The Ultimate Fighter Season 2
The Ultimate Fighter 2 was the second season of the mixed martial arts reality television series The Ultimate Fighter. The season featured a heavyweight and a welterweight division, with 9 fighters initially in each division. The UFC coaches for this season were welterweight and middleweight champions Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin. Season 1 coach and former UFC champion Randy Couture hosted and designed the team challenge segments, which if won would allow the winning team to pair a fighter from their team against another in elimination matches. The finale aired on November 5, 2005, and it set a ratings record for the UFC with a 2.0 overall rating.[1] Although released on DVD in 2005, it has been set for re-release on September 18, 2007.[2]
Cast
Coaches
Matt Hughes, Team Hughes coach
Rich Franklin, Team Franklin coach
Fighters
Welterweights
Team Hughes: Joe Stevenson, Luke Cummo, Josh Burkman, Sammy Morgan
Team Franklin: Marcus Davis, Jorge Gurgel, Anthony Torres, Melvin Guillard
Unassigned: Kenny Stevens
Heavyweights
Team Hughes: Mike Whitehead, Dan Christison, Rob MacDonald, Tom Murphy
Team Franklin: Keith Jardine, Seth Petruzelli, Rashad Evans, Brad Imes
Unassigned: Kerry Schall, Eli Joslin
Others
Hosts: Dana White, Randy Couture
Narrator: Mike Rowe
Results
Episode 1
Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin are introduced as the new coaches.
Heavyweight Kerry Schall is eliminated due to a knee injury.
Eli Joslin chooses to leave the show, citing his reasons as not being able to handle the camera environment at the house.
Kenny Stevens is chosen as the weakest welterweight and calls out Sammy Morgan to fight.
Stevens forfeits his match saying he will not be able to make weight for the fight.
Episode 2
Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin choose their teams.
Team Hughes wins the welterweight challenge.
Josh Burkman defeats Melvin Guillard by unanimous decision after three rounds.
Episode 3
Josh Burkman is forced to leave the competition after breaking his arm in the match with Melvin Guillard.
Jason Von Flue joins the show to replace Burkman.
Team Hughes wins the heavyweight challenge.
Brad Imes defeats Rob MacDonald with a submission by triangle choke at 4:07 of the first round.
Episode 4
Team Franklin wins the welterweight challenge.
Joe Stevenson defeats Marcus Davis when Marcus taps out from elbow strikes at 4:10 of the first round.
Episode 5
Team Hughes wins the heavyweight challenge.
Rashad Evans defeats Tom Murphy by unanimous decision after three rounds; Rashad causes controversy by "showboating" (dancing around in the octagon) at various stages of the fight, much to the chagrin of opposing coach Matt Hughes. Dana White states that this was one of the more boring fights he has seen.
Episode 6
Matt Hughes expresses disgust at Rashad's actions in the octagon during the previous episode.
Team Hughes wins the welterweight scarecrow challenge after Team Franklin forfeits to save their fighters.
Jason Von Flue defeats Jorge Gurgel by unanimous decision after three rounds.
Episode 7
Team Franklin wins the heavyweight mud wrestling challenge.
Hughes sends Von Flue over to team Franklin for rebalancing.
Seth Petruzelli wins a unanimous decision over Dan Christison.
Episode 8
Team Hughes wins the welterweight "Randy Says" challenge after Von Flue and Anthony Torres fail to obey Randy Couture's directions.
Franklin sends Imes to team Hughes for rebalancing.
Luke Cummo wins a unanimous decision over Anthony Torres.
Episode 9
Team Hughes wins the heavyweight challenge resoundingly.
Brad Imes is passed over for a fight due to a cut over his eye received in training; Mike Whitehead is chosen to fight instead.
Rashad Evans defeats Mike Whitehead by unanimous decision after three rounds.
Episode 10
Jason Von Flue sustains a cut between the eyes in practice; Marcus Davis is brought back as an alternate in the case of Jason being unable to fight.
The rest of the matches are set up by Dana White, Rich Franklin, and Matt Hughes with input from fighters; the matches are: Luke Cummo v. Sammy Morgan, Joe Stevenson v. Jason Von Flue, Seth Petruzelli v. Brad Imes, and Rashad Evans v. Keith Jardine.
Luke Cummo defeats Sammy Morgan at 2:05 of the second round by knockout with a knee.
Episode 11
Rashad Evans defeats Keith Jardine by unanimous decision after three rounds.
Episode 12
Jason Von Flue is cleared by the doctors to fight.
Joe Stevenson defeats Jason Von Flue at 4:46 of Round 1 with an armbar submission. Luke Cummo and Joe Stevenson will face each other in the final for the UFC contract.
In the second heavyweight semi-final, Brad Imes defeats Seth Petruzelli by split decision after three rounds; Petruzelli suffers extensive damage to his right ear.
The Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale
In the finale, welterweights Joe Stevenson and Luke Cummo and Heavyweights Rashad Evans and Brad Imes met to determine the winner of the tournaments for their respective weight classes and the title of "The Ultimate Fighter." Stevenson defeated Cummo by unanimous decision. Evans defeated Imes by split decision.
Welterweight bracket
| Semifinals | Final | |||||
| F | Jason Von Flue | |||||
| H | Joe Stevenson | |||||
| H | Joe Stevenson | |||||
| H | Luke Cummo | |||||
| H | Sammy Morgan [3] | |||||
| H | Luke Cummo | |||||
Legend:
- H = Team Hughes
- F = Team Franklin
Heavyweight bracket
| Semifinals | Final | |||||
| F | Rashad Evans | |||||
| F | Keith Jardine[3] | |||||
| F | Rashad Evans | |||||
| F | Brad Imes | |||||
| F | Seth Petruzelli | |||||
| F | Brad Imes | |||||
Footnotes
