“Rumble” Anthony Johnson (6-2), Junie Allen Browning (3-0), David Kaplan (2-2), and “The Experiment” Krzysztof Soszynski (17-8-1) all walked away with $25,000 bonuses after their fights Saturday night at The Ultimate Fighter 8 finale in Las Vegas.

Johnson earned “Knockout of the Night” with a head kick that dropped Kevin Burns (7-2) to the mat in the third round.

Browning and Kaplan’s two-round brawl was “Fight of the Night”, which Browning finished via armbar.
Soszynski won “Submission of the Night” with his second-round kimura on Shan Primm (3-1).

Junie Allen Browning (3-0) submitted David Kaplan (2-2) with an armbar in round two at the live finale of The Ultimate Fighter 8 in Las Vegas 13 December, showing his critics that he might indeed belong in the Octagon.

Browning opened with an inside left kick that hit Kaplan in the cup. After an immediate apology from Browning, Kaplan recovered and the fight continued. The lightweights stood and banged with Browning throwing the crisper, more accurate combinations. Browning landed punches and a flying knee, interspersing them with kicks – each strike looked like it hurt. Both fighters attempted submissions when the fight went to the mat after Browning slipped, Kaplan attempting leg locks and Browning twice tried for a rear naked choke, but neither was able to finish. They stood, and ended the round with knees from Kaplan and an elbow from Junie.

Kaplan started round two with looping punches. Junie went for the double-leg takedown and landed in Kaplan’s half guard. Browning passed into side control, and smoothly transitioned into an tight armbar. Kaplan was forced to tap at 1:32 of round two.

"The fight starts right now," proclaimed Fighters.com's top heavyweight contender "Minotauro" Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1) about his eventual UFC title defense turned fight for top UFC contendership versus Frank Mir (11-3). UFC President Dana White proclaimed the same thing to this season's 32 contestants to be coached by Nog' and Mir for the TUF 8 championship at lightweight and light heavyweight; but, before he could finish his sentence, Phillipe Nover (5-0-1) hit the deck in a fainting spell. "Fainting Phillipe" White called him; and, Nover had a tough opening challenge versus Joe Duarte (3-0). "I'm going to have to make him faint again," Duarte said before the fight. But, it was Duarte who had to tap in a Nover rear naked choke in the second round to keep from fainting. Nover opened the first round with a head kick, followed by a body kick. "He hits like a heavyweight," Nog' said. But, Duarte countered a Nover leg kick with a straight left that dropped Nover. Duarte pounced; and, Nover gave up his back and ate an elbow.  But, Nover actually pounded Duarte while Duarte had his back and attempted a rear naked choke. ...

Monday the UFC officially announced its line-up for the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, premiering 17 September on SpikeTV. The 16 lightweights and 16 light heavyweights will be coached by Fighters.com's top heavyweight contender and interim UFC Champion “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1) and former UFC Heavyweight Champ Frank Mir (11-3). Lightweights Jose Aguilar (0-0) Fernando Bernstein (0-0) Junie Allen Browning (1-0) Rolando Delgado (0-0) Joseph Duarte (0-0) Efrain Escudero (10-0) Brandon Garner (4-1) David Kaplan (0-0) Eric Magee (1-1) Brian McLaughlin (0-0) Wesley Murch (3-2) Shane Nelson (9-3) Phillipe Nover (5-0-1) Ido Pariente (8-3) John Polakowski (2-1) George Roop (8-3) Light Heavyweights Ryan Bader (7-0) Antwain Britt (3-1) Jules Bruchez (0-0) Charles Diaz (3-0) Lance Evans (2-2) Karen Grigoryan (6-1) Jason Guida (17-17) "Big Deal" Ryan Jimmo (6-1) Kyle Kingsbury (7-1) Tom Lawlor (4-1) Ryan Lopez (4-4) "Pezao" Vinicius Magalhaes (0-1) Eliot Marshall (5-1) Sean O’Connell (0-0) Shane Primm (1-0) Krzysztof Soszynski (15-8-1) ...