Hello and welcome to this week’s TUF 24 instalment of Something Old, Something New where we get you up to speed concerning those making their UFC debuts and reintroduce you to those returning from spells on the sidelines.
This week brings us “The Ultimate Fighter 24 – Tournament of Champions” (TUF 24) finale where UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson defends his belt against the unconfirmed (as of time of writing) winner of the show at The Palms Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Our new faces this week all keep with the show’s theme and although new to the UFC, watchers of TUF will recognise these former contestants.
Matt “Danger” Schnell (10-2) – Bantamweight
Despite losing to Tim Elliott in this season’s TUF, Matt Schnell makes his UFC debut against Bantamweight Rob Font on short notice after the withdrawal of Alejandro Perez.
The Louisiana native began his pro career after being discovered on MTV’s reality show “Caged” that focused on a small group of up and coming MMA fighters in the small town of Minden, Louisiana. MMA legend Tito Ortiz attended fights as part of the show’s last episode and was so impressed with Schnell that he helped to get him his first pro fights.
Training at American Top Team, the 26-year-old entered the TUF house as the Legacy FC Interim Flyweight Champion after winning his seventh fight in a row and avenging an earlier loss over Klayton Mai to grab the belt.
Moving up a division to Bantamweight for the first time in his career, “Danger” will hope to add another finish to his record after seven of his nine victories, five by submission, have come in the first round.
Jamie Moyle (3-1) – Women’s Strawweight
After competing in TUF 23 but falling short against eventual runner-up Amanda Cooper, Jamie Moyle will make her UFC debut this weekend against Hawaiian native Kailin Curran in the Strawweight division.
The 27-year-old, who fights out of Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas, Nevada, has four fights under her belt since turning pro and all of those bouts have taken place under the Invicta FC banner. This includes a first round submission victory over top Strawweight prospect JJ Aldrich at Invicta 11 in February 2015.
With it being 14 months since her previous fight before the start of TUF 23, a defeat to Sharon Jacobson at Invicta 14, the Florida native has had plenty of time to develop her game and get ready for her first octagon appearance.
Ryan “The Wizard” Hall (5-1) – Featherweight
Considered one of the best BJJ practitioners in the world, Ryan Hall returns to the octagon this week for the first time since winning TUF 22 last year where he defeated SBG Ireland product Artem Lobov in the final.
“The Wizard” is a BJJ black belt under Felipe Costa and holds many of the grappling world’s highest accolades including the 2008 World Championship, 2007 No GI Championship and several ADCC and Grapplers Quest titles. He then stood aside from competitive Jiu Jitsu in 2012 in order to focus on a career in MMA as well as continuing to work on building his own gym “50/50 BJJ”.
The 31-year-old started working with Tristar after a loss in his MMA debut and since then is undefeated and has returned for camps there ever since. He also became a viral celebrity in 2012 as footage of Hall defending himself from a larger aggressive man and then using grappling techniques to subdue and restrain the assailant in a pizza parlour until the police arrived became a YouTube hit.
Hall continues his journey as a mixed martial artist this week in the featured prelim against UFC veteran and TUF 5 alumni Gray Maynard. In what is sure to be his toughest test yet, the BJJ expert can prove his doubters wrong once again with a victory.
Alexis “Ally-Gator” Davis (17-6) – Women’s Bantamweight
Women’s MMA pioneer Alexis Davis returns to the octagon for the first time since April 2015 after taking a break due to pregnancy and will return to face Sarah McMann to attempt to put herself back into the mix of contenders in the Women’s Bantamweight division.
With a professional career stretching back to 2007, the Canadian has fought in Strikeforce, Invicta and UFC battling some of the biggest names in women’s MMA whilst doing so. A black belt in both Japanese and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Davis was considered one of the best fighters in the world before her hiatus and had won six of her last seven fights.
Her only defeat in that period – also her only UFC loss – came in 16 seconds to then Women’s Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey at UFC 175 in July 2014. After bouncing back in her next fight, a submission win over Sarah Kaufman, Davis might only be a victory or two away from earning another shot at the gold.
That’s all for this week but join us for a double edition next week for UFC Fight Night 102 in Albany, New York and UFC 206 from Toronto, Canada.
