bristol Marunde by TKO at 3:53, R3

Preliminary Card

• Josh Samman def. Kevin Casey by TKO at 2:17, R2
• Luke Barnatt def. Collin Hart by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Dylan Andrews def. Jimmy Quinlan by TKO at 3:22, R1
• Clint Hester def. Bristol Marunde by TKO at 3:53, R3
• Cole Miller def. Bart Palaszewski by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:23, R1
• Maximo Blanco def. Sam Sicilia by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Daniel Pineda def. Justin Lawrence by submission (kimura) at 1:35, R1

LAS VEGAS, NV – JUNE 01: (L-R) Sam Sicilia punches Cristiano Marcello in a Lightweight bout during The Ultimate Fighter Live Finale at the Pearl Theater at the Palms Casino Resort on June 1, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

With The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale just around the corner, featherweight fighter Sam Sicilia wanted to make sure he was thoroughly prepared for his fight with Maximo Blanco. In an effort to do this, he headed to Arizona’s MMA Lab and worked with UFC lightweight champ Benson Henderson, his coach John Crouch and a group of other skilled fighters.

“I’ve had no easy rounds down here,” Sicilia told GracieMag.com. “It’s a good, positive vibe.”

But before heading to the Lab, Sicilia came from a raw MMA background that led into being a cast member of 15th season of The Ultimate Fighter. He and his teammates practiced what they called “sik-jitsu,” and the fighter explained the roots of that along with a number of other things in the following Q&A with us.

GracieMag: Where did “sik-jitsu” come from?

Sam Sicilia: Actually, it was actually when I first started out of wrestling … I didn’t have anywhere to go with it. A guy that owns a (local) gym, his name’s Rick Little, started it in his basement, pretty much. It was just a bunch of hooligans who wanted to know how to fight. Just a group of guys kind of learning together. Then it got bigger and bigger, and then (Rick) put up fights in the Northwest. He got more money and got a gym. Then came guys like Mike Chiesa, Lyle Beerbohm’s up there, Cody McKenzie. Everybody just trains all around up there. But it was more of a good, tough group of guys … The passion was always there.

Is “sik-jitsu” more of a just a clever name or does it have more to do with your styles?

At first, that’s all everybody wanted to do was grapple. It just what really intrigued us all. So when we got to the gym that’s all everybody wanted to do. That’s what it was based on, but after you train so much you want to see what you can do. Then we started fighting from there, but I think the passion to grapple and watching it is what started that name.

How did your passion help you when you were a cast member of the The Ultimate Fighter Live?

That was my first taste of structured training. We never really had Jiu-Jitsu coaches (before) … so it just really put structure to it. We went in there very raw and soaked up a lot. Our passion was there, we just needed cleaning up in a lot of areas.  They didn’t try to change our style at all, which I liked, but they just added to it — more stuff in our arsenal, really.

So being on TUF helped you grow, correct?

For sure, it was huge. I felt like I plateaued for a while, being really raw and just beating guys I was supposed to. And then once I got there it really shaped me as a fighter.

Being a former cast member, do you think the criticism of TUF’s talent level not being the same as the earlier seasons is fair?

I don’t think so. There are some off seasons, for sure, but I think there’s been some very talented seasons since then. The UFC is always growing, too, so we’re coming out with some pretty tough weight classes. 155 — coming off of that season, I went down after that because I realized these guys have huge frames. They’re not necessarily stronger than me, but they have huge body frames and know how to use their leverage. I think it was Season (14), the year Diego Brandao won, those guys are still all in the UFC … There’s still a lot of guys in the UFC off that show, a lot of talent … I’d say it’s pretty hit or miss, but I wouldn’t say the show as a whole went down.

How has the drop from 155 pounds to 145 pounds helped you?

Like I said, 155 is a pretty congested weight class. There’s a lot of studs there … I was fighting at 155 because I fought so often. When I turned pro, I fought 11 times in a year, and then I got on the show. Now that I fight more elite guys and I have time to lose the weight, it’s just a better move for me … It just made sense.

Do you feel better at this weight class?

Yeah. And I diet down and cut weight right. I do feel better, I’m in shape and feel healthy. So it was a pretty easy move for me. A lot of the 155ers get up to 185 (pounds) and I’ve never weighed that much in my life.

Your next fight is against Maximo Blanco at the TUF 17 Finale. Tell me how you break down that fight.

Well, his last fight with Marcus Brimage wasn’t how he usually fights. He didn’t move around a lot and didn’t really attack like he usually did. If I have to fight him like that, I’ll have to chase him down. I’m just going to keep a tighter defense, which is something we’ve been working a lot on. In his other fights he goes in there and strikes wildly and throws from weird angles. So if he does that, I’m ready for that, too. The key is just staying tight. I’m not going to gas or anything; I’m in shape.

Fighting on Facebook, do you feel like this is a make-or-break fight. Is there more pressure in that?

I definitely feel that pressure. I don’t want to be handed the pink slip. And I don’t want to take any steps backwards in this sport. I’ve been growing and I want to keep competing in it. On the main card, you gotta perform. Win or lose, you gotta go out there and put on a fight. Everybody sees it and that’s how you get fans. But if you go out and lose and don’t perform on the Facebook card, you’re on your way out. It’s been a good kind of pressure, though. It’s a motivating pressure. I think about it when I train. I think (Maximo) does, too. He’ll come out and get after it as well. That’s just something that stays on my mind. I want to stay in the UFC and I’m not done competing here. I got here by being very raw, and I want to continue to grow as a fighter and keep competing.

What would be the most outstanding thing that fans can expect from you in this upcoming fight?

I’m willing to beat him up for 15 minutes, but I’m going to catch him eventually. I see that happening. I’m not going out there looking for the one big shot, but eventually it’s going to happen. I used to be like ‘oh, I hope I catch him or hope I don’t get caught.’ I’m looking forward to 15 minutes of fighting, but if he wants out, I’ll give him a way out.

Miesha Tate (right) will face off with Cat Zingano in the second women’s fight in UFC history. Photo by Esther Lin/Forza LLC/Forza LLC via Getty Images

The UFC will have its second women’s MMA fight, as Miesha Tate will square off with Cat Zingano on April 13, UFC officials announced on Monday.

The fight will take place at “The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale,” which will air on FX.

“Very proud of this new [Miesha Tate] contract,” Tate’s manager, Malki Kawa, said on Twitter following the announcement. “Bet we get this title shot soon!”

Tate (13-3), the former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion, last competed in August 2012 against Julie Kedzie, earning the submission-win under the Strikeforce banner. Tate was on a six-fight winning streak before falling to current UFC women’s champ Ronda Rousey last March via armbar.

Zingano (7-0) has finished all but one of her seven fights. She was most recently seen stopping Raquel Pennington in the second round by rear-naked choke at Invicta FC 3 last October.

The Tate-Zingano fight will be the UFC’s sophomore effort in women’s MMA to the UFC 157 headliner between champ Ronda Rousey and challenger Liz Carmouche. Rousey and Carmouche lead a card that also includes former UFC light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida fighting former Strikeforce and Pride champ Dan Henderson, as well as Urijah Faber against Ivan Menjivar.

The April 13 “TUF 17 Finale” card also includes a match-up between UFC heavyweights Travis Brown and Gabriel Gonzaga.

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