Wilson Gouveia

Despite forfeiting 20-percent of his earnings to opponent Jason MacDonald, middleweight Wilson Gouveia remained the top earner at The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale, earning $36,800 for his first-round technical knockout victory. MacDonald was the second-highest paid fighter on the card, receiving $35,200 for the losing effort.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission today released the official salaries for the event, which took place on Saturday at The Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas and aired live on Spike TV.

All cast members of The Ultimate Fighter 8, including champions Efrain Escudero and Ryan Bader, received $8,000 to show and $8,000 to win.

The total disclosed payroll for the event was $289,000.

The official salaries do not include bonuses and also exclude taxes, fees, sponsor payments, and other miscellaneous payments and fees.

Junie Browning, Dave Kaplan, Anthony Johnson, and Krzyzstof Soszynski each received additional $25,000 “Fight Night” bonuses for their efforts at The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale.

The Ultimate Fighter 8 Fighter Salaries

• Efrain Escudero ($16,000) def. Phillipe Nover ($8,000)
• Ryan Bader ($16,000) def. Vinny Magalhaes ($8,000)
• Wilson Gouveia ($36,800) def. Jason MacDonald ($35,200)
• Anthony Johnson $18,000 def. Kevin Burns ($7,000)
• Junie Browning ($16,000) def. Dave Kaplan ($8,000)
• Krzysztof Soszynski ($16,000) def. Shane Primm ($8,000)
• Eliot Marshall ($16,000) def. Jules Bruchez ($8,000)
• Shane Nelson ($16,000) def. George Roop ($8,000)
• Tom Lawlor ($16,000) def. Kyle Kingsbury ($8,000)
• Roli Delgado ($16,000) def. John Polakowski ($8,000)

For a recap and complete results from The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale click here.

Krzyzstof Soszynski Submits Shane Primm at The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale

Junie Browning, Dave Kaplan, Anthony Johnson, and Kryzystof Soszynski each took home $25,000 “Fight Night” bonuses for their performances last night at The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale.

Lightweights Junie Browning and Dave Kaplan were surprisingly awarded “Fight of the Night” for their lopsided main card opener that saw Browning display superior striking, picking apart Kaplan on the feet for the majority of the first round before finishing Kaplan off on the ground in the second with an armbar.

“Knockout of the Night” honors went to welterweight Anthony Johnson, who avenged his controversial July loss to Kevin Burns with a third-round highlight-reel head kick knockout of Burns, which followed an exciting first two rounds of action.

“Submission of the Night” was awarded to light heavyweight Krzystof Soszynski, who displayed that he possess more than just superior striking and power with a second-round shoulder-tearing kimura submission of Shane Primm on the evening’s preliminary card.

For a recap and complete results from The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale click here.

Efrain Escudero

Underdog Efrain Escudero topped highly touted Phillipe Nover via unanimous decision in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 8 “Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir” Finale to win the season’s lightweight tournament.

The event took place on Saturday, December 13th, at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas and aired live on Spike TV.

In the evening’s co-main event, standout wrestler Ryan Bader needed just two-minutes and 18-seconds to knockout jiu jitsu ace Vinicius Magalhaes to claim The Ultimate Fighter 8 light heavyweight title.

In other main card action, Anthony Johnson avenged his controversial July loss with a third-round highlight reel head kick knockout of Kevin Burns, Wilson Gouveia capitalized on Jason MacDonald’s agressiveness to score a first-round TKO with a series of vicious elbows, and TUF 8 bad boy Junie Brown successfully made his UFC debut with a second-round armbar of Dave Kaplan.

The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale Results

• Efrain Escudero def. Phillipe Nover via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
  TUF 8 Lightweight Finals
• Ryan Bader def. Vinicius Magalhaes via KO (strikes) — Round 1, 2:18
  TUF 8 Light Heavyweight Finals
• Anthony Johnson def. Kevin Burns via KO (head kick) — Round 3, 0:28
• Wilson Gouveia def. Jason MacDonald via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 2:18
• Junie Browning def. Dave Kaplan via submission (armbar) — Round 2, 1:32
• Krzysztof Soszynski def. Shane Primm via submission (kimura) — Round 2, 3:27
• Eliot Marshall def. Jules Bruchez via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 1, 1:27
• Tom Lawlor def. Kyle Kingsbury via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Shane Nelson def. George Roop via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Rolando Delgado def. John Polakowski via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 2, 2:18

The Pearl at The Palms

Fighters tipped the scales moments ago in Las Vegas to weigh in for the matchups tomorrow night at The Ultimate Fighter 8 “Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir” Finale, which takes place at The Pearl at the Palms and airs live on Spike TV.

Middleweight Wilson Gouveia failed to make weight for his scheduled middleweight contest against Jason MacDonald, weighing in at 189 pounds, three pounds over the 186 pound middleweight limit.

Lightweight finalists Phillipe Nover (156) and Efrain Escudero (156) and light heavyweight finalists Ryan Bader (205) and Vinicius Magalhaes (205) all successfully made weight for their co-headlining bouts. The remainder of the ten-fight card also successfully made weight.

MMAFrenzy.com will have live coverage of The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale tomorrow beginning at 7pm ET.

MAIN CARD

• 155: Phillipe Nover (156) vs. Efrain Escudero (156)
  TUF 8 Lightweight Final
• 205: Ryan Bader (205) vs. Vinicius Magalhaes (205)
  TUF 8 Light Heavyweight Final
• 171: Kevin Burns (171) vs. Anthony Johnson (171)
• 185: Jason MacDonald (184) vs. Wilson Gouveia (189)*
• 156: Junie Browning (156) vs. Dave Kaplan (156)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• 205: Krzysztof Soszynski (205) vs. Shane Primm (202)
• 205: Eliot Marshall (203) vs. Jules Bruchez (205)
• 205: Kyle Kingsbury (205) vs. Tom Lawlor (204)
• 155: Shane Nelson (156) vs. George Roop (153)
• 155: Rolando Delgado (155) vs. John Polakowski (152)

* “Gouveia did not make weight and for safety reasons, the Nevada State Athletic Commission won’t allow him to make a second weight cutting attempt. The bout will go on at a catch weight of 189 pounds, and Gouveia will forfeit 20% of his purse to MacDonald.”

Ryan Bader Advances To The Finals of The Ultimate Fighter 8

After back-to-back episodes of The Ultimate Fighter 8 last night featuring the semifinals of season’s lightweight and light heavyweight tournaments, the finals are now set with lightweights Phillipe Nover and Efrain Escudero meeting for the season eight 155-pound crown and light heavyweights Ryan Bader and Vinny Magalhaes squaring off for the 205-pound TUF 8 title.

The Ultimate  Fighter 8: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir Finale takes place on Saturday, December 13th at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

The Spike TV-broadcast main card kicks off with controversial lightweight Junie Browning facing off against against Dave Kaplan. Also, as previously announced, Kevin Burns vs. Anthony Johnson and Jason MacDonald vs. Wilson Gouveia will be featured on the main card.

The undercard features “The Ultimate Fighter 8” cast members John Polakowski vs. Rolando Delgado, George Roop vs. Shane Nelson, Tom Lawlor vs. Kyle Kingsbury, Jules Bruchez vs. Eliot Marshall, and Shane Primm vs. Krzysztof Soszynski.

Middleweights Jason MacDonald (21-10) and Wilson Gouveia (11-5) will clash in the co-main event.

The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale takes place on Saturday, December 13th, at the Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and airs live on Spike TV beginning at 9pm ET.

For the latest The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section.