Friday’s live quarterfinal fights: Vick vs. Proctor, Lawrence vs. Chiesa
“The Ultimate Fighter LIVE” Episode 10 is set to air Friday at 10 p.m. Eastern on FX, and HeavyMMA.com has you covered.
Tune in for a live running recap of the episode and live coverage of the first two quarterfinal fights in the tournament of 16 fighters coached by UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and top contender Urijah Faber. Team Faber, after dropping its first two fights of the season, went on to win five of the next six and finish with a 5-3 lead. Last week, heavy underdog Andy Ogle, from England, upset Cruz’s Mike Rio just one week after Faber’s eighth pick, Chris Saunders, upset Cruz’s No. 2 pick, Sam Sicilia.
On Friday, the first two quarterfinal fights of the season take place when James Vick from Team Cruz meets Joe Proctor from Team Faber and Team Cruz’s Justin Lawrence takes on Team Faber’s Mike Chiesa.
Episode Recap
We start to get a little more background on our first fight between Vick and Proctor. Cruz says he believes Vick could make the finals. Dana White brings the guys all out and explains to them that Cruz has blown his ACL and will need a long recovery. White says he believes Cruz will be out at least nine months. Faber says it “sucks – there’s no other way to say it.” White says he’ll announce Faber’s new opponent next week, since as we all know they were supposed to fight in July. Cruz says hopefully Faber wins the interim title so they can fight. Faber walks past Cruz and tells him the news “sucks,” then jokes with him that he’s going to start a rumor that Ronda Rousey rolled on his knee and took it out.
But with two fights this week, there’s no messin’ about. We’re ready for the first fight. Vick jogs out and he’s ready. Proctor walks out next. Vick is 4-0; Proctor is 7-1. Proctor has a 4.5-inch reach advantage.
James Vick vs. Joe Proctor
Round 1: Arianny walks our round card and we’re set. Proctor circles to the outside. Vick with some jabs, and he backs Proctor to the cage and lands a good head-body combo. Outside leg kick from Vick. Proctor misses a cross. High kick from Vick is blocked. Proctor shoots, but Vick stuffs it nicely. Proctor looks for a guillotine, but Vick easily slips it. Vick with a clinch, and a couple knees. Another high kick from Vick is blocked, but he lands a good one to the body. Good left counter from Vick. Proctor comes forward with a combo, but there’s not much damage behind it. It looks like both guys have bloody noses. The round closes, and neither fighter did much damage. But HeavyMMA will give the round to Vick, who was about a 2-to-1 underdog in the fight.
Round 2: Good start from Proctor with a nice left. Then an overhand right after a Vick jab. Vick’s bleeding more from his nose still. But he lands a nice combination and follows with a kick to the body. Good right from Proctor, then a shot for a double. He gets it, then gets a fairly gentle slam. Back up, Proctor locks Vick up with a standing guillotine. But Vick slams his way out of it and into side control. He gets back up and we go back to the feet with 3 minutes left. Two nice clinched knees by Vick. Nice outside leg kick from Vick, but Proctor counters with a good combination. Vick goes high with a kick that whiffs, then teeps his way into more distance. Proctor is the more aggressive right now, and they tie up along the fence for a moment before breaking with a minute left. Uppercuts from both miss. Good right from Proctor, then another. Both fighters land a couple good shots as we close. It’s a close round, but HeavyMMA gives the second to Proctor, which would mean a sudden-victory round coming up. We’ll see what the judges say.
Result: James Vick def. Joe Proctor, unanimous decision (20-18, 20-18, 20-18)
Justin Lawrence vs. Mike Chiesa
Round 1: Five inches of height advantage for Chiesa and nine inches of reach. Chiesa shots and looks for a takedown. He wraps up Lawrence and takes his back. He’s looking for a choke. Lawrence is in survival mode here. Chiesa looking for an armbar. But Lawrence breaks free and Chiesa looks for a triangle. He can’t get it, and that leaves Lawrence on top. Chiesa into guard and looking for elbows. Lawrence staying in Chiesa’s guard, but he’s not doing much. Chiesa staying quite active from the bottom and looks for a guillotine. Chiesa looking for a sweep and a kimura. He’s got the arm, but Lawrence is defending. Chiesa again looking for a triangle. He locks Lawrence’s arm and shoulder up and starts landing elbows. Then double fists. He looks for an arm. Lawrence is just holding on at this point. He’ll survive the round, but that was all Chiesa 10-9.
Round 2: Traded clinches, but not a ton of action early. Lawrence avoids a takedown. Chiesa fakes a Superman punch. Then a nice right and left from Lawrence. Chiesa with a left that pushes Lawrence back. Spinning back elbow from Chiesa misses. Good knee from Chiesa. They trade strikes and Lawrence lands some good shots inside, then a shot to the body crumples Chiesa. On the ground, Chiesa tries to grab an arm and nearly has it. But Lawrence gets out and is in Chiesa’s guard. He’s not doing anything and he’s tied up. If he stays there, he won’t be able to do anything to win the round, let alone the fight. HeavyMMA has the round 10-9 for Chiesa and the fight for him 20-18 in a major upset. We’ll see what the judges say. Best Lawrence can hope for is a third round.
Round 3: So the judges had the second for Lawrence. We’re in sudden victory. Lawrence looks fresher. But as Lawrence comes inside, the fight hits the mat and Chiesa looks for a triangle. It’s not there, Byt Cguesa reverses beautifully, gets full mount and starts raining down punches on the top pick in the house. Lawrence is covering up. And that’s going to be it. He leaps over the cage and celebrates with his teammates. Big upset.
Result: Mike Chiesa def. Justin Lawrence, TKO, 1:02 Round 3
White says Vick is very green still, but he’s going to eventually be very talented. He says Lawrence was tired and took the fight to the ground and into Chiesa’s world and paid the price for it.
For the next two quarterfinal matchups next week, White announces Vinc Pichel from Team Cruz vs. Chris Saunders from Team Faber. And Al Iaquinta vs. Andy Ogle, both from Team Faber. It will be the first matchup of the season pitting teammate vs. teammate.