TUF 17 Finale Results: Gastelum and Zingano get the upset, Faber Chokes Out Jorgensen

If tonight could be summed up accurately with one word, it would more than likely be called the night of the “upset”. Let’s start off with the biggest surprise of night, the derailing of 4-1 favorite Uriah Hall by tournament and TUF season underdog Kelvin Gastelum.

Gastelum used a great combination of unorthodox standup and takedowns as well as solid ground positioning in order to turn the fight into a grinder and earn himself a victory vis split decision, becoming the youngest Ultimate Fighter winner in TUF history at the age of 21.

Second of the upsets on the card came in what was only the second womens UFC fight in company history, which ended up being a 3 round war between Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano.

Zingano absorbed some serious punishment in the first two rounds, only to rally back landing some serious knee’s to the face of Tate, followed by an elbow to put a stamp on what is undoubtedly the biggest, most important career victory for Cat Zingano.

Ronda Rousey will now face off against Cat Zingano who not only earns a title shot with her victory, but a history making appearance as one of the first female coaches on season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter.

Main Card
Urijah Faber def. Scott Jorgensen via submission (rear naked choke)
Kelvin Gastelum def. Uriah Hall via split decision
Cat Zingano def. Miesha Tate via third-round TKO
Travis Browne def. Gabriel Gonzaga via first-round TKO
Bubba McDaniel def. Gilbert Smith via submission (triangle choke)

Undercard
Josh Samman def. Kevin Casey via second-round TKO
Luke Barnatt def. Collin Hart via uNanimous decision
Dylan Andrews def. Jimmy Quinlan via first-round TKO
Clint Hester def. Bristol Marunde via third-round TKO
Cole Miller def. Bart Palaszewski via submission (rear-naked choke)
Maximo Blanco def. Sam Sicilia via uNanimous decision
Daniel Pineda def. Justin Lawrence via submission (kimura)

LowKick MMA Fight Night Awards:

Finish of the Night:  There were a lot of great finishes tonight including Clint Hester’s nasty elbow, Travis Browne‘s 1st round TKO and even Faber’s 4th round rear naked choke, but I’m gonna have to give the finish of the night to Cat Zingano. The fact that she took the punishment that she did in the first couple rounds, only to push through and rally back with some brutal knees and an elbow. That was a truly impressive and shocking upset of a finish that I’m sure no one would have seen coming.

Performance of the Night: I’m gonna have to give this one to Kelvin Gastellum, this kid took us and the entire season of TUF by surprise. He came into every single fight as an underdog and the youngest competitor ever on TUF, yet he still finished every opponent en route to nailing a spot in the final and fought a very intelligent fight, showing some serious patience and poise for a 21 year old headlining a main event against someone as intimidating as Uriah Hall.

Honorable Mention: Travis Browne bounced back from his last loss with a fairly quick, impressive and very unorthodox TKO finish over the always dangerous Gabriel Gonzaga, earning him a victory in the process and making him I believe one of the only fighters to knockout an opponent with downward elbows to the side of the head off the cage. Weird, but effective I guess.