Cat Zingano, 7-0, is the clear underdog, has decent grappling but not on the same scale as Tate. I see Tate defeating Zingano by unanimous decision.

In tonight’s headliner at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, bantamweight title contenders Urijah Faber and Scott Jorgensen meet in a match-up pitching technical wrestling and striking skills.

Both fighters have been outgunned against champions Dominick Cruz and Renan Barao, so straight to a title shot is unlikely for the victor. Yet triumph here, and they stay in the mix if Eddie Wineland defeats interim champion Barao at UFC 161 on June 15.

TUF Finale set up for Uriah Hall to shine against Kevin Gastelum

After a brilliant TUF season replete with highlight-reel finishes, comebacks and drama, Uriah Hall and Kevin Gastelum face off in the final of TUF 17 tonight.

New Yorker Hall and Gastelum of Yuma, Ariz are both are now within reach of a lucrative contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and a brand new Harley Davidson.

Gastelum has impressive wrestling, Hall has a devastating stand-up game and a silky submission game on the ground. Hall remains one of the most hyped, talked-about fighters in the history of TUF.

He made his mark in the series by standing alone, and staying apart from the group – a collection of mature athletes who were extremely professional during the series.

Gastelum, at 21 the youngest fighter in TUF history, controlled Josh Samman on the ground in the semi-final, and avoided submission attempts before finishing the fight via rear-naked choke.

Hall's match against Dylan Andrews was more one-sided, Hall using jabs and kicks, and eventually finishing the bloodied Antipodean from the top with strikes.

FULL TUF 17 SEASON RESULTS AT A GLANCE:

Team Sonnen – coached by UFC light heavyweight Chael Sonnen – (8-6)

Luke Barnatt (1-1, TKO win over Gilbert Smith in episode 2, TKOd by Dylan Andrews in episode 10)
Uriah Hall (3-0, KOd Adam Cella in episode 3, KOd Bubba McDaniel in episode 11, TKOd Dylan Andrews in episode 12)
Zak Cummings (0-1, lost a UD to Dylan Andrews in episode 8)
Tor Troeng (0-1, TKOd by Josh Samman in episode 6)
Jimmy Quinlan (1-1, submitted Clint Hester in episode 7, tapped to strikes from Josh Samman in episode 11)
Kevin Casey (0-2, lost a UD to Collin Hart in episode 4, lost via TKO [failure to answer to bell] to Bubba McDaniel in episode 9)
Kelvin Gastelum (3-0, submitted Bubba McDaniel in episode 5, defeated Collin Hart by TKO in episode 10, submitted Josh Samman in episode 12)

Team Jones – coached by UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones – (6-8)

Clint Hester (0-1, submitted by Jimmy Quinlan in episode 7)
Josh Samman (2-1, TKO win over Tor Troeng in episode 6, TKO win over Jimmy Quinlan [tapped to strikes] in episode 11, submitted by Kelvin Gastelum in episode 12)
Bubba McDaniel (1-2, submitted by Kelvin Gastelum in episode 5, defeated Kevin Casey by TKO [failure to answer to bell] in episode 9, knocked out by Uriah Hall in episode 11)
Gilbert Smith (0-1, TKOd by Luke Barnatt in episode 2)
Collin Hart (1-1, defeated Kevin Casey by UD in episode 4, TKOd by Kelvin Gastelum in episode 10)
Adam Cella (0-1, KOd by Uriah Hall in episode 3)
Dylan Andrews (2-1, defeated Zak Cummings by UD in episode 8, defeated Luke Barnatt by TKO in episode 10, TKOd by Uriah Hall in episode 12)

All but two of this season’s cast members make their return on the TUF Finale card, as Thor Troeng last weekend submitted Adam Cella at UFC on FUEL TV 9, in Stockholm, to the delight of the Scandinavian crowd.

Luke Barnatt, the sole British fighter in the series, faces Collin Hart. Hear Luke speak to me this week about the series, and his thoughts on the fight tonight here.

