This Day in MMA History: June 23

On June 23, 2007, The Ultimate Fighter Season 5 Finale was a unique wrap-up to a unique season of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s reality series. Season 5 was the first to feature a single weight class and the first to feature lightweights. The finale was the first to include a fight between the coaches, as B.J. Penn and Jens Pulver headlined the event rather than fight on a subsequent card as previous coaches had done.

The finale itself ended in disappointment. Nate Diaz and Manny Gamburyan gave fans an outstanding first round, featuring Gamburyan’s powerful takedowns and top-position grappling against Diaz’s aggressive offense from his back, before Gamburyan injured his shoulder shooting a takedown just moments into the second round. Just like that, the 22-year-old native of Stockton, California was the Season 5 winner—and his post “TUF” career trajectory would confirm his status as the best prospect from the season—but in the moment, it felt like a letdown.

The main event was far more predictable, as Penn dominated Pulver for a little over a round before finishing him with a rear-naked choke to avenge the first loss of his career. The Prodigy’s long-delayed run as UFC lightweight champ was about to begin, while Pulver, already in decline, was about to embark on a 1-5 run in World Extreme Cagefighting.