Team Nelson’s Colton Smith won a bloody and controversial decision over Team Carwin’s Eddy Ellis on episode six of The Ultimate Fighter 16.
Smith, who has a wrestling and military background, became just the second Team Nelson fighter to be victorious this season.
With 33 professional fights heading into the show, Ellis is the most experienced fighter in the cast and it showed for a lot of the fight.
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In the first round, Smith was able to land several early takedowns but Ellis separated and got back to his feet each time. When the two began striking, Smith came out stronger but midway through the round Ellis landed a big, straight right hand that dropped Smith. Ellis followed up with punches and a left elbow on the ground that cut his opponent over the right eye and Ellis dominated the last two minutes of the round.
The second round began with Smith once again taking the fight to the ground, but this time he was able to control his opponent. He cut open Ellis with elbows, attempted an arm-triangle, passed to side control and continued to landed short elbows that damaged Ellis’s face. With less than one minute remaining in the stanza the referee stood the two up and Smith landed an overhand right that backed Ellis to the cage as the round came to a close.
It seemed obvious that Ellis won the first with Smith taking the second and it was headed to a third and deciding round. However, two of the three judges scored round two 10-8 for Smith and the fight ended up being called a majority decision win for Smith.
This was the fifth consecutive fight on TUF 16 that has gone the distance.
Team Nelson is now 2-3 on the season with Team Carwin’s record mirroring that at 3-2.
Outside of the cage, more drama erupted in the house stemming from another trivial incident. Team Nelson’s Julian Lane, who has become one of the troublemakers in the house, stole some of Team Carwin member Matt Secor’s food but Secor blamed it on Canadian Michael Hill, who didn’t take kindly to the false accusation. The two got into a yelling match but cooler heads prevailed, even though Hill challenged Secor to a fight. With neither man having competed since episode one that matchup is a realistic option.
On the next episode of TUF 16, Roy Nelson makes the fight selection using yet another odd method, TUF 1 winner and former UFC light-heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin helps out Team Nelson in training, and there is another controversial decision.
