TUF 9 Finale Preview: The Main Card

Damarques Johnson vs. James Wilks

The Breakdown: The welterweight half of TUF comes down to the lone American fighter left, Damarques Johnson, and the Englishman angling to make the evening a clean sweep for the Brits, James Wilks. That will be a problem for Wilks, who lacks experience and got a sweetheart draw into the finals while Johnson has been scoring scalps for years and proved his mettle with an impressive run in reality land. Long story short: The odds are stacked against Wilks, and it looks like Johnson will manage to save the States from an otherwise embarrassing season.

The X Factor: Barring Johnson running face first into a haymaker, Wilks’ best hope here is to get this fight on the ground and go for broke in search of a submission. The obvious problem is that Wilks isn’t much of a wrestler and his physical talents don’t include brute strength, but anytime this fight is on the mat, he’ll at least be dealing with Johnson on even terms. Just how much time Wilks gets there is what will decide his future, or lack thereof, in the UFC.

The Bottom Line: Everyone loves an underdog, but not everyone loves England. It’s a real existential mindbender that Johnson will make simple when he buries his fist three inches inside Wilks’ left eye socket … or maybe the right. Either way, Johnson goes from journeyman to star by beating down Wilks in half the time it took England to win the Falklands War.