The televised fight card will open with the season’s most controversial contestant, Junie Browning, against fellow castmate and nemesis Dave Kaplan.  Also fighting on the Spike TV card will be the previously announced rematch of UFC welterweights Kevin Burns and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson and a middleweight clash between Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald and Wilson Gouveia

The undercard also includes “The Ultimate Fighter” cast members John Polakowski vs. Rolando Delgado, George Roop vs. Shane Nelson, Tom Lawlor vs. Kyle Kingsbury, Jules Bruchez vs. Eliot Marshall, and Shane Primm vs. Krzysztof Soszynski.

About The Finalists:

LIGHTWEIGHTS

Efrain Escudero – TEAM NOGUEIRA

Professional Record: 10-0

The 22-year-old mixed martial arts fighter sports a perfect 10-0 professional record as a member of Southwest MMA in Tucson, AZ.  Escudero, who is close friends with training partner and former UFC fighter Drew Fickett, grew up in Yuma, AZ and was a state champion wrestler at Cibola High School in the 140lb. weight class.  Currently studying Criminal Justice and Sociology at Grand Canyon University, Escudero is on pace to graduate in 2009 with aspirations for a career in law enforcement following his time in Octagon®.  A submission specialist, Escudero lists Georges St-Pierre as among the fighters he admires most.

Road To The Finals:

Episode 4: submitted Shane Nelson via triangle in the second round.

Episode 12: submitted Junie Browning in the second round

Phillipe Nover – TEAM NOGUEIRA

Professional Record: 5-0-1

The first ever New York City resident to appear on “The Ultimate Fighter,” Nover was born and raised in Brooklyn.  Training at Universal Defense Systems with Ralph Mitchell, Nover is as diverse as the city he lives in, as he is of Polish and Filipino descent.  The 24-year-old attended Kingsborough Community College and currently worked at Coney Island Hospital as a registered nurse in the ER.  Nover acknowledges his professional life is quite the dichotomy – healing by day but fighting by night.  He began training in martial arts at age nine and attended Leon Goldstein High School in Brooklyn. Nover currently holds a rank of brown belt under his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Teacher Alexandre “Soca” Freitas and fights out of Team Insight.

Road To The Finals:

Episode 8:  defeated Dave Kaplan via rear naked choke in Round 1

Episode 11: defeated George Roop via kimura submission in Round 1

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS

Vinny Magalhaes – TEAM MIR

Professional Record: 2-2, 1 No Contest

A native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Magalhaes is the second competitor on the eight seasons of “The Ultimate Fighter” from Brazil (Jorge Gurgel – Season 3).  The 24-year-old is currently training with Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas.  A three-time World Jiu-Jitsu champion (’02, ’05, ’07), Magalhaes has spent the last ten years perfecting his jiu-jitsu skills, while also taking time to master the English, Spanish and Portuguese languages.  Prior to coming to the states in 2005, Magalhaes was studying for a physical education degree in Brazil, but has since changed his career path and now trains full-time in order to become a UFC champion.

Road To The Finals:

Episode 7: defeated Jules Bruchez by submission via armbar in Round 1

Episode 12: defeated Krzysztof Soszynski by submission via armbar in Round 1

Ryan Bader – TEAM NOGUEIRA

Professional Record: 7-0

The budding 24-year-old mixed martial arts star was a two-time state wrestling champion at McQueen High School in Reno, NV and was ranked third in the nation during his senior year.  Bader continued his education at Arizona State University where he was a 2-time All-American and 3-time All-Pac-10 wrestler.  A justice studies major with a minor in business at ASU, Bader was a roommate of “The Ultimate Fighter 7″ finalist, CB Dolloway.  Bader, who has previously worked as a sales and marketing representative for a telecommunications company in Phoenix, trains with Arizona Combat Sports.  Currently living in Chandler, AZ, Bader enjoys lake-related sports in his spare time.

