What do
you do when you’re champ has whopped the #1 ranked contender two times and is
coming off a First Round TKO of the #2 ranked Flyweight? You dedicate a season
of The Ultimate Fighter to finding a
worthy opponent. All competitors on Season
24 are Flyweight Champions in other MMA promotions. Demetrious Johnson is
the first and only FW UFC Champion
and has defended his Title eight times, leaving the division decimated in his
wake. Desperate to offer Mighty Mouse
a worthy challenge, the UFC found the
world’s best Flyweights not under UFC
contract, put them in a bracketed tournament with the winner to face DJ for the belt. 13-6 Tim Elliot is the
man that survived the competition, earning him the spot opposite Johnson in the
Main Event December 3rd.
Thirty
year old, Demetrious Johnson is on a ten fight win streak (3 Subs, 2 TKO/KO)
and continues to look better every fight. In April he revealed a new tool to
Henry Cejudo, a First Round (2:49) Knee
that ended the Olympic Gold Medalist’s
night at UFC 197. He also stopped
Cejudo’s TUF 24 coaching rival,
Joseph Benavidez in their most recent Octagon
appointment (UFC on Fox 9, 12/14/13) with
a First Round Knock Out (2:08). DJ
has run through the UFC’s Flyweight
Division, dominating all opponents; his last loss was to current Bantamweight
Champion, Dominic Cruz way back in October of 2011, for the BW Title. Since Mighty Mouse has gone on an eleven fight
unbeaten run, beating Joseph Benavidez by Split Decision to become the UFC’s first FW Champ at UFC 152 (9/22/12). His eight Title
defenses is the longest reign among active champions and Third longest all time
(GSP 9, Anderson Silva 10). Johnson
is the only UFC fighter with ten takedowns in three different fights and
continues to add to his record for most takedowns
in FW history. Pace, speed, movement, quick striking, defense, wrestling and
BJJ, Johnson does it all well and blends it together better than anyone on the
planet.
The former
Titan FC FW Champion, Tim Elliot won
his last three fights with the organization before entering The Ultimate Fighter House. Elliot was
the first overall pick by coach, Joseph Benavidez 24th TUF. In the first two rounds he
Submitted both: Charlie Alaniz and Matt Schnell in the First Rounds of their
fights. Elliot bested Eric Shelton in a two round Majority Decision in the Semi-Finals
and beat Hiromasa Ogikubo by UD to become the Season 24 TUF Winner. The Twenty-nine year old won the inaugural Titan FC FW belt by UD over Iliarde
Santos at Titan FC 34 (7/18/15). Two
months later, in his first title defense, he Sub’d Felipe Efrain with a Second
Round (2:30) Guillotine-Choke (9/19/15)
and beat Pedro Nobre by UD in his last non-exhibition fight, defending his belt
at Titan FC 37 (3/5/16). This is Elliot’s
second run in the UFC he is currently
2-4 in the organization. Elliot owns a Second Round (2:12) KO win over former UFC LW Champion, Jens Pulver at RFA 1 (12/16/11). An unorthodox fighter
that blends powerful strikes, solid grappling and unpredictable movement,
Elliot holds an outside chance of catching Mighty
Mouse off guard.
In the
Co-Main Event Coaches, Joseph Benavidez and Henry Cejudo finally get to put the
TUF Season behind them and focus on
their FW contender fight. 24-4 Benavidez has only lost to two fighters in his
career: Two fights to BW Champion, Dominic Cruz by UD and two fights to
Flyweight Kingpin, Demetrious Johnson (1 Dec, 1 KO). The last match up with DJ was nearly three years ago, the #1
ranked FW, Benavidez has since: Submitted Main Eventer, Tim Elliot in the First
Round (4/26/14) and bested four more of the division’s top talent in three
round Unanimous Decisions. In his last appearance Benavidez earned a UD win
over Zach Makovsky at UFC Fight Night 82.
The Thirty-two year old is a diverse bonus earner, winning cash bonuses for one
each: Performance of the Night, Fight of
the Night, Knock Out of the Night and Submission
of the Night.
The #2
ranked, Henry The Messenger Cejudo is
coming off his first career loss, to Champion Johnson (4/23/16) by TKO. The
loss halted a ten fight win streak. The youngest Olympic Gold Medalist,
Freestyle Wrestling in US History brings a grinding style to his fights. 4-1 in
the UFC with decision wins over:
Jussier da Silva (11/21/15), Chico Camus (6/13/15) Chris Cariaso (3/14/15) and
Dustin Kimura (12/13/14) by UD in Cejudo’s debut. The Messenger dominated Elias Garcia at LFC 27 just before signing with the UFC.
An
interesting fight between TUF alumni headlines
the Prelims Card when Season 5 cast-member,
Gray Maynard takes on Season 22 Winner,
Ryan Hall in the Featherweight Division. Both decorated grapplers in their own
field, Maynard was a three time D-1 NCAA All-American
Wrestler at Michigan State. The Bully
lost three straight by TKO to Lightweight Division contenders: TJ Grant
5/25/13, Nate Diaz 11/30/13, and Ross Pearson 8/16/14, prompting Maynard to
make a change. Thirty-seven year old, Maynard beat Fernando Bruno at TUF 23 Finale (7/8/16) in his debut in
the FW division by UD. 12-5 Maynard has never been submitted and is 10-1 in
fights that go the distance. He has fallen prey to KO/TKO four times in his
career, a skill BJJ ace, Hall has uncorked in two of his four stoppage wins.
Ryan The Wizard Hall is a decorated grappler
as well, having medaled in Jui Jitsu competition from Purple Belt through
Black. Hall owns over two hundred Submission wins in grappling tournament
competition. He has medaled at ADCC,
World Jui Jitsu Championship, Gracie Jui Jitsu World Championship and
others. Training out of the famed TriStar
Gym in Montreal, Hall is more experienced than his 5-1 record may look. The Wizard beat striker and McGregor
training partner, Artem Lobov to win the TUF
22 Finale (12/11/15) in his last bout.
The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale airs live from Las Vegas on FS-1 check local listings.
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