| The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Reality, Sports |
| Created by | Frank Fertitta III, Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White |
| Starring | Dana White, Ross Pearson, and George Sotiropoulos |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | FX Australia ESPN UK |
| Release | September 19, 2012 |
The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes is the second foreign version of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter. Like The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, this version was filmed, in its entirety, outside Las Vegas, Nevada and consisted of 13 episodes with a live finale in Australia.[1] The season tournament finale, along with the coaches fight, took place on 14 December 2012 at UFC on FX: Sotiropoulos vs. Pearson.[2]
The series was officially announced by the UFC in May 2012.[3] The name The Smashes is a play on the 130-year-old cricket rivalry between England and Australia called "The Ashes."[1] The UFC held open tryouts during June 2012. The casting call was for Lightweight and Welterweight fighters who are at least 21 years old and have a minimum of two wins in three professional fights.[4]
On 12 July 2012, Dana White announced that the coaches for the season would be Ross Pearson and George Sotiropoulos to represent the UK and Australia respectively.[5]
|
|
Team Australia
Team UKEpisode 1: National Pride
Episode 2: Freak or Unique
Episode 3: Wasabi
Episode 4: Pick Me!
Episode 5: Fight for Your Family
Episode 6: True Warrior
Episode 7: Unwise Words
Episode 8: Phone Home
Episode 9: Easy Route
Episode 10: Smash it UP
Episode 11: Friendly Fire
Episode 12: Little and Large
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Finale | ||||||||
| Robert Whittaker | KO | |||||||||
| Luke Newman | 1 | |||||||||
| Robert Whittaker | TKO | |||||||||
| Xavier Lucas** | 1 | |||||||||
| Manny Rodriguez* | SUB | |||||||||
| Bola Omoyele | 1 | |||||||||
| Robert Whittaker | UD | |||||||||
| Brad Scott | 3 | |||||||||
| Xavier Lucas | 2 | |||||||||
| Brad Scott | UD | |||||||||
| Brad Scott | SD | |||||||||
| Benny Alloway | 3 | |||||||||
| Benny Alloway | TKO | |||||||||
| Valentino Petrescu | 2 | |||||||||
*James Vainikolo was due to fight Xavier Lucas for a spot in the next round to replace the injured Manny Rodriguez. Vainikolo did not make the weight therefore Lucas advanced to the semi-finals.
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Finale | ||||||||
| Richie Vaculik | 2 | |||||||||
| Norman Parke | UD | |||||||||
| Norman Parke | UD | |||||||||
| Brendan Loughnane | 3 | |||||||||
| Patrick Iodice | 2 | |||||||||
| Brendan Loughnane | UD | |||||||||
| Norman Parke | UD | |||||||||
| Colin Fletcher | 3 | |||||||||
| Ben Wall | 2 | |||||||||
| Colin Fletcher | UD | |||||||||
| Colin Fletcher | SUB | |||||||||
| Richie Vaculik | 2 | |||||||||
| Grant Blackler | 1 | |||||||||
| Mike Wilkinson* | SUB | |||||||||
*Mike Wilkinson was injured in training and was replaced by Australian Richie Vaculik.
|
Team Australia | |
|
Team UK | |
UD
|
Unanimous Decision | |
SD
|
Split Decision | |
SUB
|
Submission | |
(T)KO
|
(Technical)KO |
The following $25,000 bonus were awarded to fights that took place during the TUF Smashes season:[6]
| UFC on FX: Sotiropoulos vs. Pearson | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC on FX: Sotiropoulos vs. Pearson | ||||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | 15 December 2012 | |||
| Venue | Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre | |||
| City | Gold Coast, Australia | |||
| Attendance | 5,133[7] | |||
| Total gate | $900,000[7] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC on FX: Sotiropoulos vs. Pearson (also known as UFC on FX 6) was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on 15 December 2012, at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Gold Coast, Australia.[8][9] Due to the time zone difference it aired live on 14 December in North America.[10]
The event featured the final bouts of The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes.[11][12] This was the first UFC event held in Queensland, and the first event in Australia to be held outside New South Wales.[13]
Joe Martinez was the ring announcer in what would be his UFC octagon debut.[14]
Australia's George Sotiropoulos and Britain's Ross Pearson headlined the card in a five-round main event. The pair had been coaching opposite one another on the hit reality TV series The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes.[9][15]
Kyle Noke was expected to face Seth Baczynski at the event. However, Noke was forced out of the bout with an injury and was replaced by Mike Pierce.[16]
Anthony Perosh was expected to face Joey Beltran at the event. However, Perosh was forced from the bout with a toe injury and replaced by Igor Pokrajac.[17]
A bout between Ednaldo Oliveira and Krzysztof Soszynski was originally scheduled for this event.[18] However, Oliveira was forced out of the bout with an injury and Sosynski was pulled from the event as well.[19]
Eddie Mendez was expected to make his promotional debut at the event against Nick Penner. However, Mendez pulled out of the bout citing a shoulder injury and was replaced by fellow newcomer Cody Donovan.[20]
Hacran Dias was expected to face Chad Mendes at the event. However just days before the event, Dias pulled out of the bout citing a shoulder injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Yaotzin Meza.[21]
| Main Card (FX) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Lightweight | Ross Pearson | def. | George Sotiropoulos | TKO (punches) | 3 | 0:41 | |
| Welterweight | Robert Whittaker | def. | Brad Scott | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | [a] |
| Lightweight | Norman Parke | def. | Colin Fletcher | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | [b] |
| Middleweight | Héctor Lombard | def. | Rousimar Palhares | KO (punches) | 1 | 3:38 | |
| Preliminary Card (Fuel TV) | |||||||
| Featherweight | Chad Mendes | def. | Yaotzin Meza | KO (punches) | 1 | 1:55 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Joey Beltran | vs. | Igor Pokrajac | No Contest | 3 | 5:00 | [c] |
| Welterweight | Mike Pierce | def. | Seth Baczynski | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Ben Alloway | def. | Manuel Rodriguez | KO (front kick and punches) | 1 | 4:57 | |
| Lightweight | Mike Wilkinson | def. | Brendan Loughnane | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Cody Donovan | def. | Nick Penner | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:35 | |
Fighters were awarded $40,000 bonuses.[22]
