The whirlwind week for the UFC was capped off on Sunday night with the Ultimate Fighter season 21 finale. The event was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena less that 24 hours after UFC 189 shock the place to its core.
The main event saw a welterweight match up between two fighters on very different paths in their UFC careers. Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson met Jake Ellenberger in a scheduled five round fight but “Wonderboy” only needed one round to put away Ellenberger. With about 30-seconds left in the opening round Thompson scored a highlight reel spinning hook kick to the head of Ellenberger that sent him reeling to the mat. Thompson followed up with a few punches to seal the deal as referee John McCarthy put a stop to the bout.
The win was Thompson’s fifth in a row and pushed his UFC record to 6-1. For Ellenberger, the loss was his fourth in his last five bouts. Thompson is ascending while Ellenberger has been descending and Sunday night proved to be a crossroads for the fighters. Thompson is now in line to face a top 10 opponent while Ellenberger may be seeing his final days in the UFC.
The night also saw the crowning of a new TUF champion as Blackzilians team member Kamaru Usman put away American Top Team’s Hayder Hassan in the second round with an arm triangle choke. The win earned the Blackzilans 300,000 thousand dollars for their fight camp and more importantly bragging rights over their cross town rivals.
Below are the full results from the TUF 21 Finale.
Main Card Results:
Stephen Thompson def. Jake Ellenberger via knockout in Round 1 at 4:29
Kamaru Usman def. Hayder Hassan via submission in Round 2 at 1:19
Michael Graves def. Vicente Luque via unanimous decision
Jorge Masvidal def. Cezar Ferreira via TKO in Round 1 at 4:22
Michelle Waterson def. Angela Magana via submission in Round 3 at 2:38
Maximo Blanco def. Mike De La Torre via TKO in Round 1 at 0:16
Preliminary Card Results:
Josh Samman def. Caio Magalhaes via submission in Round 1 at 2:52
Jerrod Sanders def. Russell Doane via unanimous decision
Trevor Smith def. Dan Miller via unanimous decision
George Sullivan def. Dominic Waters via unanimous decision
Willie Gates def. Darrell Montague via TKO in Round 1 at 1:36