Two Ultimate Fighter teammates battled in the Octagon for 15 minutes on Saturday night, as Chris Cope defeated Chuck O'Neil by unanimous decision in the first televised fight of Saturday night's Ultimate Fighter Finale.The fight was effectively a third-place match for this season of The Ultimate Fighter, as O'Neil and Cope lost semifinal fights to Ramsey Nijem and Tony Ferguson, the two men who will compete in Saturday night's main event. So Cope can be considered the third place finisher of Season 13 of the UFC's reality show.
Cope said afterward that O'Neil is a good friend whom he was honored to fight.
More Coverage: TUF 13 Finale Results | Cope vs. O'Neil Live Blog
"Chuck's a hell of a guy, he's got a hell of a heart," Cope said of O'Neil. "He was my friend before this, he was my friend during, he's going to be my friend after. Big props to Chuck. He fought his ass off tonight."
But while Cope showed that he's better than O'Neil, he wasn't extremely impressive. Both Cope and O'Neil looked sloppy in their stand-up exchanges, with plenty of misses and wasted movement.
All three judges scored it 30-27 for Cope, who improved his professional MMA record to 5-1. O'Neil falls to 8-4.
Get the latest gear
