Two More for Deep Waters
Two new fighters have earned their contracts in the UFC after another season of The Ultimate Fighter.
Although the show has lost some of its lustre over the last few years it remains one of the main veins to the UFC.
The UFC continues to use the show as a proving ground for a new wave of fighters with countless good results.
No matter who wins the tournament the show always brings a few new fighters to the roster who make an impression.
They either make that impression with their personalities on the show or get that second chance in the Finale and prove that they belong.
After 27 seasons there have been plenty of fighters who have come through the show and put together a good career in the UFC.
Winners of the show tend to have that extra boost closer to the top but in general, the show has produced plenty of good fighters.
For these fighters, this is their chance to get noticed by the UFC regardless of if any fans actually notice them.
The show has dipped in ratings but the UFC brass is still paying close attention and being put in a situation like the show can prove a lot.
Fighters have to come through a shortened tournament and fight on short rest against other fighters with the same to lose as them.
If fighters can come through the show looking good it proves something to the UFC and they are often happy to give them at least one more shot.
This season the UFC was looking for something special as their latest twist on the format was to bring in top fighters from smaller circuits.
Although that sounds pretty common this time the prerequisites to be selected for the show were a lot stricter.
The show brought in undefeated fighters together to hand out two contracts in two of the deepest divisions.
Two enter the UFC is a challenge and many fighters have to put together an impressive record just to get that shot.
To enter the featherweight and lightweight divisions in the UFC can be only tougher for even very talented fighters.
That is what this new group was looking to do as they were trying to get that contract and make a big enough impression to enter those divisions with a lot of momentum because without that momentum they could get lost really quickly.
Two of those fighters looking to make that impression were in the featherweight division as Brad Katona and Jay Cucciniello kicked off the tournament finales.
The Canadian who travelled to Ireland to train with John Kavanagh was looking to beat the British military veteran.
From the start of the fight, Katona took control on the feet landing good shots and putting Cucciniello on the ground twice in the first two rounds.
When the fight went to the ground, Katona looked just as dominant showing his well-rounded game in an impressive fight.
It was never really left in question as Katona had a good win to earn his UFC contract but the work has just begun.
He now enters a division with a backlog of some of the best fighters in the UFC and making it through a group that includes Brian Ortega, Jose Aldo, Frankie Edgar, Cub Swanson, Jeremey Stephens and Max Holloway is going to be the big challenge.
The challenge wouldn’t be any less for the next fighter to make it into the UFC as they would be entering another deep division in lightweight.
Ready to take on that challenge was Joe Giannetti and Mike Trizano, two fighters from the Northeast with that never-give-in attitude.
Most of the fight took place on the ground for the lightweight finale with both fighters trying to end the fight early.
Neither could do it and throughout the entire fight, the scoring was always going to be a tight one.
The final round provided a little more excitement but in the end, it was a tight fight between both fighters.
It went to the judges and they decided that Trizano had done enough to earn the win but it wasn’t as impressive as he had hoped.
The split decision win earned him the contract but he will need more if he wants to compete with the likes of Eddie Alvarez and Tony Ferguson at the top of the lightweight division.
Two more fighters earned their spots on the roster but for both the hard work is just about to start as they enter two of the toughest divisions in the UFC looking to stay undefeated.
The Sport Addiction 