The TUF 17 Finale took place tonight at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and it proved to be a great show as it produced eight awesome finishes as well as four fights that went to decision. Overall, 10 favorites cashed, while two underdogs came through in the fights offered by Several Bookmakers. Here’s a betting recap for the event based on the closing MMA odds: TUF 17 Betting Favorites That Won In the main event of the evening, Urijah Faber defeated Scott Jorgensen via fourth-round submission. It was a somewhat-competitive bantamweight fight, but Faber pretty much controlled the first three rounds before locking in the rear-naked choke in the fourth. Faber was amongst the biggest favorites on the entire card, as “The California Kid” closed at -450 (bet $450 to win $100) as compared to Jorgensen, who closed as a +400 underdog (bet $100 to win $400). In the second women’s bantamweight bout in UFC history, Cat Zingano defeated Miesha Tate via third-round TKO (knees) to get a title shot against Ronday Rousey. It was an excellent back and forth fight between the two women, who each shared a piece of the “Fight of the Night” award. Zingano will now coach opposite Rousey on TUF 18 and the two will fight for the title this winter while Tate will be left to consider her future in the sport. Zingano closed at -115, while Tate closed at +105. In a heavyweight bout, Travis Browne destroyed Gabriel Gonzaga with brutal elbows to win via first-round KO. It was a vicious performance by Browne, who appeared to hit Gonzaga with a few illegal elbow strikes in his barrage of elbows along the cage. However, the referee never called a foul and awarded Browne the win. Browne closed at -245, while Gonzaga closed at +225. In the opening main-card fight, Bubba McDaniel defeated Gilbert Smith via third-round submission (triangle choke). It was a very nice performance by McDaniel, who bounced back from the brutal loss to Uriah Hall on TUF to win in his UFC debut. McDaniel closed at -210, while Smith closed at +190. In the main event of the FUEL TV prelims, Josh Samman came back from a dominant first round by Kevin Casey to knock him opponent out in the second round with brutal strikes from the clinch. Casey won the first round easily with his submission attempts and ground control, but after he gassed out Samman started to take it to him in the second and get the TKO win. Samman was the biggest favorite on the card and closed at -455, while Casey was the biggest underdog at +405. In a middleweight war, Collin Hart and Luke Barnatt fought three tough rounds but ultimately it was Barnatt who got the judges’ decision, winning the fight 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28. It was indeed a very close fight but the majority of the Twitter world scored it for Hart and so some may label this as a robbery, although that’s probably too strong a word. Barnatt closed at -115, while Hart closed at +105. In another middleweight bout, Dylan Andrews defeated Jimmy Quinlan via first-round TKO with a solid barrage of punches to the head of Quinlan. It appeared as though Quinlan, a BJJ expert, didn’t like being hit, and Andrews was able to get the referee to stop the fight quickly. Andrews closed at -130, while Quinlan closed at +120. A middleweight fight between Clint Hester and Bristol Marunde was one of the weirdest fights in recent memory. After two uninspiring rounds between the two fighters, Hester was also to hit Marunde with a standing elbow in the third and win via KO. It was a strange fight, but Hester cashed out as a -140 favorite, while Marunde closed at +130. In a featherweight bout, Maximo Blanco eeked out a close decision win over Sam Sicilia in an exciting brawl that was marred by Blanco’s numerous cage grabs. However, referee Kim Winslow didn’t give Blanco a point deduction and the judges scored it 29-28, 29-28, and 29-28 in favor of Blanco, who won his first fight under the Zuffa banner. Blanco closed at -195, while Sicilia closed at +180. And in the opening fight of the night, Daniel Pineda was able to coax the tap out of Justin Lawrence as he got the kimura locked in a cruised to an early-first round finish. Pineda closed at -110, while Lawrence was +100. TUF 17 Betting Underdogs That Won In the co-main event of the evening, 21-year-old Kelvin Gastelum busted the Uriah Hall hype train as he defeated Hall via split decision, the judges scoring it 29-28, 28-29, and 29-28 in favor of Gastelum, who is the second-youngest fighter in the UFC. Gastelum controlled the majority of the fight with his dominant ground control, although Hall definitely did land his strikes. However, at the end of the day, the right man was awarded the victory in yet another TUF Finale that ended in an upset. Gastelum closed at +258, while Hall closed at -285. In a featherweight bout, Cole Miller saved his job with the UFC as he defeated veteran Bart Palaszewski via submission (rear-naked choke) in the first round. It appeared as though the fight was going Palaszewski’s way in the standup, but once Miller took the fight to the ground he sunk in his hooks and finished off the choke. Miller closed as a +135 favorite, while “Bartimus” closed at -145.
