Brookins ignores slow start, proves he’s ‘Ultimate Fighter’

During his six weeks in "The Ultimate Fighter" house, Jonathan Brookins calmly and methodically moved through the tournament while sustaining little damage.

He proved Saturday night he can take a beating and still find a way to win.

Brookins captured the season 12 title with a unanimous decision victory over Michael Johnson in the main event of an Ultimate Fighting Championship card at the Palms.

Brookins seemed in much trouble early in the bout. Johnson landed several hard punches and knees and appeared to have Brookins wobbled on multiple occasions.

"I believe what went wrong was Mike was better than me in the first round. He beat up on me," Brookins said. "I had to work the kinks out."

The final two rounds looked more like the fights that took place over the course of the season on the reality show. Brookins took down Johnson early in the second and third rounds and held top position for several minutes each time.

"I just think it was the same game plan. I kept on sticking to it," Brookins said. "I was having trouble getting the takedowns (early), but I knew the ground area was still my game. I just worked on keeping my focus and getting it to my area where I could feel more comfortable."

Johnson reversed and stood up midway through the final round, but Brookins was able to throw him back down moments later.

"(Brookins) did a great job of recovering," Johnson said. "I really don't know what happened between the first and second rounds. Once he got me down, he's real tight with his hips and I couldn't find my space to get back up."

The bout capped an event in which all five fights on the main card went the distance.

Demian Maia and Las Vegan Stephan Bonnar each won unanimous decisions.

Bonnar got the better of Igor Pokrajac in a strange bout in which each fighter was docked a point for separate fouls.

Pokrajac had a point deducted between the second and third rounds when referee Steve Mazzagatti ruled he had landed a pair of illegal knee strikes while Bonnar was on the ground. Bonnar was penalized for striking Pokrajac in the back of the head in the final seconds of the bout, but it didn't matter.

Maia, who was won two straight since fighting for the middleweight title, put on a grappling clinic for two full rounds in defeating Kendall Grove. Maia was never able to secure a submission, but got several takedowns and gave Grove no room to maneuver on the ground.

Grove won the third round on the feet, but it was too little, too late.

Leonard Garcia won a split decision over Nam Phan, though it seemed the only people in the arena who thought so were two judges. Phan pummeled Garcia in the second round, but two of three judges awarded Garcia both the tightly contested first and third rounds. As the final bell sounded, Garcia reacted in disgust, apparently feeling he had lost.

Both fighters looked surprised as the decision was read aloud, and the crowd immediately began booing.

The decision overshadowed an otherwise terrific bout. Garcia and Phan stood and traded big shots in the center of the cage for much of the 15 minutes.

Also, Rick Story won the first two rounds on all three cards to take a unanimous decision over Johny Hendricks

Dave Branch, Kyle Watson and Ian Loveland won unanimous decisions on the undercard.

Pablo Garza had the knockout of the night when he dropped Las Vegan Fredson Paixao with a knee in the first minute. Nick Pace submitted Will Campuzano late in the third round with a choke he invented, a sort of modified triangle.

Also, Cody McKenzie submitted Aaron Wilkinson with a guillotine in the first round.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.