LAS VEGAS -- It was a clean sweep for Team Nogueira at The Ultimate Fighter finale Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Mexican fighter Ephraim Escudero used his superior wrestling skills to take down Brooklyn, N.Y.'s Phillipe Nover while Reno, Nev.'s Ryan Bader took care of Brazil's Vinny Magalhaes with one solid punch as the two won the lightweight and light-heavyweight Ultimate Fighter titles, respectively.

In the final fight of the event, which took place in front of just over 1,000 fans at The Pearl at The Palms, Nover took two out of three rounds to win a unanimous decision. Escudero, who was thought he might have trouble with the striking of his opponent, was able to dictate the pace of the bout through the first two rounds.

An All-American wrestler at college, Escudero was able to maneuver his way out of any punches and submission Nover attempted, and took Nover to the ground on numerous occasions. He was able to work some ground and pound from the half guard in the early rounds and frustrate Nover.

The last eight seconds of the second round were the most eventful. With Nover still in half guard, he went for a leg lock. Escudero pulled out quickly but tripped, and then Nover hit him with a big body kick as he recovered. Escudero shook it off like nothing, immediately grabbing hold of Nover's body and slamming him to the ground.

Nover tried hard to get a submission in the third round and had Escudero in a tough spot for a potential omoplata. Escudero hung in and eventually wiggled out. Nover finished the round trying to ground and pound and went for a desperate attempt at an arm bar but it was too little, too late.

The other title fight went a lot quicker as Ryan Bader connected with an overhand right to the temple that ended the fight at 2:18 of the first round.

Bader slipped trying for a body kick early in the opening frame but he was able to recover before Magalhaes, the only member of Team Mir represented in the finals, could inflict any damage. Magalhaes, a jiu-jitsu ace, was unable to get the fight to the ground and Bader landed a overhand right, which was partially deflected by Magalhaes' arm, but it caught the side of his head, sending him to the mat. Magalhaes rolled to try to avoid more shots from Bader but unable to defend his head, the referee stopped the fight

The Ultimate Fighter bad boy Junie (The Lunatic) Browning may not have won over any fans Saturday night, but he certainly silenced some critics.

Browning, perhaps the most hated participant in the history of the UFC's reality show, submitted Dave Kaplan with an impressive arm bar 1:32 into the second round of his lightweight bout.

The Lexington, Kentucky, fighter who aggravated fans and housemates alike throughout the eighth season of the show with his attitude and erratic behaviour, lost in the semi-final to Vinny Magalhaes and then announced he was done as an MMA fighter. But he since changed his tune and joined up with Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas and under the tutelage of trainer Shawn Tompkins of London, Ont., vastly improved his game.

While Browning entered the Octagon to boos from the crowd of just over 1,000 and regularly heard taunts during his fight, it didn't appear to affect him. He took a very aggressive approach against Kaplan with his striking and worked for submissions on a number of occasions. Browning twice had an opportunity for a rear naked choke before he managed to lock in an arm bar in the second, which drew reluctant applause from the crowd.

In a fight not featuring contestants from The Ultimate Fighter, Canadian middleweight Jason MacDonald was bloodied up in a disappointing defeat to former 205-pounder Wilson Gouveia. The bout was scheduled to be a 185-pound contest but was fought at a catchweight of 189 pounds when Gouveia was unable to make the target weight limit of 186.

The fight started tentatively with both fighters feeling each other out and throwing the occasional overhand or leg kick. Midway through the opening round, Gouveia used a right jab, left jab combo that knocked the Red Deer, Alta., fighter straight to the ground. Gouveia pounced and tried to finish with punches and hammer fists.

MacDonald was able to block most of the shots, but then Gouveia repositioned himself and landed vicious elbows that cut MacDonald above his forehead. The referee called the bout as MacDonald was left with blood dripping down his face. MacDonald said the gash required 10 stitches.

In a rematch of a bout between welterweights Anthony Johnson and Kevin Burns in which Johnson lost despite taking numerous thumbs to his eye, Johnson got redemption and in stunning fashion. The bout, which through two rounds was relatively uneventful and spent mostly on the ground, ended 28 seconds into the third on a brutal left leg kick to the side of Burns' head which knocked him out cold.

One Canadian on the card had a good night. Winnipeg-raised Krzysztof (The Polish Experiment) Soszynski rebounded from a tough loss in his semi-final bout with an impressive debut victory in the UFC, submitting an overmatched Shane Primm in the second round. The light-heavyweight matchup rounded out the undercard of the event held at the venue, whose capacity is much smaller than regular UFC events.

Soszynski, who was born in Poland, said he was going to come out firing and look for the knockout and he did just that. The veteran striker, who has fought in the IFL and is the current TKO heavyweight champion, came out firing right after the opening bell. Soszynski connected with a solid right early that wobbled Primm. That set the tone for the first round, which was punctuated by a full body slam by Soszynski, as well as the bout.

Primm was game to fight a standup battle and seemed wiling to exchange bombs with the shorter Soszynski. But as Soszynski continued to set the pace in the fight, it appeared to wear down his relatively inexperienced opponent. With 30 seconds left in the first round, Soszynski worked for a kimura from half-guard but eventually let it go.

Primm tried to come out more aggressively in the second round, but a left jab, overhand right combo from Soszynski helped the Canadian establish control and get the bout back to ground. Again from half-guard Soszynski, who now lives in Temecula, Calif., and trains out of Team Quest with Dan Henderson, landed a number of elbows and hammer fists before locking on another kimura. This time he applied it hard and forced Primm to tap at 3:27.

"(The kimura is) one of my favourite submissions," Soszynski said in his post-fight interview. "He wasn't as strong as I thought he would be. So I thought I might as well crank it really hard, as hard as I can and see if he taps."

Earlier, Shane Nelson won a split decision over George Roop in a back-and-forth battle that was up in the air right until the very end. Nelson earned the edge, according to two of the three judges, by landing more shots through two rounds and applying a couple of submissions that nearly put away his opponent.

Nelson sunk in a standing guillotine choke in the second round, which he held for almost a minute before Roop was able to wiggle out of it, drawing cheers from the crowd.

Much of the third round was spent on the ground with both fighters looking to submit each other. The bout ended with Nelson applying a really tight heel hook which Roop was able to withstand before the bell sounded.

"The heel hook was deep," Nelson said. "A few more seconds (and) he would have tapped."

In another light-heavyweight bout, Tom Lawlor took two of three rounds for a unanimous decision win over Kyle Kingsbury.

And Eliot Marshall made quick work of his opponent Jules Bruchez. landing a big strike early and later eventually taking his listless opponent down and going straight into side control. When Marshall moved to full mount, Bruchez gave up his back trying to get out and Marshall quickly sunk in a rear naked choke.

The first bout of the night drew some noise early as San Diego native Rolando Delgado connected with a echoing right knee that sent the fans into a mini-frenzy -- and his opponent John Polakowski to the mat. Delgado quickly mounted but Polakowski displayed his strong chin as the jiu-jitsu fighter was unable to finish.

Delgado looked for another knee in the second round but missed, yet he was then able to take the fight to the ground. That's where Delgadon's jiu-jitsu experience won out as he worked a beautiful guillotine, forcing Polakowski to tap at 2:18.

NOTES: Soszynski got a bonus for his win as he earned submission of the night honours. Anthony Johnson got knockout of the night while Junie Browning and Dave Kaplan's battle was awarded fight of the night.