The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale took place last night (Thursday, July 8, 2016) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was headlined by a strawweight title bout between champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk and challenger Claudia Gadelha. Overall from a betting perspective, seven favorites won while four underdogs came through and there was one pick’em fight according to the closing odds at Several Bookmakers. Here’s a quick recap for each bout. Favorites That Won In the main event of the evening, UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk survived some early trouble against a very game Claudia Gadelha to retain her title. Gadelha dropped the champ early, and picked up several takedowns in the first two rounds, but she started to fade and Jedrzejczyk took full advantage by dominating her in the striking in the final three rounds. Jedrzejczyk came through as a -120 (Bet $120 to win $100) favorite while Gadelha was a +110 (Bet $100 to win $110) underdog. In a light heavyweight bout, Andrew Sanchez completely dominated Khalil Rountree with his superior wrestling and ground game, easily taking all three rounds to win a decision. Sanchez closed as a -155 favorite while Rountree was a +145 underdog. In a women’s strawweight battle, Tatiana Suarez made easy work of Amanda Bobby Cooper, scoring big takedowns, landing strikes from top position and then putting Cooper away with a D’Arce choke. Suarez won at -355 while Cooper was a +315 dog. In a lightweight scrap, Will Brooks made his UFC debut against Ross Pearson, holding his own in the striking while picking up a few takedowns, and did some good work in the clinch. Pearson came on strong in the third round but it was too little, too late as Brooks won a decision. Brooks was -345 while Pearson was +315. In a featherweight fight, Doo Ho Choi weathered some early takedowns from Thiago Tavares, then flattened the Brazilian with a beautiful combination for a knockout win. Choi was victorious as a hefty -210 favorite while Tavares was +190. In a featherweight contest, Gray Maynard wasn’t afraid to stand and bang early with Fernando Bruno, then transitioned to his wrestling game in the latter two rounds to win a one-sided decision and end his losing skid. Maynard held serve as a -160 favorite while Bruno was a +150 underdog. In the opening bout of the evening, welterweights Li Jingliang and Anton Zafir had a back-and-forth one round battle. Zafir grabbed some takedowns early, but Jingliang worked his way back to his feet and then scored a takedown of his own before knocking out Zafir with a huge pair of right hands to pick up the win. Jingliang closed as a -295 betting favorite while Zafir was +265. Underdogs That Won In a lightweight contest, Joakim Silva defended an early takedown from Andrew Holbrook then blasted him with a pair of right hands to pick up a knockout in about 30 seconds. Silva won as a +120 dog while Holbrook was -130. In a flyweight bout, neither John Moraga or Matheus Nicolau did much in a tentative scrap, but Nicolau started landing some big shots at the end of the second round and then gained top position late in the third round to win a split decision. Nicolau was +125 while Moraga was a -135 favorite. In a light heavyweight bout, Josh Stansbury took Corey Hendricks’ best shots early before taking advantage of his fading opponent, picking up takedowns and earning top positions in both the second and third rounds to win a decision. Stansbury was victorious as a +130 underdog while Hendricks came up short at -140. In a lightweight fight, Kevin Lee and Jake Matthews battled, but it was Lee who repeatedly looked for and scored with takedowns. Matthews didn’t defend ground and pound well and after being warned, the ref stopped the fight due to unanswered blows. Lee was +145 while Matthews was -155. Pick ’em Fights In a middleweight contest, Anthony Smith landed some big elbows on the feet, but he could not properly defend Cezar Ferreira’s takedowns, eventually losing a decision due to Ferreira’s superior ground position. Both fighters closed at pick ’em -105.