No climbdown from Swedish MMA Federation medical committee over Alex Gustafsson debacle

The internal review held by the Swedish MMA Federation into its medical committee's procedures has fully justified its team's decision to withdraw Alex Gustafsson four days before he was due to fight in Stockholm against Gegard Mousasi last weekend.

So - no climbdown, or change in procedure. The Swedish MMA Federation has simply justified its decision. At the time, UFC President Dana White called it "a horrible job", citing "inexperience" on the commission's part, with an eleventh hour opponent in Ilir Laitifi found for Mousasi.

All the statement will do is encourage fighter's to steer clear of the medical commission in Sweden, pre-fight.

Statement (in full) from the Medical Committee of the Swedish MMA Federation (SMMAF):

On Saturday the 30th of March a SMMAF doctor examined Mr. Alexander Gustafsson and forwarded images of the injury, pre and post sutures, to two other SMMAF doctors. Together they made the assessment that Gustafsson’s injury was of such a nature that he would not be able to compete nor partake in full–contact sparring for another 6 weeks or more without risking further injury and that it was highly unlikely that he would be cleared at the medical check the day before the match. The cut was both wide and deep and in a sensitive area. Consequently, he could not at that time be deemed fit to safely compete in the match. It was formally decided on the 2nd of April that Gustafsson´s match was stopped through the ruling of the Medical Committee. Questions have been raised regarding the assessment of the Medical Committee and the SMMAF board has requested we supply the Federation with a formal clarification on the details of the decision.

After 48 hours a sutured wound is re-epithelialized, meaning that there is a thin layer of cells covering it. Wound strength gradually increases during the healing process, and after 2 weeks a wound has less than 10% of its final healed strength. By this time, most superficial or percutaneous closure materials are removed, and the resulting wound has little to rely on for strength unless additional support is available. Additional support in this case would be tape but that is not allowed during an MMA match according to SMMAF rules. At this point the scar is more or less visible to the naked eye, but the damaged tissue is not healed. Wound strength increases to 20% by 3 weeks and to 50% by 4 weeks. At 3-6 months, a wound achieves its maximum strength, which is 70-80% of that of normal skin.

In the event of a wound of this nature, it will be enough with only a moderate impact in the eye area for the wound to open up again. In elite level contact sports it is highly probable for that to occur and thus causing the wound to bleed profusely, escalated by the fact that in this stage of the healing process there is an increase of vascular density in the surrounding tissue. The bleeding would be of such intensity that a stoppage of the match is highly likely, since the vision would be occluded.

The long-term consequences are hard to predict, but repeated damage to a wound with less than 10% strength will likely cause muscular damage. In this case this entails damage to orbicularis occulis, levator and palpebrae superioris, i.e. the muscles controlling the eye lid, which could lead to a permanently decreased function of the eye lid, commonly referred to as a lazy eye (medical term ptosis).

Had the Medical Committee not been asked to examine the wound at this early stage nor been privy to information regarding the injury, there is a possibility that Gustafsson might have been cleared at an inspection on April 5th. The extent to which a wound of this type appears healed after a week will vary. However, such speculation is not relevant in this case since the Medical Committee had in fact already performed an examination. Consequently; letting an athlete compete in an elite level full contact sport based on what appears to be a healed scar, but fully informed of the fact that the injury is far from healed and the obvious risks that come with it, would be a severe breach of medical ethics as well as in this respect also against the law.

Finally the Medical Committee would like to comment on the time-line of events. Normally a SMMAF doctor will see the athlete for the first time on the day before the match at the medical check. However unusual as this case was, there is nothing in the SMMAF regulations that prevents a SMMAF doctor to see an athlete earlier than the day before the match. Furthermore there is nothing in the SMMAF regulations that prevents the Medical Committee to make a decision earlier than on the night before a match. If an athlete’s team contacts the SMMAF because of a medical situation that has arisen it would be unethical for the Federation to turn its back on that athlete and not perform a medical examination immediately.

Listen here as Gareth A Davies hosts the ESPN UFC Podcast, breaking down events from Sweden and looking ahead to tonight's TUF 17 Finale in Las Vegas.