TUF 18 Finale results, gifs: Jared Rosholt mounts comeback, tops Walter Harris

LAS VEGAS – Two minutes into his UFC debut, it looked like Walter Harris was in for a short night of work. But after dropping Jared Rosholt twice in the span of just a few seconds, Harris couldn’t muster the energy to follow up – and it cost him.

Despite being soundly outstruck early on, Rosholt rallied to win a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) thanks largely to dogged perseverance and a superior wrestling game.

The heavyweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s TUF 18 Finale event at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following additional prelims on MMAjunkie and ahead of the main card on FOX Sports 1.

Harris put his speed and reach advantage to good use early. He picked Rosholt apart almost at will in the first frame, but seemed to tire down the stretch. Rosholt used kicks to the body to help narrow the gap in the second round, then took Harris down to start the third and spent the remainder of the round grinding away from the top. Ultimately that was enough for the three judges, who all agreed that Rosholt was the victor.

“He got me just good enough that I blacked out for a split second, but then came to and popped to my feet,” Rosholt said. “They were clean shots, but they weren’t that hard. By the second round, I finally got to my game plan of moving forward, and then in the third got him on down for some ground-and-pound. I knew I’d come back and win after that first round. A lot of people might not realize, but I love to stand and throw.”

Rosholt (9-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has now won five straight, as well as notching a win in his UFC debut. Harris (4-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) suffers his first defeat since April of 2011.

Up-to-the-minute TUF 18 Finale results include:

For complete coverage of the TUF 18 Finale, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

John Morgan contributed to this report on-site in Las Vegas.