The Ultimate Fighter Season 4 Finale Preview
Jackson vs. Spratt
Nov 10, 2006
Jeremy Jackson
(Pictures) made one of the show’s
biggest blunders and found himself off the show for losing focus …
and chasing tail. Though early on he professed to want a crack at
Chris Lytle (Pictures), his biggest battle this season
was against the dreaded Staph infection. Jackson has traveled a
hard road so you cannot be too tough (no pun intended) on him but
sometimes a person’s poor judgment tends to partially explain their
predicament.
“The Scorpion” trained in many traditional martial arts in his youth and found Robert Ferguson (Pictures) after high school. He began training with “The Prince of Leg Locks” and quickly established himself as a fighter in Ferguson’s Team Freedom. His only UFC appearance was a loss to Nick Diaz (Pictures) in the pair’s third meeting (Diaz holds court with a 2-1 advantage, taking the last two meetings).
Pete Spratt (Pictures) had retired from MMA for a short
time but the fighting bug bites hard and it was a pleasant
surprised to see him in the mix for the fourth season of TUF. Few
who saw it could forget Spratt’s thrilling win over “Ruthless”
Robbie Lawler
(Pictures), when “The Secret Weapon”
tore apart Robbie’s leg like he was swinging a bat at a side of
beef.
Pete won his UFC debut by submission, but soon ran into former welterweight King Carlos Newton (Pictures) and more recently Josh Koscheck (Pictures). The submission game has always been Pete’s Achilles’ heel and the majority of his losses have come that way.
Spratt faced Chris Lytle (Pictures) early on this season. The pair met in ’04 with Pete falling prey to a rear-naked choke and unfortunately this time it would be no different as he would be choked out in this bout too. Ironically it was Jackson’s poor judgment that kept Pete in the running for a shot at the contract. Pete would take to the cage again against Matt Serra (Pictures) only to be dominated on the mat and get pounded from a bad position.
Spratt, a first team All-American wide receiver and a Collegiate Athlete of the Year at South East Oklahoma State, is likely the better overall athlete than Jeremy. But his game is somewhat one-dimensional. The 1995 Golden Gloves champion and Fox Dallas Toughman 2001 contest winner is a striker at heart. Sure the San Shou and Muay Thai competitor can train submission and even score the odd win by choke or armbar but when peering across the cage at a potential victim, Pete’s gut tells him to “knock his ass out.”
Jackson brings the more balanced attack. Even though he took out three consecutive opponents (including Nick Diaz (Pictures)) with strikes to win the Ultimate Athlete 4 tournament, Jeremy is far more at home on the mat than Spratt. If he is irrational enough to stand and trade with the Texan in some misguided machismo play, his night may end quickly and Spratt may be smiling over his downed opponent.
However Jackson is likely mature enough to stick with his strengths and feed off his opponent’s glaring weakness, bringing this one to the ground. Jackson by submission.
“The Scorpion” trained in many traditional martial arts in his youth and found Robert Ferguson (Pictures) after high school. He began training with “The Prince of Leg Locks” and quickly established himself as a fighter in Ferguson’s Team Freedom. His only UFC appearance was a loss to Nick Diaz (Pictures) in the pair’s third meeting (Diaz holds court with a 2-1 advantage, taking the last two meetings).
Advertisement
Pete won his UFC debut by submission, but soon ran into former welterweight King Carlos Newton (Pictures) and more recently Josh Koscheck (Pictures). The submission game has always been Pete’s Achilles’ heel and the majority of his losses have come that way.
Spratt faced Chris Lytle (Pictures) early on this season. The pair met in ’04 with Pete falling prey to a rear-naked choke and unfortunately this time it would be no different as he would be choked out in this bout too. Ironically it was Jackson’s poor judgment that kept Pete in the running for a shot at the contract. Pete would take to the cage again against Matt Serra (Pictures) only to be dominated on the mat and get pounded from a bad position.
Spratt, a first team All-American wide receiver and a Collegiate Athlete of the Year at South East Oklahoma State, is likely the better overall athlete than Jeremy. But his game is somewhat one-dimensional. The 1995 Golden Gloves champion and Fox Dallas Toughman 2001 contest winner is a striker at heart. Sure the San Shou and Muay Thai competitor can train submission and even score the odd win by choke or armbar but when peering across the cage at a potential victim, Pete’s gut tells him to “knock his ass out.”
Jackson brings the more balanced attack. Even though he took out three consecutive opponents (including Nick Diaz (Pictures)) with strikes to win the Ultimate Athlete 4 tournament, Jeremy is far more at home on the mat than Spratt. If he is irrational enough to stand and trade with the Texan in some misguided machismo play, his night may end quickly and Spratt may be smiling over his downed opponent.
However Jackson is likely mature enough to stick with his strengths and feed off his opponent’s glaring weakness, bringing this one to the ground. Jackson by submission.
