Join us today (Friday, November 30th) on Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion, round scoring and play-by-play as The Ultimate Fighter 28 Finale takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The headliner is a five-round welterweight bout between Rafael dos Anjos and Kamaru Usman. Also featured are The Ultimate FIghter 28 tournament finals in the heavyweight and women’s featherweight divisions.
Live results updates begin with the two Fight Pass prelims at 6:30 PM ET/3:30 PM PT, followed by four prelims on FS1 at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT. The main card kicks off on FS1 at 10 PM ET/7 PM PT, and we will have both live results and play-by-play coverage of those six bouts. You can see the full lineup and schedule below:
The bout order is as follows:
Main Card (10 PM ET, FS1)
Rafael dos Anjos vs. Kamaru Usman
Round 1 – Stiff jab by Usman to start the main event. First takedown by Usman is stuffed. Knees to the body by Usman and RDA before they separate. Usman scores with a left hook. Takes a leg kick but that just initiates a powerful slam by “The Nigerian Nightmare.” Dos Anjos works his way back up and he’s in the bodylock. It’s a fight for underhooks now. Usman with the level change but RDA defends. More clinching and an elbow by Usman on the way out. Dos Anjos misses with a head kick, lands a leg kick. Flying knee by RDA, Usman avoids it and lands a body shot before again pursuing the takedown. Usman drops to a knee and is able to life RDA aup and get him down. Kamaru with ground-and-pound as he stays active on top. Big upkick from RDA but Usman just eats it and drops back into guard. 10-9 Usman.
Round 2 – Sneaky jab by RDA. Usman with an elbow and back into the clinch. Dos Anjos staying busy with knees to the body, Usman remains all over RDA. Body punches and a shoulder strike by Usman. Another knee to the body by RDA. Usman ducks under for another takedown and drags a leg and puts dos Anjos on his back. Usman with some ground strikes from guard. He drops an elbow on RDA’s neck. Rafael scoots to the fence and attacks with a kimura. Usman is defending it but RDA isn’t letting go. Usman rolls out of it and they’re back to their feet! Usman with a short combination, hard elbow after taking another body shot. Kamaru with a foot stomp. Upward elbow by RDA! Usman taking a few shots from dos Anjos, then landing two knees to the body to end the round. 19-19.
Round 3 – Left hook by Usman. Leg kick by RDA. Usman still moving forward and thudding home three straight body punches. Heavy kick by RDA. Usman letting his hands go and maintaining the pressure on dos Anjos, before changing levels for a takedown. Usman gets him down and throws some left hands, and knees him to the head on his way up. RDA is bloodied. RDA with a right uppercut that snaps Usman’s head back. A 1-2 by Usman and a front kick to the body. One more takedown for Usman. Kamaru looking to get a headlock, as RDA rises to his feet. It’s RDA going for a takedown and that backfires. Usman reverses position, has a wristlock, and now an underhook. They trade knees to the body. They separate at last to the center of the cage. Good straight left by RDA. Leg kick by RDA. Right hand and a jab connect for Usman. Almost another takedown as the round ends. 29-28 Usman.
Round 4 – Head kick by RDA is blocked by Usman. Usman gets struck by a jab but he comes back with an uppercut. Leg kick by RDA but Usman cracks dos Anjos with two punches. Combination striking from Kamaru. Takedown again and that was an easy one for Usman. He’s looking for back mount, scrambles to a deep half-guard. Now he’s in guard again. Usman with knees to the thigh and he drags RDA to the mat again, slamming home hard elbows on the noggin. He unleashes more ground strikes after posturing up, going to the head and body. Total dominance by Usman. 39-36 Usman.
Round 5 – Usman lets go a 1-2. An axe kick and a body shot. Usman is teeing off on RDA. Goes for a standing elbow. RDA looks totally spent in there and he is dragged to a knee. Usman with stay-busy strikes while controlling RDA with ease. Hard right hand by Usman. Dos Anjos to his feet again but he gets cracked with two uppercuts. RDA goes for a guillotine that has absolutely no chance, and he gives up side control. More strikes pour in from Usman. Sort of a rinse and repeat of the previous two rounds for Usman and RDA. Twenty seconds to go and Usman keeps dropping down elbows. Usman throw a series of left hands, then a right, and that’s the end of the fight. Great showing. 49-45 Usman.