Road To The Finals:

Episode 3: knocked out Tom Lawlor in the first round

Episode 11: won a unanimous decision over Eliot Marshall http://www.canoe.ca

Former UFC champ Tanner dead at 37

By Jeff Cain, Ken Pishna, and Tom Hamlin/MMAWeekly.com
Sep 8, 11:40 pm EDT

Buzz Up PrintRelated CoverageIole: Tanner his own man Blog: Remembering Tanner Former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champion Evan Tanner was found dead near Palo Verde, Calif. on Monday. He was 37 years old. His management team at the Driving Force Sports management agency confirmed his death to MMAWeekly.com.

Tanner had trekked into the desert on a journey to “cleanse” himself, according to Douglas Vincitorio of Tanner’s management team. “He went out to the desert to do a ‘cleansing’ as he called it. Kind of like ‘Survivorman.’” These short trips were not new to Tanner, said Vincitorio. It is something that he has done numerous times over the years.

“What we were told is that (Sheriff’s officials who found Tanner) believe his motorcycle had run out of gas, so he went to walk out in like 115- to 118-degree heat,” Vincitorio said. “He was miles away from his camp. That’s where the helicopter found him. Right now, they just think that he succumbed to the heat.”

Lt. George Moreno of the Imperial County Sheriff’s Department has reported that Tanner set out treasure hunting on Wednesday, Sept. 3, asking friends to call for help if he didn’t return right away. Lt. Moreno says friends called the Sheriff’s Office on Friday, Sept. 5, and search and rescue teams looked for him throughout the weekend in temperatures up to 114 degrees.

The U.S. Marines used a helicopter to search by air Monday morning, finally spotting a body two miles from the campground where Tanner’s belongings were found earlier, according to Lt. Moreno. While a coroner has yet to confirm the body is Tanner’s, John Hayner, the owner at Driving Force Sports, says people close to to the fighter visually identified his body at the scene.

On Aug. 10, Tanner wrote a blog on Spike TV’s website, proclaiming his desire to start an adventure in the desert east of his new home in Oceanside, Calif. An avid outdoorsman and wandering spirit, he wanted to escape civilization for a while.

“I’m not just going out into the desert, I’m going out into the desert to hunt for lost treasure,” he wrote. “I’m going on a pilgrimage of sorts, a journey to solitude, to do some thinking, and to pay my respects to the great mysteries.”

On Aug. 16, Tanner wrote about collecting supplies for his journey, and wrote about the dangers he might face.

“I plan on going so deep into the desert, that any failure of my equipment, could cost me my life,” he said. “I’ve been doing a great deal of research and study. I want to know all I can about where I’m going, and I want to make sure I have the best equipment.”

Of course, this led followers of his blog to fear for his safety, as they often did when Tanner reported his frequent by-the-seat-of-his-pants adventures. In a blog dated Aug. 27, Tanner tried to calm his audience.

“This isn’t a version of ‘Into the Wild,’” he wrote. “I’m not going out into the desert with a pair of shorts and a bowie knife, to try to live off the land. I’m going fully geared up, and I’m planning on having some fun.”

But he also affirmed that things could go wrong if his equipment wasn’t up to snuff.

“I do plan on going back pretty far, so I did mention in one of my posts that I wanted to make sure to have good quality gear,” he said. “Any failure of gear out in the desert could cause a problem.”

On Sept. 2, Tanner wrote his final blog entry, documenting a training session at a facility in Oceanside.

The Amarillo, Texas native was a high school wrestling stand out who won the state championships his junior and senior years despite only getting into the sport as a sophomore. He entered mixed martial arts in 1997 encouraged by friends.

Tanner rose to the top of the mixed martial arts world by winning the UFC middleweight title over David Terrell at UFC 51: “Super Saturday” Feb. 5, 2005. He lost the title later in the year to Rich Franklin. Tanner, who had a career MMA record of 32-8 last competed in the UFC on June 21 losing to Kendall Grove by split decision.

“He will obviously be sorely missed,” said Vincitorio. Adding, “I think that Evan would want to be remembered as a very complex man with many layers, not just a fighter.”

Tanner was surely a unique personality. He’s eclectic spirit and competitive nature will be sorely missed in the MMA community.