The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale is live from The Palms in Las Vegas as we speak. In the main event of the evening, flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson defends his UFC belt against TUF 24 winner Tim Elliott, who will be fighting inside the Octagon for the first time since being released from the organization in early 2015.
The preliminary card featured a handful of fun outings and a couple of finishes. Check out the results below.
Ryan Hall def. Gray Maynard via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Ryan Hall picked up the biggest win of his career in the final preliminary fight at TUF 24 Finale. The TUF 22 winner returned to action after a year-long layoff against veteran Gray Maynard and defeated the former lightweight contender via decisive unanimous decision.
Hall frustrated Maynard over the course of three rounds. He looked better than ever on the feet, using a very large amount of kicks, which were the main story of the bout. He kept Maynard at range, and even mixed in a few wild rolls and submission attempts, but didn’t find much success on the mat. Maynard was too worried throughout 15 minutes about Hall’s submission threat and wasn’t aggressive enough to score enough offense to win the fight.
Rob Font def. Matt Schnell via TKO (Strikes) at 3:47 of Round 1
Rob Font got back into the winning column against newcomer Matt Schnell, who competed on TUF 24 this past summer, on Saturday evening. Schnell showed flashes of potential throughout the bout, which only lasted a few minutes. He countered well and showed solid defense on the mat, but the Leominster, Mass., native was too overwhelming. Font scored an early takedown and hunted for the rear-naked choke — but was unable to get it — and eventually settled with lighting Schnell up on the feet.
Font stunned Schnell badly on multiple occasions before actually getting the finish, one with a nasty front kick to Schnell’s chin. A devastating knee from Font was the beginning of the end for the TUF alum; it wasn’t long until the referee was forced to step in.
Dong Hyun Kim def. Brendan O’Reilly via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Dong Hyun Kim — not that one; the other one — picked up his first UFC victory at TUF 24 Finale on Saturday evening. He welcomed Brendan O’Reilly back to the lightweight division, and was able to do enough in the first two rounds to get the judges’ nod. “Maestro” dominated “The Badger” with lots of clinch work, many takedowns, and a load of ground-and-pound. O’Reilly, who showed off lots of heart throughout the bout, constantly tried to work his way back to his feet throughout the first 10 minutes, but was unable to do so, for the most part.
The tides turned in the final round, however. It was O’Reilly who spent most of the round on top. But it was only enough to win him the third round, and he walked away with a unanimous decision loss to Kim on his record.
Jamie Moyle def. Kailin Curran via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Kailin Curran has a lot of potential, but five fights into her UFC career, she has yet to live up to that potential. She dropped another loss in the opening televised preliminary fight at TUF 24 Finale to newcomer Jamie Moyle, a TUF 23 alum. Curran struggled to not get controlled throughout the bout — Moyle was able to clinch and take down her opponent often in the first two rounds. Curran finally got a burst of energy in the final round and lit up Moyle, who started to slow, on the feet. But it was too little, too late, and she ended the round on her back. Moyle was rewarded the unanimous decision victory, but to some people’s surprise, she was given all three rounds by the judges.
Anthony Smith def. Elvis Mutapcic via TKO (Strikes) at 3:27 of Round 2
This was a tale of two rounds. Elvis Mutapcic started ridiculously strong, dominating Anthony Smith on the ground with takedowns and ground-and-pound for the majority of the first five minutes. But he seemed to have gassed himself out, and “Lionheart” was able to capitalize on that in the second round. The later the fight went on, the more success Smith found on the feet, about half way into the second round, he landed a nasty elbow and a barrage of strikes to force the referee to step in.
Devin Clark def. Joshua Stansbury via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
A rather strange fight kicked things off at TUF 24 Finale. Devin Clark was a step ahead of his opponent, Joshua Stansbury, for the majority of the three-round bout. Clark looked good in the clinch, and scored a takedown or two throughout the outing. He also showed off improved striking, and landed quite a bit more volume on the feet than Stansbury, who never really got going. Stansbury appeared to be too worried about Clark’s offense to deliver enough of his own. Stansbury did get in a few shots here and there, but Clark’s chin, which was somewhat exposed in his debut this past summer, held up throughout 15 minutes.