The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale Results: The Real Winners and Losers
Demetrious Johnson is two things. He is serially unknown, and he is the best active fighter in the UFC today.
The only person ever to hold the UFC flyweight championship tried to improve his position on both fronts Saturday, when he headlined the finale of season 24 of The Ultimate Fighter.
Mighty Mouse wasn't actually on the show—co-main eventers Henry Cejudo and Joseph Benavidez were the coaches this season. A championship dance with Johnson just served as the rather formidable first prize for winning fighter on the season, which featured 16 champions from smaller MMA organizations around the world.
The winner? One Tim Elliott, a flyweight veteran who overcame his UFC release in 2015 by climbing to the top of the Titan FC promotion.
Would Mighty Mouse run his win streak to 11—as he was heavily favored to do—or would Elliott wake up the echoes of Matt Serra, another TUF alum who shocked the world with his upset of Georges St-Pierre lo those many years ago?
And what about that coaches' fight? Cejudo or Benavidez seemed to genuinely dislike each other, and the winner Saturday has a very strong case to be the next title challenger.
As always, the final stat lines only reveal so much. These are the real winners and losers from the TUF 24 finale.
Full card results appear on the final slide.
Winner: Demetrious Johnson
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It wasn't easy, but Demetrious Johnson got it done.
And credit Tim Elliott for making it interesting—and nearly pulling of the unthinkable.
A knockdown and guillotine choke attempt in the first almost earned Elliott the shocker. But Johnson maintained his composure, weathered the storm and took over the action from there. Elliott proved to be the wily competitor—and looked far better than he ever had in the UFC before—but couldn't recapture that first-round magic.
“Tim Elliott is a great competitor," Johnson said in a statement the UFC mailed to reporters after the fight. "He has his own style and he made it a tough fight. It was like trying to fight a muskrat. When he got the choke, I didn’t worry too much. I knew I wasn’t going anywhere. I just gave Herb Dean the thumbs up so he wouldn’t stop the fight and then I kept my cool and worked. I have great coaching and I did what I had to do tonight. Shout out to Tim Elliott. He deserves to be here.”
Usually a comparison to a muskrat would be cause for insult, but not in this case. A tip of the cap to Elliott, who will no doubt stay around in the UFC, but save the biggest praise for Johnson, who found a way to use this grappling to grind out another win, even in a more adverse set of circumstances than normal.
Winner: Joseph Benavidez
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After becoming rivals during their coaching stints, Benavidez and Cejudo waged a close and impressive fight that ultimately went the way of the veteran.
Benavidez was assisted by the point referee Yves Lavigne took from Cejudo in the opening round after two leg kicks found Benavidez's groin. (Cejudo maintained that the illegal kicks were unintentional, and the replays appeared to bear that out.)
That was all the old man needed, going on to out-land and out-point Cejudo, although the wrestler's striking did look much improved in a losing effort.
Afterward, Benavidez made it perfectly clear who he wants to fight next.
"The only fight I want now is Demetrious Johnson," Benavidez said in a statement the UFC emailed to reporters. "DJ and I could fight one million times and it would be one million great, world class competitions. I wouldn’t accept anyone else. That’s the fight.”
Benavidez has already lost twice to Mighty Mouse—usually the point at which a third bout is virtually impossible—but showed Saturday he's probably the best non-Johnson flyweight out there at the moment. UFC matchmakers have a decision to make, and with his excellent performance Saturday, Benavidez made that decision all the more harder.
Loser: The Left Side of Sara McMann's Face
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"I can't feel the left side of my face. I'm taking her down."
Thus spoke Sara McMann to her corner after the first round. The culprit behind the numbness: some heavy punching power from opponent Alexis Davis.
The strategic shift was clear. McMann was letting her hands go early and looked pretty good doing it, only to disrupt her own momentum by going back to her bread and butter, which is wrestling.
Ultimately, though, it all worked out for McMann, who rallied to score a second-round submission.
After the fight, McMann called for a title shot, facing the winner between the upcoming tilt between champ Amanda Nunes and some girl named Ronda Rousey. I don't know if I'd go that far, but the Olympian's second straight win showed she's tough, multidimensional and capable of finishing.
