The TUF 17 Finale is set. After one of the best seasons of “The Ultimate Fighter” ever, Uriah Hall and Kelvin Gastelum are the final two men left standing, and the two men will fight for the chance to become the next TUF winner and earn a six-figure contract with the UFC this Saturday night at the TUF 17 Finale. Hall is best known for his spinning hook kick knockout of Adam Cella that made the interent go absolutely crazy. He then followed that up with a stunning one-punch KO on Bubba McDaniel and a brutal TKO finish of Dylan Andrews to emerge as the first of two Team Sonnen members to reach the finals. The other is of course Gastelum, who was an underdog from the start of the tournament but who didn’t let that label affect him, as he punished McDaniel, Collin Hart, and Josh Samman to become the second Team Sonnen member in the finals. In his pro career, Hall is 7-2 with the two losses coming to current UFC middleweight title contender Chris Weidman as well as the top-10 ranked Costa Philippou. Gastelum, on the other hand, is less experienced with only a 4-0 pro record, but he was the youngest fighter in the entire TUF house and he proved that age doesn’t matter in MMA as he made it all the way to the finals. With all of the hype behind Hall, expect him to open as a heavy favorite to win the entire tournament. It’s likely that Hall will open in the vicinity of -250, and it’s possible that the public is going to be steamed up to -300 and even higher. As well, five additional fights were added to the TUF 17 Finale card. They are: Bubba McDaniel vs. Gilbert Smith Kevin Casey vs. Josh Samman Luke Barnatt vs. Collin Hart Dylan Andrews vs. Jimmy Quinlan Clint Hester vs. Bristol Marunde Dave Herman Reinstated From Suspension The UFC today reinstated the suspended Dave Herman, and the heavyweight fighter is free to have his next fight booked immediately. MMAjunkie.com confirmed with Herman’s manager Shu Hirata that “Pee-Wee” is off the suspension list after he went to rehabilitation and passed a drug test, which were required before he was allowed back into the UFC following his positive test for marijuana after his UFC 153 loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Expect Herman to be booked for a fight this coming summer against a low-level heavyweight like Shane Del Rosario, Nandor Guelmino, or Phil De Fries. Herman, 21-5 in his MMA career, is only 1-3 in the UFC and has lost his last three fights, albeit to top competition in the form of Nogueira, Roy Nelson, and Stefan Struve. However, he is extremely athletic and does have finishing ability as well as decent wrestling, so considering the weak UFC heavyweight division, it’s not that much of a surprise that Herman has gotten such a long leash.