Official result: Kamaru Usman def. Rafael dos Anjos by unanimous decision (50-43, 49-45, 48-47)
Juan Espino vs. Justin Frazier – TUF 28 heavyweight final
Round 1 – Espino just slammed Frazier onto his back inside of 10 seconds. Frazier trying to avoid the heavy damage but Espino has him against the fence and landing left hands. He gets back mount and throws some more ground strikes. Espino with hammerfists and looking to flatten out Frazier. Espino sneaks the right arm under the chin but no choke to be had this time. Oh man, Frazier is back to his feet somehow. Espino drives Frazier to the fence and wants another takedown. Knee to the body and a right hand by Espino. Frazier is taken down and easily into side control. Espino going for the straight armlock and Frazier taps out, and he’s holding his arm in pain.
Official result: Juan Espino def. Justin Frazier by submission (straight armlock) at 3:36 of round 1 to win The Ultimate Fighter 28 heavyweight final
Macy Chiasson vs. Pannie Kianzad – TUF 28 women’s featherweight final
Round 1 – Early body shot form Kianzad. Chiasson with a left hook and a blocked head kick. Good right hand by Kianzad. Chiasson closes the distance and goes for a takedown. Kianzad defends and digs to the body with knees. They trade knees in the clinch and stay clinched up. Knee to the head by Chiasson and another knee from the Thai plum. Chiasson still controlling the clinch and charging across the other side of the Octagon, still unable to get the takedown. Good right elbow by Kianzad as they return to the center. Body kick lands for Chiasson. Kianzad goes for a takedown and it’s costly, as she winds up giving up her back. Chiasson going for the rear-naked choke with the seconds ticking away but there’s not enough time and it wasn’t deep enough. 10-9 Chiasson.
Round 2 – Kianzad backpedaling and trying to throw a right hand and then ends up clinched again. Good knees to the body by Kianzad before exiting back to striking range. Big right hand by Chiasson drops Kianzad! Chiasson looking for the finish but Kianzad closes her guard. Kianzad angling for an armbar! She goes belly-down but loses the position and gives up her back! Now Chiasson goes for a neck crank, then a rear-naked choke! Chiasson taps her out to win The Ultimate Fighter!
Official result: Macy Chiasson def. Pannie Kianzad by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:11 of round 2 to win The Ultimate Fighter 28 women’s featherweight final
Pedro Munhoz vs. Bryan Caraway
Round 1 – Caraway wasting no time coming out aggressively. Munhoz lands a leg kick after getting clipped early. Caraway checks the next leg kick and connects on a right hand, takes another leg kick. Early shot from Caraway and Munhoz defends. Caraway is bleeding already as they stand in the center of the Octagon and trade. Good combination by Caraway but a leg kick stumbles him. This is a firefight and both men are getting tagged cleanly. Stiff jab by Munhoz. Hard right hand as Caraway changed levels. They each back each other up with jabs. Munhoz with a body kick and he is starting to tee off on Caraway. Bad takedown stuffed. Knee by Munhoz, and Caraway gets hit again and turns away. Munhoz pounces for the finish! Looks like a body kick was what hurt Bryan.
Official result: Pedro Munhoz def. Bryan Caraway by TKO (strikes) at 2:39 of round 1
Darren Stewart vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
Round 1 – Shahbazyan pumps out the jab. Takedown is there for Edmen, but Stewart is back to his feet… then back down, up, and down again, and up again. Shahbazyan trying to drag this to the mat but Stewart is doing his best to not be put on his back. Shahbazyan has one standing hook in. Knee to the head by Shahbazyan as he has the body lock and is draped all over Stewart. This has gone one for half the round already. Head kick by Shahbazyan on the exit as they are finally separated. This is already approaching the longest fight of Edmen’s career. Stewart swings and misses. Clinch against the fence and Shahbazyan lands an elbow. Stewart connects on an elbow, too. Shahbazyan ties up Stewart again but gets clipped with an inside elbow and backs off. Head kick by Shahbazyan is caught. Stewart attacking Edmen and throwing wild right hands, chasing him around the cage and trying to tee off with big strikes. Shahbazyan says he was hit in the cup and the ref says he didn’t see it. Late takedown by Shahbazyan to end the round. 10-9 Shahbazyan.
Round 2 – Good right hand by Stewart to begin the round. Shahbazyan throws a straight right. Good level change by Shahbazyan as he goes for another takedown. This time he completes it and has Stewart grounded, and as Darren tries to get to his feet, he’s in danger of giving up his back. Shahbazyan transitions to a headlock as Stewart is back to his feet. Stewart throws an elbow in the clinch. Stewart looking to yank Edmen’s left arm free. Shahbazyan still has control of Stewart but the ref wants them to work. He has a hook in on Stewart and might have a rear-naked choke opportunity. Stewart returns to his feet but Shahbazyan has a standing body triangle, which he then bails on. Big knee by Edmen. He fires off another one against the fence. 20-18 Shahbazyan.
