Post Bulletin Article: Speer Successful in 'Ultimate Fighter' debut

Speer successful in 'Ultimate Fighter' debut
11/08/2007

Elgin native captures opening bout
By Ben Pherson
bpherson@postbulletin.com

Tommy Speer fans got just what they were looking for last night - a victory.

Speer, an Elgin native, is a contestant on this season's series of "The Ultimate Fighter," which airs at 9 p.m. Wednesday nights on the Spike Network.

Contestants are battling it out in the octagon for a chance at a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is the premier organization in mixed martial arts. The contract is worth more than $100,000, not to mention the endorsement and sponsorship money available to successful participants.

Through seven weeks of the show, Speer had yet to fight. But he got his chance Wednesday night.

Speer defeated Jon "War Machine" Koppenhaver by unanimous decision.

Things didn't look good early for Speer, who has a 9-1 record as a professional.

Early in the first round, Koppenhaver landed a solid overhand right between Speer's eyes. The punch staggered and cut Speer. Blood poured from his face for the remainder of the round.

While Speer was off-balance, Koppenhaver secured a takedown and immediately took Speer's back.

Speer fought off several good rear-naked choke attempts.

"He was close to getting it three or four times; he had his arm under my chin, but I just kept pulling his other arm off to loosen it," Speer said. "He was close, but there was no way I was tapping out."

Speer said his original game plan was to drive Koppenhaver into the cage in his corner, so he could hear his coaches' instructions.

"But that went out the window pretty quick," Speer said.

For the first 2:30 of the round, Speer had to battle Koppenhaver off his back.

But the momentum shifted after that. Speer eventually isolated one of Koppenhaver's arms.

"It's a move (jiu-jitsu coach) Mario (Roberto) showed me," Speer said. "I got my head on the outside, so my head was by his triceps. I ended up on top of him; it's actually a nice way to get out of there. I was able to mount him, and once I got on top, I could just tell his spirits were really down."

Speer dominated the remainder of the round, and won the first on the judges' scorecards.

"I won that round, but at the time I wasn't certain," Speer said. "When I look back at it, I feel I had the more exciting control and I landed more shots."

In the second round, Speer picked up where he left off. Koppenhaver threw a leg kick, but Speer caught it and took him down with a single-leg.

Speer dominated the round and won on the judges' scorecards, 10-9, though Speer felt it could have been a 10-8 round.

"I really wanted to finish it," Speer said. "But it felt good to get a win."