Tonight (Fri. July 6, 2018) the winners of the 27th Season of The Ultimate Fighter were crowned, as lightweight and featherweight UFC contracts were issued out.
The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale (TUF 27 Finale) was main evented by a dominant middleweight performance from Israel Adesanya over Brad Tavares. Tavares came into the fight on a nice four fight win-streak while Adesanya was undefeated in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career.
Mike Trizano defeated Joe Giannetti for the lightweight contract from TUF while Brad Katona defeated Jay Cucciniello for the featherweight deal. You can check out the live results from the TUF 27 Finale here:
Main Card:
- Middleweight: Brad Tavares vs. Israel Adesanya
Round 1: Adesanya fires a jab and a leg kick, Tavares answers with a cross. Tavares moves forward then lands the cross before he crashes into the clinch. Adesanya escapes but eats a right on the way out. Adesanya hits a pair of hard kicks from southpaw then leg kick to body. He feints his way in the follows up with lands a cross and a step-in knee and avoid the counter cross. Tavares connects hard jab. Adesanya stuffs a single leg and runs back to the center to point to the floor. Tavares easily defends an attempted rolling knee bar and lands a couple hard shots to end the round.
Round 2: Adesanya opened up with a front kick. Tavares barely gets his guard up in time to partially block a head kick. He shoots but can’t get Adesanya down. Israel shucks him and gets back to space. They trade jabs. Tavares lands a leg kick hard, Adesanya answers. Sidekick upstairs for Adesanya. Herb Dean breaks the action to warn Adesanya for extending his fingers. Adesanya dropped him with a body kick to the liver but Tavares was able to recover.
Round 3: Adesanya pulls Tavares into a brutal knee. Tavares takes that as a sign to get more aggressive. Adesanya is grabbing the Thai clinch looking for knees, then hits hard body kicks on the breaks. Takedown attempt from Tavares, but stayed high and just pushed Adesanya back to the cage again. A straight left buckles Tavares’ legs but he comes right back.
Round 4: Tavares shoots and after some jockeying he gets Adesanya down. Adesanya tries a triangle but nearly gets his back taken after Tavares escapes. Adesanya gets to his feet and grabs a double wrist lock and forces Tavares to the ground where he lands strikes. Back standing an elbow cuts Tavares above his eye. Tavares throws but Adesanya soon gets him on the back foot.
Round 5:Tavares is shoved off by Adesanya in a clinch attempt. A nice jab for Tavares but Adesanya responds with a front kick to the face. Adesanya stuffs a takedown and gets top position on the ground. He moves to try and take the back but is settling for back side control and unleashing ground-and-pound. Adesanya used a kneebar attempt to get to his feet. A nice lead leg kick for Adesanya, how eats a jab, but responds with a hard right hand down the pipe. Another takedown attempt stuffed by Adesanya who moves right into side control. He gets to his feet, but Adesanya lands a big knee to the face. Another stuffed takedown attempt and Adesanya is on top. They get back to their feet, only to have Tavares shoot in on another failed takedown. They’re up again and the fight comes to a close with a mounted guillotine attempt from Adesanya after another failed Tavares takedown attempt.
Official Result: Israel Adesanya def. Brad Tavares via unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-45)
- Mike Trizano def. Joe Giannetti via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Brad Katona def. Jay Cuccinello via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
- Alex Caceres def. Martin Bravo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Roxanne Modafferi def. Barb Honchak via TKO (elbows) – R2, 3:32
- Alessio Di Chirico def. Julian Marquez via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary Card:
- Montana De La Rosa def. Rachael Ostovich R3 submission (rear-naked choke, 4:21)
- Luis Pena def. Richie Smullen via R2 submission (guillotine choke, 3:32)
- John Gunther def. Allan Zuniga via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)
- Bryce Mitchell def. Tyler Diamond via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)
UFC Fight Pass Early Prelims:
- Steven Peterson def. Matt Bessette via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Gerald Meerschaert def. Oskar Piechota via R2 submission (rear-naked choke, 4:55)