Round 3 – Stewart connects on a straight right. Shahbazyan shoots and takes Stewart down again. He gets back up and rocks Shahbazyan with a huge elbow! Shahbazyan with a desperation shot and Stewart defends this time. Big left hook by Stewart! Shahbazyan dropping down for a double leg takedown and gets it. He’s up again and is able to reverse position. Shahbazyan walks him back to the fence again though. The ref separates them with two minutes to go. Stewart trips Shahbazyan down after Edmen shot for another takedown, dropping the ground-and-pound and he is hurting Shahbazyan, who rolls for a kneebar! Easily thwarted, and Stewart continues to pour on the punishment, but Shahbazyan escapes to his feet again and gets one more crucial takedown. Then another one. Shahbazyan survives. 29-28 Shahbazyan.
Official result: Edmen Shahbazyan def. Darren Stewart by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Ji Yeon Kim vs. Antonina Shevchenko
Round 1 – Nice left hand over the top by Kim after taking a right hand by Shevchenko. Hook kick doesn’t connect for Shevchenko. Good straight left by Shevchenko catches Kim cleanly. Body kick by Shevchenko. Kim and Shevchenko clash heads but the fight continues. Right hand either rocked Shevchenko or she lost her balance and stumbled backwards. Kim lands another good right hand, Shevchenko with a front kick to the face! They’re clinched up against the cage. Kim has the body lock but it’s all a stalemate right now. Shevhenko reverses position, then Kim reverses right back. Yves Lavigne breaks them up. Good two-punch combo by Shevchenko. Head-and-arm throw leads to Shevchenko getting on top with a few seconds to go. They just stay there without any advancement. 10-9 Shevchenko.
Round 2 – Outside leg kick by Shevchenko. Quick combo by Shevchenko again. Kim is clearly slower. She backs Shevchenko up towards the fence and into a body lock. Half-speed knees thrown to the body and leg by Kim, and Shevchenko throwing knees back. It’s all gone stale and Lavigne separates them again. Kim comes forward and gets countered flush with a hard right hook. Shevchenko tags Kim some more while her sister keeps yelling “hey!” Kim initiates the clinch but she takes knees to the body. Now Shevchenko pulls down the head and fires off another knee. They’re back to the center of the cage an Kim runs right into a southpaw jab. Kim connects on a left hook but takes a spinning elbow shortly thereafter. Kick and a right hand by Shevchenko as Kim throws an awful spinning backfist. Hard body kick by Shevchenko. Dominant round for Antonina. 20-18 Shevchenko.
Round 3 – immediate body kick by Shevchenko as Kim works the jab and throws a leg kick. Kick is caught and Shevchenko takes Kim down with ease. She’s in Kim’s full guard with four minutes to go. Barely anything of consequence is happening. Shevchenko tries to posture up and throws a left hand, stands up and throws a couple of kicks at Kim. As Kim gets up, she gets blasted to the face with an illegal knee, but Yves Lavigne didn’t take away a point during the stoppage. The fight is restarted standing and Kim absorbs a body kick. Clinch happens and nothing really comes of it. Kim just avoids a spinning backfist, as Kim goes right into the clinch. This is all Shevchenko at the moment with one minute to go. Wicked body kick, straight left and a jab by Antonina. Kim with a jab and then Shevchenko answers with a knee to the gut. Kim ties her up against the fence, and Shevchenko reverses position, lands more knees to the body, and time expires. 30-27 Shevchenko.
Official result: Antonina Shevchenko def. Ji Yeon Kim by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Preliminary Card (8 PM ET, FS1)
Kevin Aguilar def. Rick Glenn by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Joseph Benavidez def. Alex Perez by TKO (strikes) at 4:19 of round 1
Maurice Greene def. Michel Batista by submission (triangle choke) at 2:14 of round 1
Leah Letson def. Julija Stoliarenko by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Preliminary Card (6:30 PM ET, Fight Pass)
Roosevelt Roberts def. Darrell Horcher via submission (standing guillotine choke) at 4:50 of round 1
Tim Means def. Ricky Rainey by TKO (strikes) at 1:17 of round 1
Raoni Barcelos def. Chris Gutierrez via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:12 of round 2
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