Nover v Escudero, Bader v Magalhaes To Determine Season 8's Ultimate Fighters

TUF 8 lightweights Phillipe Nover (4-0) and Efrain Escudero (6-0) and light heavyweights “Darth” Ryan Bader (5-0) and “Pezao” Vinicius Magalhaes (3-3) secured a spot in the finals in Wednesday night’s episodes of the reality television series.

Following the broadcast the UFC announced the full lineup for the live finale of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir 13 December in Las Vegas.

Also on the card are a previously reported bout between middleweights “The Athlete” Jason MacDonald (19-10) and Wilson Gouveia (11-5), and a rematch between Kevin Burns (7-1) and “Rumble” Anthony Johnson (5-2).

Rounding out the main card is a lightweight match-up between TUF 8 competitors Junie Allen Browning (2-0) and David Kaplan (0-0).

The remaining ten competitors will also fight:

“The Experiment” Krzysztof Soszynski (16-8-1) v Shane Primm (3-0)

Eliot Marshall (4-1) v Jules Bruchez (1-0)

Kyle Kingsbury (8-1) v Tom Lawlor (4-1)

Shane Nelson (9-2) v George Roop (8-1)

Rolando Delgado (5-3-1) v John Polakowski (2-1)

In the semi-finals, Nover defeated Roop via first-round kimura, Escudero submitted Browning with a D’arce choke in round two, Bader won a unanimous decision over Marshall, and Magalhaes armbarred Soszynski in the first round.

Johnson will look to avenge his loss to Burns via eye poke in July, which was severe enough to require surgery.