Just like when The Final Countdown was released, Europe is absolutely smashing it.
Conor McGregor guided his second fighter to the semi-finals of The Ultimate Fighter 22 as Saul Rogers followed Artem Lobov into the final four.
Lobov knocked out Chris Gruetzemacher in the second round of the first quarter-final on episode 10 of TUF and Rogers clearly took motivation from that victory as he met Ryan Hall.
Many people were backing the winner of this bout to go the whole way and the gameplans were clear from the outset – Rogers wanted to overpower Hall in the striking stakes while Hall wanted to drag the fight to the mat and secure a leg lock of some kind.
From the opening bell, Bolton’s Rogers intelligently avoided jumping into Hall’s guard and he continued to rattle the BJJ black belt with powerful straights shots to the chest and chin.
Hall’s only real way of beating Rogers would have been to engage yet he seemed too tentative and almost afraid of committing to getting in close to his opponent for fear of getting clipped.
Rogers’ power advantage was on full display as he sent Hall flying backwards with a shot to the sternum.
As he started descending into desperation mode, Hall dived on a leg but Rogers remained disciplined and refused to be baited into a Jiu-Jitsu match.
Neither fighter really blew the opening round out of the water but Rogers clearly took it 10-9.
Hall’s face was a picture of a frustration in between rounds and his haste to get the fight to his realm showed early in the second as again he flopped to his back after an exchange in the hope that Rogers would follow him down.
The American finally managed to get his opponent in his guard after a 50/50 clinch resulted in Rogers throwing Hall to his back but even from guard, the grappling wizard failed to truly threaten and the Brit waited for the perfect moment to disengage.
Hall immediately chased a takedown that was stuffed before being caught with his hands down and dropped by a short right hook but, again, the veteran Rogers didn’t rush in in pursuit of the finish.
He remained cerebral and pragmatic, keeping calm under pressure with the knowledge that he was on his way to a victory.
The most danger that Rogers looked in was when Hall jumped on a kimura before switching to an armbar but the composure and positional know-how of the Bolton lightweight allowed him to creep out of the submission.
The final nail in the coffin for Hall was the fact that Rogers was content to ride out the final minute from Hall’s guard, seemingly unconcerned about any late sub attempts.
Rogers looked to have done enough to earn a straightforward 20-18 decision which explains this look of absolute confusion from Conor McGregor as a 19-19 scorecard was read from one judge but the other two judges were more sensible and the Englishman walked away with a majority decision for himself.
Catch The Ultimate Fighter at 3am GMT every Thursday morning on BT Sport (part of the Setanta pack in Ireland). Repeated at 10pm GMT on Thursdays.
