Montreal’s Mike Ricci failed in his bid to become the first Canadian to be named a TUF champion as he lost a unanimous decision to Colton Smith at the TUF 16 finale.
Both men came out with intensity early. Ricci threw a head kick right off the bat as Smith shot in aggressively for a takedown. As Smith attempted to put Ricci on his back, the Canadian began landing elbows and punches. Eventually Smith got the fight where he wanted and controlled the majority of the round. He attempted several rear-naked chokes but Ricci defended well.
At the beginning of the second round, Smith hit Ricci with an inadvertent kick to the groin but it went unnoticed by referee Steve Mazzagatti. The remainder of the round mirrored the majority of the first round with Smith controlling Ricci on the ground.
The final frame saw Smith continue to impose his will on Ricci, controlling him with a powerful top game and attempting rear-naked chokes. Ricci was never in danger of being stopped and with under a minute remaining in the fight he reversed the position and briefly took Smith’s back. He then, in a last-ditch effort, tried for an armbar but slipped off and Smith ended the fight in top position.
The judges scored the contest 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26 all in favour of the 25-year-old Smith who beat Jesse Barrett, Igor Araujo, Eddy Ellis and Jon Manley on his way to the finals.
Congratulations to Colton Smith on winning #TUF16, defeating Mike Ricci via unanimous decision twitter.com/UFC_CA/status/…
— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) December 16, 2012
Prior to Ricci’s appearance, the only other Canadian to advance to the finale was Patrick Cote in season four, back in 2006.
Ricci, 26, knocked out Jason South to get into the house; defeated Dom Waters by unanimous decision in the preliminary round; picked up another unanimous decision over fellow Canadian Michael Hill in the quarterfinals; then knocked out his teammate Neil Magny with a massive elbow in the first round of their semifinal bout.
Ricci’s Tristar teammate and best friend Rory MacDonald was in his corner along with his trainer Firas Zahabi, and UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre was in attendance cheering him on.
The 26-year-old told Sportsnet.ca prior to his fight with Smith that he plans on moving back down to lightweight after this fight — win or lose — because he feels more comfortable fighting at 155 pounds.
Here is a look at the compete results for the TUF 16 finale:
— Roy Nelson def. Matt Mitrione by TKO (punches).
— Colton Smith def. Mike Ricci by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26).
— Pat Barry def. Shane Del Rosario by KO (punches).
— Dustin Poirier def. Jonathan Brookins by submission (d’arce choke).
— Mike Pyle def. James Head via TKO (knee and punches).
— Johnny Bedford def. Marcos Vinicius via KO (punches).
— Rustam Khabilov def. Vinc Pichel by KO (slam and punches).
— T.J. Waldburger def. Nick Catone by submission (triangle choke).
— Hugo Viana def. Reuben Duran by KO (punches).
— Mike Rio def. John Cofer by submission (armbar).
— Tim Elliott def. Jared Papazian by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-26).
