On the latest edition of The Ultimate Fighter 33 (TUF), Team Sonnen strove to extend their win streak to two in a row in the final bout of the flyweight quarterfinals.
Surging Flyweight Prospects Duke It Out for Last Spot in TUF Semifinals
Getting their first victory in the competition since the very first episode of the season, Team Sonnen halted the seemingly unstoppable warpath of Team Cormier, who had previously defeated their rivals four times back-to-back. Eager to remain in the win column, Sonnen assigned his last flyweight fighter remaining, Roybert Echeverria, to contend with Cormier’s Tumelo Manyamala.
Sizing Up Flyweight Roybert Echeverria
Competing out of Venezuela, Echeverria has been a part of the fight game since making his amateur debut back in 2013. Turning professional in 2020, “The Unbroken” quickly rattled off seven straight wins, logging five contests in 2021 alone. This extremely active schedule and extensive period of domination led Echeverria to be selected to appear on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022, where he was unfortunately knocked out by Jafel Filho. Rebounding in excellent fashion, however, Echeverria proceeded to go 3-1 in his next four, earning the Anthony Pettis FC flyweight strap in his latest outing to the cage.
Looking at Flyweight Tumelo Manyamala
Known to be a man who often does not require the judge’s scorecards to decide his matches, Manyamala stands as one of the top flyweight finishers on the South African mixed martial arts scene. Realizing stoppages across all his six wins, which includes five knockouts, “Bones of Steel” has only ever gone the distance once in his entire career in a losing effort to the much more experienced Mark Climaco in early 2024.
TUF Flyweight Comeback for the Ages
Taking the initiative early, Echeverria began to slowly stalk his opponent, dodging most of the rapid strikes from Manyamala, who displayed an incredibly fast one-two combination. That was until the last minute of the encounter when the South African dropped the Venezuelan with a thunderous right hook, sending Echeverria plummeting to the canvas. Though he managed to survive the round by the slimmest of margins, it was apparent to everyone that the Team Sonnen flyweight was compromised.
Seemingly taking the same approach in the second, Echeverria opted to mix in grappling to his forward pressure, eventually dragging Manyamala to the ground. Not giving his foe any time to think, “The Unbroken” wasted no time in setting up a rear naked choke, which Manyamala strangely didn’t seem to fight against at all, allowing Echeverria to secure the tap and hand Team Sonnen their second consecutive triumph. The team is now 3-4 in the season, nearly tying Team Cormier on the scoreboard.
