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.”

Before his bout against the hugging machine Polakowski, Roop injures his hand after catching it in the octagon fencing while training for the fight. The injury is rather seious as Roop is unable to make a fist as a result of the swelling, but by fight day the swelling has subsided and Roop is ready to fight.

It’s quickly fight time and after a hug in the center of the octagon Polakowski and Roop get to work. Roop captures the first round with more accurate striking and a takedown, but Polakowski appears to get the better of Roop in the second, frequently connecting with punches, and we appear destined for a third and decisive round. However, the judge’s surprisingly render a decision after just two rounds, declaring Roop the winner via unanimous decison.

“This clearly was a fight that should have gone to a third round,” said Dana White, who added that Polakowski gave it his all and was robbed by the judges.

With the quarterfinals now complete the fighters celebrate back at the house, but things nearly get out of hand after several fighters toss eggs and meat at the fighters in the hot tub, including Junie Browning, who loses his cool after being hit by a piece of meat but calms down before again jeopardizing his place in the tournament.

After discussing with the semi-finalists who they’d prefer to fight, White and coaches Nogueira and Mir determine the matchups for the semis. In the lightweight division, Phillipe Nover faces George Roop
and Junie Browning takes on Efrain Escudero. At light heavyweight Eliot Marshall battles Ryan Bader and
Vinny Magalhaes meets Krzysztof Soszynski.

TEAM MIR

• 205: Elliot Marshall (1-0)
• 155: Junie Browning (1-0)
• 205: Vinicius Magalhaes (1-0)
• 205: Krzysztof Soszynski (1-0)
• 155: George Roop (1-0)
• 155: Dave Kaplan
  Eliminated in episode eight by Phillipe Nover
• 155: Shane Nelson
  Eliminated in episode four by Efrain Escudero
• 205: Tom Lawlor
  Eliminated in episode three by Ryan Bader

TEAM NOGUEIRA

• 205: Ryan Bader (1-0)
• 155: Efrain Escudero (1-0)
• 155:Phillipe Nover (1-0)
• 155: John Polakowski
  Eliminated in episode 10 by George Roop
• 205: Kyle Kingsbury
  Eliminated in episode nine by Krzysztof Soszynski
• 205: Jules Bruchez
  Eliminated in episode seven by Vinny Magalhaes
• 155: Rolando Delgado
  Eliminated in episode six by Junie Browning
• 205: Shane Primm
  Eliminated in episode five by Elliot Marshall

The complete, 32-fighter cast of lightweights and light heavyweights for the upcoming season of the UFC’s “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series, “The Ultimate Fighter 8: Team Nogueria vs. Team Mir”, was today announced by Spike TV.

The upcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter” features both a sixteen fighter, 155-pound tournament and a sixteen fighter, 205-pound tournament.

Two new “Ultimate Fighter” champions will be crowned when the eighth season concludes with a live finale on December 13th at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas. The event will air live on Spike TV and will also feature other fighters from the current and past seasons of the reality series and UFC veterans.

“The Ultimate Fighter 8″ debuts on September 17th on Spike TV immediately following UFC Fight Night 15.

The complete “The Ultimate Fighter 8″ cast is after the jump…

LIGHTWEIGHTS (155-POUNDS)

Jose Aguilar

• Age: 25
• MMA Record: 17-3-0
• Trains With: Grapplers Edge
• Location: Las Cruces, NM

Fernando Bernstein

• Age: 25
• MMA Record: 2-0-0
• Location: San Clemente, CA

Junie Allen Browning

• Age: 22
• MMA Record: 2-0-0
• Trains With: Four Seasons Martial Arts
• Location: Lexington, KY

Rolando Delgado

• Age: 26
• MMA Record: 7-3-1
• Trains With: Westside Fight Team
• Location: North Little Rock, AR

Joseph Duarte

• Age: 24
• MMA Record: 3-0
• Trains With: Unleashed Training Facility / Alliance MMA
• Location: San Diego, CA

Efrain Escudero

• Age: 22
• MMA Record: 10-0-0
• Trains With: Southwest Martial Arts
• Location: Tempe, AZ

Brandon Garner

• Age: 26
• MMA Record: 4-1-0
• Trains With: Team ROC
• Location: Raleigh, NC

David Kaplan

• Age: 28
• MMA Record: 3-1-0
• Trains With: Lloyd Irvin Team
• Location: Camp Springs, MD

Eric Magee

• Age: 23
• MMA Record: 3-1-0
• Trains With: South Shore Sport
• Location: Rockland, MA

Brian McLaughlin

• Age: 23
• MMA Record: 5-0-0
• Trains With: Team Gracie Tampa
• Location: Tampa, FL

Wesley Murch

• Age: 25
• MMA Record: 4-2-0
• Trains With: Trojan Gym
• Location: Bristol, UK

Shane Nelson

• Age: 24
• MMA Record: 11-3-0
• Trains With: BJ Penn’s MMA
• Location: Hilo, HI

Phillipe Nover

• Age: 24
• MMA Record: 5-0-1
• Trains With: Team Renzo Gracie
• Location: Brooklyn, NY

Ido Pariente

• Age: 30
• MMA Record: 13-4-0
• Location: Tel Aviv, Israel

John Polakowski

• Age: 26
• MMA Record: 3-1-0
• Trains With: The Pit
• Location: San Luis Obispo, CA

George Roop

• Age: 26
• MMA Record: 7-3-0
• Trains With: Ultima MMA
• Location: Tucson, AZ

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS (205-POUNDS)

Ryan Bader

• Age: 24
• MMA Record: 7-0-0
• Trains With: Arizona Combat Sports
• Location: Chandler, AZ

Antwain Britt

• Age: 29
• MMA Record: 4-0-0
• Trains With: Bombsquad MMA
• Location: Virginia Beach, VA

Jules Bruchez

• Age: 30
• MMA Record: 3-2-0
• Trains With: Ronan Dojo
• Location: Lafayette, LA

Charles Diaz

• Age: 25
• MMA Record: 3-0-0
• Trains With: SD Fight Club
• Location: San Diego, CA

Lance Evans

• Age: 30
• MMA Record: 4-2-0
• Trains With: TKO MMA
• Location: Niagara Falls, NY

Karen Grigoryan

• Age: 26
• MMA Record: 5-0-0
• Trains With: RusFighters Sport Club
• Location: Russia

Jason Guida

• Age: 30
• MMA Record: 26-13-0
• Trains With: Hellhouse Gym
• Location: Chicago, IL

Ryan Jimmo

• Age: 26
• MMA Record: 6-1-0
• Trains With: Titans MMA
• Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia

Kyle Kingsbury

• Age: 26
• MMA Record: 7-1-1
• Trains With: American Kickboxing Academy
• Location: Sunnyvale, CA

Tom Lawlor

• Age: 24
• Trains With: American Top Team
• Location: Oviedo, FL

Ryan Lopez

• Age: 25
• MMA Record: 5-3-0
• Location: Oklahoma City, OK

Vinicius Magalhaes

• Age: 23
• MMA Record: 2-2-0
• Trains With: Team Quest
• Location: Temecula, CA

Eliot Marshall

• Age: 27
• MMA Record: 5-1-0
• Trains With: Eastern Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
• Location: Boulder, CO

Sean O’Connell

• Age: 24
• MMA Record: 1-0-0
• Location: Salt Lake City, UT

Shane Primm

• Age: 23
• MMA Record: 1-0-0
• Trains With: Team Gracie Tampa
• Location: Tampa, FL

Krzysztof Soszynski

• Age: 30
• MMA Record: 16-8-1
• Trains With: Team Quest
• Location: Temecula, CA