Preview: ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ 27 Finale

TUF Featherweight Final:
Brad Katona (6-0) vs. Jay Cucciniello (8-0)
Odds: (n/a)

Katona punched his ticket with pace and some crafty ground skills. The Canadian tends to start slow, but after the first couple minutes, he finds his gear and goes to work. The SBG Ireland transplant throws fairly basic boxing combinations and works a steady diet of calf kicks that scored consistently on the show. He is there to be countered when he comes in on straight lines, but he showed off toughness to fight through a broken nose in his semi-final bout. Katona can wrestle doggedly, but he isn’t a superior wrestler. Once in top position, though, he actively looks to pass and land ground-and-pound to set up a submission. Cucciniello got redemption on the show as one of the injury replacements.

He was flat in his first showing, marching into combinations and takedowns, and he spent nearly the entire second round with his opponent attached to his back. But he made the most of his second chance, sprawl-and-brawling prohibitive favorite Tyler Diamond after getting viciously dropped twice in the first 30 seconds. The Brit is also very hittable. He wants to march his opponent down and feed him a steady diet of hooks with both hands. Cucciniello will attack the head and body with equal prejudice, but that can leave his chin even more badly exposed. The Barnatt Team rep has a good mix of knockouts and submissions on his record, and he demonstrated his own grittiness in fighting off multiple submission attempts on the show. But his offensive wrestling is sub-par. Katona displayed a commendable ability to adapt, so he outworks Cucciniello, who is a bit too straightforward for his own good. Katona takes it on points.

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