Although one heavyweight and one women’s flyweight have already been eliminated from the TUF 30 competition, it appears as though another fighter can already be ruled out before their first fight has even aired.
*****WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD*****
It is not abnormal for a TUF competitor to have a fight booked before the end of their season. An example is former UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno, who was cast as the lowest seed of TUF 24: Tournament of Champions in 2016. His fight with Alexandre Pantoja, which he lost by second-round submission, opened the show on August 31. While the show was still airing, Moreno was offered a UFC contract to face Louis Smolka on short notice at UFC Fight Night 96 on October 1. A massive underdog, “The Assassin Baby” pulled off a first-round guillotine choke submission in the UFC. While most TUF competitors make their UFC debuts on the show’s live finale, Moreno had his second UFC fight at the TUF 24 Finale, defeating Ryan Benoit by decision.
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In that instance, however, Moreno was already removed from the competition before his UFC fight was booked or announced. This current instance involves a fighter with a fight that has yet to air on TUF 30.
On the broadcast for Combate Global 36, it was announced that Chantel Coates would be returning to Combate Global in the co-main event fight against SBG Ireland-trained Dee Begley on the following week’s card. The following day, Begley announced that the fight had fallen through but was in the process of being rebooked for a later date. A Combate Global representative has since confirmed to MMA Sucka that Coates will return to action on June 10, presumably against Begley.
The last women’s flyweight picked for Julianna Pena‘s team on TUF 30, Kansas’s “Killa” Coates is no stranger to “La Jaula”, having picked up a decision victory over Lucero Acosta in her most recent official fight at Combate Global 16. That win brought her record to 2-1, with her prior two fights coming with Invicta FC, where she also held a win in an exhibition match at Invicta FC: Phoenix Series 2.
Since most semifinalists for each TUF season are given a UFC fight on the live finale, it can be assumed that Coates lost her opening round fight, which would have taken her to the semifinals.
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