Nam Phan Happy With Unexpected Results Of TUF 12 Loss

“The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck” semifinalist Nam Phan (16-8) lost a split decision in the opening televised bout of this past weekends TUF 12 Finale event. He faced Leonard Garcia in a featherweight bout that had many scoring the rounds 2-1 for Phan. When the judges decision was finally read, 29-28, 27-30, 29-28 for Garcia, it was immediately unpopular with fans and media alike. The scores even had both fighters scratching their heads.
With a couple of days having passed since the loss, Nam Phan is now calling the loss a “blessing in disguise” during an episode of “The MMA Hour” on Monday at MMAFighting.com.

“It’s almost a blessing in disguise. It almost made me more popular. I really appreciate the support from the MMA community, especially the UFC and Dana White. Everyone from the UFC had my back, and I really appreciate that.”Dana white came by backstage and told me, ‘You’re getting your win bonus because you won that fight.’ I thought business is business, and I just thought if I lost, I lost, and I would only get my base pay. That’s how it usually goes. But the UFC – Dana White takes care of the fighters. I really appreciate that.”

Both fighters have expressed an interest in a rematch, which after their “Fight of the Night” honor for the bout, could sway the UFC matchmakers to rebook the two at a future event.