November 30 is an important day for a batch of UFC fighters. On this day in 2013, two TUF champions were crowned. Then, in 2018, we got two more TUF champions. The 18th season of The Ultimate Fighter was capped off seven years ago today, and five years later, the 28th season concluded.
TUF Champions Crowned on This Day
The Ultimate Fighter 18
Back in 2013, The Ultimate Fighter was between teams coached by Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate. Chris Holdsworth was the first champion crowned on the night. He defeated Davey Grant via a second round rear-naked choke to take the crown. Holdsowrth went on to win his only additional fight in the UFC before stepping away form the sport due to complications with concussions. Grant, on the other hand, is still fighting for the promotion and has went 3-2 since the loss to Fishgold. He is currently riding a two fight winning streak.
The second of two TUF champions crowned on the night was Julianna Pena. She defeated Jessica Rakoczy via first round TKO. The women’s bantamweight bracket of the tournament featured the likes of Raquel Pennington, Sarah Moras, Roxanne Modafferi, and WWE wrestler Shayna Baszler. Since being crowned champion of TUF, Pena is 4-2 in the UFC. She’s next expected to fight in January.
Elsewhere on the TUF finale card, Nate Diaz finished Gray Maynard in the first round of the main event. Diaz won the knockout of the night award, while Fishgold was awarded the submission of the night. The fight of the night was a scrap between Ryan Benoit and Josh Sampo.
The Ultimate Fighter 2018
Two years ago, two more TUF champions were crowned following the Heavy Hitters tournaments of men’s heavyweight and women’s featherweight. Juan Espino defeated Justin Frazier via first-round submission to become the champion of the heavyweight bracket. Espino has fought just once in the UFC since then and he was victorious. He was awarded a performance bonus for his submission victory.
Macy Chiasson defeated Pannie Kianzad with a rear-naked choke in the second round to win the featherweight tournament. Since winning TUF, Chiasson is 3-1 in the UFC with two finishes. She’s currently the number 12 ranked fighter in the UFC’s women’s bantamweight division.
The TUF 28 finale was headlined by a fight between Kamaru Usman and Rafael dos Anjos. Usman coasted to a dominant decision victory, earning him a performance bonus. Roosevelt Roberts and Edmen Shahbazyan both debuted for the promotion after earnings contracts on DWCS. Roberts finished Darrell Horcher to earn a performance bonus, while Shahbazyan took a split decision over Darren Stewart. Since then, their careers have went opposite directions, with Shahbazyan establishing himself as a real threat in the middleweight division, while Roberts has struggled to further develop. The fourth performance bonus from the card was awarded to Joseph Benavidez for scoring a first round TKO victory over Alex Perez.
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