TUF Recap: The Nastiest Fighter in TUF History

It's down to the last two quarterfinal fights of 'The Ultimate Fighter 17', with Josh Samman taking on Jimmy Quinlan, and Bubba McDaniel going up against the baddest man on the show, Uriah Hall.

The matchup with Hall is one that doesn't look good for McDaniel on paper, and last week he talked about how he didn't want to fight Uriah. This episode begins with McDaniel not practicing and telling Jon Jones he is in pain, having already fought three times on the show. "I feel completely drained, like, I'm pretty much just wantin' to be asleep and then my back has been hurting again too," McDaniel. Jones says he's not sure if Bubba can fight again, or if he even wants to.

Jones does what any smart coach would do -- get a replacement waiting in the wings. "Stay ready," Jones tells Clint Hester. Hester wanted the wild card spot and said if he gets called to fight he will be ready.

Samman is getting ready for his bout with Jimmy Quinlan, and his mouth is already in top form. "Jimmy's going to shoot from all the way from the other side of the cage, he's so scared to stand up and strike with me."

Samman also continues to praise...himself. "I certainly think that I'm the strongest seed in the tournament: record-wise, experience-wise and skill-wise. I think that for the most part every knows that I'm not an easy fight for anyone."

Samman concedes that Quinlan is the better wrestler, but he doesn't think it's enough to win the fight for him. But as teammate Gilbert Smith points out, Samman has been battling a leg and rib injury, so stifling takedowns could be a hard bargain for Samman.

Meanwhile, McDaniel is just oozing optimism. "The next fight coming up is gonna suck. I gotta take on the guy that everybody considers the toughest guy on the other team." McDaniel thinks that Dana White gave him the Hall fight because he wants him out of the tourney. Why? Because White didn't like his previous fights.

Over at Team Sonnen's training session, Quinlan is feeling good about his chances, and so his coach. "You can't detour him," Sonnen says of Quinlan. "He's never lost. Jimmy has never lost."

And it's on to Quinlan vs. Samman. Quinlan wastes no time trying to get Samman to the ground, slamming him down hard. But in their brief opening exchange, Samman opened Quinlan's face up and he is leaking blood all over the mat. Samman does a solid job of defending from his back, with Jones even calling for the ref to stand them up. Samman is actually scoring more from the bottom than Quinlan is from top position.

Samman is able to get to his feet with about a minute left and goes into attack mode. He nails Quinlan with two well-placed knees, and Quinlan goes to his knees. Samman takes his back, sinks his hooks in and starts letting loose. Quinlan actually taps to strikes with just about :20 left in the round. Samman advances via TKO, in an outstanding performance. He is the only fighter in the tournament to finish all of his fights, and do it in the first round.

Quinlan says that he lost motivation when Samman took his back. "There's a lot that goes into it, but basically it came down to quitting," I doubt we will see Quinlan in the UFC much, if at all. His style is not very exciting, and tapping to strikes is really frowned upon and rarely seen at this level.

It's on to the premiere matchup of the episode, TUF killer Uriah Hall against Bubba McDaniel. Hall wastes no time in asserting his will. He lands a knee to McDaniel's body and follows that up with a right hand that drops McDaniel. Hall moves in for the kill, and after two more strikes Herb Dean stops the fight. It took Hall just :09 to beat McDaniel.

McDaniel is out of sorts, face first on the mat and bleeding. "What's wrong? Why is my eye f----d up? My eye hurts." He's not sure what is going on.

Dana White is sitting next to Carlos Condit and tells him, "Dude, I'm telling you...when this guy (Hall) knocks people out, it's scary."

Sonnen is standing by Hall in the cage as they attend to McDaniel. "You're a contender, Uriah, for the title. I spent five years in that weight class. You're a contender," Sonnen says. That's some high praise for someone that hasn't even had their first official UFC fight yet.

McDaniel is still having trouble with his eye, saying that there is something wrong inside of it. But he starts to come around and sits up.

White talks more about the power and nastiness that is Uriah Hall. "The way that this guy knocks people out, you don't even want to clap. You feel bad clapping. It's vicious, it's quick and it's nasty. This guy is the nastiest guy in Ultimate Fighter history."

It's down to the final four fighters. The last two fights will be: Josh Samman vs. Kelvin Gastelum and Uriah Hall vs. Dylan Andrews. Who do you like to get to the TUF finale? Let us know in the comments and we'll see you next week.