Now, here's hoping she's able to fix her face.
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Winner: Jorge Masvidal?
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It was anticlimactic, but it counts. For now, anyway.
Jorge Masvidal put a proper beating on Jake Ellenberger, with knees and punches along the fence doing much of the damage. As the first round wound down, Masvidal started another flurry, and with Ellenberger downed along the fence, referee Herb Dean stepped in.
Masvidal walked away, hands raised. But wait a second. It was a timeout, not a TKO stoppage. Ellenberger's toe apparently got caught in the cage fencing. Was that a malfunction, Dean asked? What does the rule book say about toe-in-fence entanglement?
Not much of anything, came the eventual answer. Oh well, let's just give Masvidal the TKO! That appeared to be the thought process.
It was a solid performance for Masvidal, and even with the oddness, he was beating Ellenberger pretty clearly. At the same time, it's conceivable that Ellenberger could try to appeal said oddness with the Nevada State Athletic Commission in hopes of getting the verdict overturned. We shall see. What we saw Saturday didn't make a lot of sense.
Loser: Gray Maynard
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Look on the bright side, Gray Maynard fans: At least he didn't get knocked out.
On the, I don't know, dull side, Maynard seemed mystified throughout his scrap with Ryan Hall. Maybe that's why they call Hall "The Wizard."
Hall is a quirky fighter, no doubt, but he's not what you'd call unpredictable. Time and again, he hit the mats and rolled in in an attempt to lure Maynard to the ground. Time and again, he feinted with the leg kick, then went up high with the hook kick (see photo). And time and again, Maynard grew visibly frustrated, unable to do much about Hall's approach outside of waving for Hall to get up and generally throwing shade.
As MMA reporter Simon Head tweeted during the bout, "the onus is on Gray to try something different" if the current plan isn't working. The responsibility to stop Hall was Maynard's alone, and he couldn't get it done.
That's now five losses in six contests for the 37-year-old, dating back to 2013. Three of those losses came by knockout, and Maynard was out-struck Saturday—and markedly so—by a grappling specialist.
Maynard has had a good career overall, but barring a big resurgence, it's not ending well.
Winner: "The Other" Dong Hyun Kim
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OK, let's break this down. You've got your "Stun Gun" Dong Hyun Kim, and you've got your "Maestro" Dong Hyun Kim. You're probably more familiar with the former, the judo-brawler who's been in the UFC for eight years now.
But don't get too complacent, Stun Gun. The Maestro may be coming for your coveted spot as Dong Hyun Kim No. 1.
The 28-year-old South Korean hadn't won since joining the UFC a year ago, but he left a strong impression in each of his first two contests, including a Fight of the Night winner at UFC 199 against Marco Polo Reyes.
On Saturday, he finally broke through, clinching and grinding his way to a unanimous decision over Brendan O'Reilly. It wasn't as spectacular as either of his two losses, but one imagines he'll keep the W anyway.
TUF 24 Finale Full Card Results
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Main Card
Demetrious Johnson def. Tim Elliott by unanimous decision
Joseph Benavidez def. Henry Cejudo by split decision
Jorge Masvidal def. Jake Ellenberger by TKO, 4:05, Rd. 1
Jared Cannonier def. Ion Cutelaba by unanimous decision
Sara McMann def. Alexis Davis by submission (arm-triangle choke), 2:52, Rd. 2
Brandon Moreno def. Ryan Benoit by split decision
Preliminary Card
Ryan Hall def. Gray Maynard by unanimous decision
Rob Font def. Matt Schnell by KO, 3:47, Rd. 1
Dong Hyun Kim def. Brendan O'Reilly by unanimous decision
Jamie Moyle def. Kailin Curran by unanimous decision
Anthony Smith def. Elvis Mutapcic by TKO, 3:27, Rd. 2
Devin Clark def. Josh Stansbury by unanimous decision
Scott Harris writes about MMA for Bleacher Report. For more stuff like this, follow Scott on Twitter.
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