LAS VEGAS — Team GSP fighters Jonathan Brookins and Michael Johnson will face off this Saturday in “The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck” finals (TUF 12 Finale) airing live on Spike TV at 9 p.m. ET. The two will compete for the traditional “Ultimate Fighter” prize of a highly coveted six-figure contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Other Ultimate Fighter season 12 contestants who will be on the card include Team Koscheck fighters, Nam Phan, Sako Chivitchian and Aaron Wilkinson, and Team GSP fighters, Kyle Watson and Cody McKenzie.

Phan was originally scheduled to face Team GSP’s Alex “Bruce Leroy” Caceres, but due to an injury, Phan will now face WEC veteran and Greg Jackson-trained Leonard Garcia, who apparently has  a unique ancestral gene which makes him practically incapable of putting on a boring fight.

Phan vs. Garcia will kick off the Spike TV televised card with the first-ever 145-pound bout in UFC history, ushering in the next phase of the UFC’s evolution, brought about by their merger with the WEC.

Watson will face off with opposing team member Chivitchyan in a lightweight bout on the non-televised preliminary card, and Cody McKenzie will take on opposing team member Aaron Wilkinson, also at lightweight, and also on the non-televised portion of the card.

As mentioned earlier, this is the first UFC card since the WEC merger. In addition to Garcia, there a few other former WEC crossover fighters on this card, including Tyler Toner, who is taking on Ian Loveland at featherweight, Will Campuzano and Nick Pace, who will face off at bantamweight, and Fredson Paixão and Pablo Garza, who will fight at featherweight.

Finally, last but certainly not least, headlining this whole shindig is The Ultimate Fighter season one veteran, Stephan Bonnar, who is taking on well-rounded Croatian fighter, Igor Pokrajac, a long-time training partner of legend Mirko Cro Cop. Pokrajac is coming off a first round submission of James Irvin in August and Bonnar is coming off a second round TKO of Krzysztof Soszynski in July.

The TUF 12 Finale airs Saturday, Dec. 4, on Spike TV LIVE from The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas starting at 9 p.m. ET. Also, on Friday, a special Q&A with Forrest Griffin (5 p.m. ET) and the TUF 12 Finale weigh-ins (7 p.m. ET) will stream LIVE in our UFC Room.

TUF 12 Finale fight card:

MAIN CARD (Televised – Spike TV)

  • Lightweight bout: Jonathan Brookins vs. Michael Johnson
  • Light Heavyweight bout: Stephan Bonnar vs. Igor Pokrajac
  • Middleweight bout: Demian Maia vs. Kendall Grove
  • Welterweight bout: Johny Hendricks vs. Rick Story
  • Featherweight bout: Nam Phan vs. Leonard Garcia

PRELIMINARY CARD (Not Televised)

  • Lightweight bout: Cody McKenzie vs. Aaron Wilkinson
  • Featherweight bout: Tyler Toner vs. Ian Loveland
  • Lightweight bout: Sako Chivitchian vs. Kyle Watson
  • Bantamweight bout: Will Campuzano vs Nick Pace
  • Featherweight bout: Fredson Paixão vs. Pablo Garza
  • Middleweight bout: Rich Attonito vs. Dave Branch

Stay tuned for the ProMMAnow.com TUF 12 Finale staff picks.

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