The Ultimate Fighter 13: Episode 3 Recap & Results

LEN BENTLEY vs. RYAN MCGILLIVRAY

Round 1: Shogun Rua is shown cageside. They come out swinging. Both guys are landing. Oh, this is gonna be a good one. Len misses a high kick, but then drops Ryan to the mat with a nasty left. Len works to full mount, but Ryan recovers quickly and gets Len back into half guard. Junior is thrilled with this turn of events. Ryan is really working his way through this. He was nearly finished. He gets Len back into full guard, but Len lands a nasty elbow. Len stands up and allows Ryan to get back to his feet. They start trading again. Dana’s gonna love this fight. Ryan with a huge left hook. Ryan lands a giant right hook, then drops Len to the mat with a left. Ryan goes into full guard, but Len recovers quickly. This is awesome. Ryan moves Len to the cage, which Len uses to try for an armbar. Ryan somehow survives the attempt, however, despite it being locked completely in. They roll around and Ryan gets Len in a crucifix, but Len rolls to his knees. Ryan gets a D’Arce choke, but Len is able to survive until the end of the round. One hell of a round, one of the best in Ultimate Fighter history. I score it 10-9 for Ryan, but it’s incredibly close.

Round 2: Len opens with a light leg kick. Both guys make each other miss quite a bit in the early going. Ryan lands a solid left. He’s landing that quite a bit and Len doesn’t seem to have an answer for it. Len lands a left of his own, but then goes back to attempting leg kicks. Ryan lands two big lefts again. Ryan presses forward and lands about six straight punches in a row, then presses Len against the cage before attempting a takedown. Len stuffs it and reverses, then lands some shots from the clinch before finally forcing a separation. Len is very tired now. I mean, Ryan is tried, but not nearly as much as Len. Len tries a spinning backfist, and that’s the last energetic thing he’ll try. His punches are really slow now and Ryan is still going at a pretty good rate. Len gives a takedown a final try, but Ryan easily stuffs it and lands 4 big shots to close the round. I’m scoring this one for Ryan and it wasn’t as close as the first.

Josh Rosenthal tells the guys that they had a hell of a fight. Dana White says the same thing. Yes, I agree. This was an awesome fight, one of the best in show history. There may be some controversy about the decision, but after watching the fight twice, I have to agree with the decision.

WINNER: Ryan McGillivray by decision (19-19, 18-20, 18-20)

Len says the fight should’ve gone to a third round, but says it’s his fault for leaving it in the hands of the judges. Len’s pretty upset, but Dana shows up and tells him he’s got nothing to be embarrassed about. Dana tells the rest of his team that “that’s how you fight” before hugging Len. You know what you learned from this segment? That Len Bentley is gonna get one or two fights in the UFC, no matter what happens on show this. When Dana White shows up to tell you how awesome your fight was, you’re golden.

Great episode with a fantastic fight.