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[The Sword]

Leonard Garcia, following some confusion, will indeed get to fight at “The Ultimate Fighter Season 12″ finale, and it will be against one of the competitors from the show. Nam Phan will drop back down to featherweight to face the Team Jackson fighter on the main card of Saturday night’s event in Las Vegas.

Garcia was originally thought to be injured when his fight with friend and teammate Tyler Toner was unexpectedly canceled, but the former WEC fighter will instead return to the UFC this weekend.

The new bout was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the fight.

Garcia enters the show on Saturday night coming off a loss to Mark Hominick in his last fight, but brings with him a fire that few can match in the cage. A former top contender in the featherweight division, Garcia will look to get back on track when he faces Phan at the finale.

Phan makes his return to action after dropping a split decision to Michael Johnson in the semifinals of TUF 12. He was the only member of Team Koscheck to make it that far in the tournament, but came up just short in his effort to become “The Ultimate Fighter Season 12″ champion.

Phan has bounced back and forth between featherweight and lightweight in the past, and will go back down to 145 pounds for the fight against Garcia.

Leonard Garcia Meets Nam Phan At TUF 12 Finale | MMAWeekly.com

This should good fight.

[TN94z]

I respectfully disagree. I don't think Phan's standup is as good as they were making it out to be on the show. I see Garcia completely destroying Phan in the first round....but that's just my opinion

[IceCold48]

ahh fuck i missed the show last night. oh well i really thought nam was going to lose anyway. maybe you should change the title to SPOILERS: Leornad Garcia to meet TUF 12 contestant at finale.

[Chute_Boxe44]

Originally Posted by TN94z

I respectfully disagree. I don't think Phan's standup is as good as they were making it out to be on the show. I see Garcia completely destroying Phan in the first round....but that's just my opinion

Well Garcia isn't exactly technically sound by any means either, dude can just throw vicious bombs and has a chin to match (like Leben).

Won't be the prettiest fight, but should be a brawl none the less.

[ckauffman28]

garcia by stoppage or ud

[Xanatos]

Originally Posted by TN94z

I respectfully disagree. I don't think Phan's standup is as good as they were making it out to be on the show. I see Garcia completely destroying Phan in the first round....but that's just my opinion

I think his standup is good enough to hang with Garcia, but it's Garcia's chin that will make the difference. There's gonna be a lot of punches thrown in the first round, the second round Garcia will go in for the kill.

Originally Posted by IceCold48

ahh fuck i missed the show last night. oh well i really thought nam was going to lose anyway. maybe you should change the title to SPOILERS: Leornad Garcia to meet TUF 12 contestant at finale.

agreed. i fell asleep somewhere between the second round and the decision so this was a little annoying to find out this way. But oh well.

[iced]

wow, kind of throwing nam a really tough first fight. sort of odd for tuf eh?!

nam seems to have a pretty good chin too from what we have seen, but i think that he will struggle with garcia's hand speed. should be a great fight though!

[The Sword]

Originally Posted by TN94z

I respectfully disagree. I don't think Phan's standup is as good as they were making it out to be on the show. I see Garcia completely destroying Phan in the first round....but that's just my opinion

I kind of agree with you. I see Garcia T(KO) him the 1st or 2nd round. but I have never seen Garcia in a boring fight ever. That why I said it should be a good fight.

[beau420]

Originally Posted by iced

wow, kind of throwing nam a really tough first fight. sort of odd for tuf eh?!

nam seems to have a pretty good chin too from what we have seen, but i think that he will struggle with garcia's hand speed. should be a great fight though!

No disrespet to Garcia, but I think he has some of the worst skills at 145. The only thing that has got him so far is his ability to take punches and his heart. Apart from a decent jab, his standup is so technically wrong and horrible....but very entertaining.

I think he is one of the weaker 145 lbs fighters in Zuffa. I think it is a good challenge for Nam, who is a little slower (especially for 145) but he has the same type of heart. He is technically better, but I think his defense and chin are still suspect....he did somewhat impress me in that Michael Johnson fight. I think he has much better all round skills than Garcia, but Garcia does have more heart and decent wrestling skills.

I think both are going to stand and bang with about a minute every round with someone trying to get a takedown or trying to work the clinch only to go back to standing and swinging.

I think it will be a close fight, Garcia might win by KO....or UD...or Nam possibly by UD. I think if Nam uses his kicks and Garcia doesn't try and shoot, then Nam will just use his movement and pick Garcia apart.

[TN94z]

Originally Posted by Chute_Boxe44

Well Garcia isn't exactly technically sound by any means either, dude can just throw vicious bombs and has a chin to match (like Leben).

Won't be the prettiest fight, but should be a brawl none the less.

You are right, he doesn't have technical standup by ANY means, but I think his standup is better than Johnson's and Johnson beat Nam up in the standup. I also think that Garcia has a better chin, better cardio, and better power than Johnson.

Originally Posted by Xanatos

I think his standup is good enough to hang with Garcia, but it's Garcia's chin that will make the difference. There's gonna be a lot of punches thrown in the first round, the second round Garcia will go in for the kill.



agreed. i fell asleep somewhere between the second round and the decision so this was a little annoying to find out this way. But oh well.

It will have to improve, IMO. His standup is okay as long as he is on the offense. Garcia will be in his face much more than TUF contestants were. I just think that Nam is really getting thrown into a tough situation for his first fight.

Originally Posted by The Sword

I kind of agree with you. I see Garcia T(KO) him the 1st or 2nd round. but I have never seen Garcia in a boring fight ever. That why I said it should be a good fight.

I agree with you and I see what you are saying now. It won't be boring by any means.