Michael Johnson: Photo Courtesy | Spike TV
Season 12 of “The Ultimate Fighter” will come down to the two winners of Nam Phan vs. Michael Johnson and Jonathan Brookins vs. Kyle Watson.
The lightweight semi-final fights were set on the Nov. 17 episode. Johnson used takedowns to neutralize Alex Caceras and take a unanimous decision in the season’s big grudge match. Watson swiftly took Aaron Wilkinson down from the clinch, got to back control and secured the tapout with a rear-naked choke. Phan defeated Cody McKenzie to advance to the semi-finals, and Brookins toppled Sako Chivitchyan on the Nov. 10 episode.
Both semi-final fights will take place during a two-hour final episode that will air in two weeks on Dec. 1. The live finale airs Dec. 4 from Las Vegas on Spike TV.
The latest episode scored a 1.3 rating and average of 1.8 million viewers on Spike TV, the same as Nov. 10, maintaining what looks to be a healthy season average. In addition to more antagonizing from Josh Koscheck towards Georges St. Pierre, the episode also saw a visit from famed boxing trainer Freddie Roach, who worked with Team GSP fighters on the focus mitts.