My name is Damien Drain and i am going to be explaining the concept of this season’s The Ultimate Fighter for those of you who are not UFC fans or for those who are fans but do not follow it all the time. The Ultimate Fighter has been a reality based competiton where they usually put 16 fighters men or as of late women in a house in Las Vegas and they would have to fight 3 times to get to the finals and at the TUF Finale the last 2 remaining fighters in the TUF House wether it be one weight class or two weight classes would face each other and the winner normally receives a six-figure contract with the UFC and they usually run at least 2 seasons a year as the show has been spun off into international seasons like The Ultimate Fighter Brazil, The Ultimate Fighter Latin America and even once had a Ultimate Fighter China season.
This season however is the 24th season of The Ultimate Fighter so the UFC decided to do something different for this season. At UFC 152 way back in September of 2012, Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson won the first ever UFC Flyweight Championship who’s weight limit is 125 pounds by defeating Joseph Benavidez by a Split Decision, since then DJ has gone on a tear DJ has defended his title to this point 8 times which is tied for 3rd with former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon “Bones” Jones’s record of 8 as DJ has basically cleaned out the top 10. DJ’s beaten Benavidez (twice), John Dodson (twice and after the second loss John Dodson now competes at Bantamweight which is 135 Pounds), Ali Bagautinov (who tested positive for EPO and was suspended one year after the fight), John Moraga, Chris Cariaso, Koji Horiguchi and most recently in April at UFC 197.
DJ retained the title for the 8th time defeating Henry Cejudo by first round TKO as DJ is considered in MMA the best pound for pound fighter in the sport so with DJ’s dominance and DJ clearing out the Top 10 in the Flyweight division the UFC went out and found 16 champions from other orginizations from here in America, Brazil, Australia, Japan, Alaska and even Africa where the winner would not only receive a six-figure UFC contract but the winner would receive a immediate title shot entering the UFC against Demetrious Johnson at the TUF Finale which takes place on December 3rd as the coaches for this season were Joseph Benavidez and Henry Cejudo who are ranked in the UFC’s Flyweight Rankings 1 (Benavidez) and 2 (Cejudo) and are set to fight each other in the co main event at the TUF Finale. The tournament included champions from the Titan Fighting Championships, Legacy Fighting Championships and Shooto in both South America and Japan among other orginizations and they were seeded like the NCAA March Madness tournament from 1 to 16.
The tournament ended up being won by the number 3 seed Titan Fighting Championships Flyweight Champion Tim Elliott who actually once competed in the UFC from 2012-February 2016 before being released after losing 3 straight as Elliott beat the Hex Fight Series (A promotion out of Australia) Flyweight Champ and the number 14 seed Charlie Alaniz by first round submission via a bulldog choke. Next Elliott beat the interim Legacy Fighting Championships Interim Flyweight Champion and the number 6 seed with a front choke in the first round. Elliott then defeated the cinderella story of the tournament number 15 seed the Caged Agression MMA Flyweight Champion Eric Shelton by a controversial majority decision in a fight and then in the final episode of the regular season of this seasons TUF before the finale Elliott defeated the number 5 seed and Shooto Japan’s Flyweight Champion Hiromasa Ogikubo by a Unanimous Decision.
The Ultimate Fighter Tournament of Champions Finale on December 3rd from the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas Nevada on Fox Sports 1 Card
UFC Fight Pass Prelims
3 Round Middleweight Bout Josh Stansbury vs Devin Clark
3 Round Middleweight Bout Elvis Mutapcic vs Anthony Smith
Fox Sports 1 Prelims
3 Round Womens Strawweight Bout Kailin Curran vs Jamie Moyle
3 Round Lightweight Bout Dong Hyun Kim vs Brendan O’Reilly
3 Round Bantamweight Bout Rob Font vs Matt “Danger” Schnell
3 Round Featherweight Bout Gray “The Bully” Maynard vs Ryan Hall
Fox Sports 1 Main Card
3 Round Flyweight Bout Brandon Moreno (who was the number 16 seed and replaced Sergio Pettis back in October and actually defeated Top 10 ranked contender Louis Smolka by first round submission via guillotine choke) vs Ryan Benoit
3 Round Womens Bantamweight Bout Sara McMann vs Alexis Davis
3 Round Light Heavyweight Bout Ion Cutelaba vs Jared Cannonier
3 Round Welterweight Bout Jake “The Juggernuant” Ellenberger vs Jorge Masvidal
Co Main Event 3 Round UFC Flyweight Title Eliminatior Bout Joseph Benavidez vs Henry “The Messagner” Cejudo
Main Event 5 Rounds For The UFC Flyweight Championship Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson (c) defends against The TUF 24 Winner and The Titan Fighting Championships Flyweight Champion Tim Elliott