Just over seventeen hundred live attendees and seven figures worth of at-home viewers witnessed Court McGee claim the eleventh “Ultimate Fighter” championship at Saturday’s season finale.
Middleweight McGee, a member of Team Chuck Liddell, defeated runner-up Kris McCray (Team Tito Ortiz/Rich Franklin) with the “submission of the night” to secure his “six-figure UFC contract” and join an impressive “TUF” victory club that includes such names as Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans and Matt Serra.
Former middleweight winners include Diego Sanchez (season one), Kendall Grove (season three), Travis Lutter (season four) and Amir Sadollah (season seven).
The card’s co-main-event, which claimed fight of the night honors, saw Matt Hamill come from behind to defeat Keith Jardine via majority decision. After picking Hamill apart with strikes in round one, Jardine struggled to keep up with the more powerful Hamill in the latter two rounds, allowing the former “TUF” contestant ample opportunities to connect with big strikes and control the body with clinches and takedown attempts.
Full card results follow:
Travis Browne b. James McSweeney via TKO (strikes) at 4:32 of Round One
Chris Camozzi b. James Hammortree via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Kyle Noke b. Josh Bryant via TKO (strikes) at 3:12 of Round Two
Brad Tavares b. Seth Baczynski via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
John Gunderson b. Mark Holst via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Rich Attonio b. Jamie Yager via TKO (strikes) at 4:25 of Round Two
Dennis Siver b. Spencer Fisher via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Chris Leben b. Aaron Simpson via TKO (strikes) at 4:17 of Round Two
Matt Hamill b. Keith Jardine via majority decision (29-27, 29-27, 28-28)
Court McGee b. Kris McCray via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:41 of Round Two
