The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters | |
---|---|
Genre | Reality, Sports |
Created by | Frank Fertitta III, Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White |
Starring | Dana White Robert Whittaker Kelvin Gastelum |
Country of origin | United States |
Production | |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | Fox Sports 1 |
Release | August 29[1] – November 30, 2018 [1] |
The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters (also known as The Ultimate Fighter 28) is an installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter . [2] The season tournament finale took place on November 30, 2018, at Pearl Theatre at Palms Casino Resort on Fox Sports 1. [3]
Tryouts were announced on April 25, 2018. This season featured fighters from the women's featherweight and men's heavyweight divisions. [4] [5] [6] The coaches for this season were announced on July 7, pitting The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes winner and UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker against The Ultimate Fighter 17 winner Kelvin Gastelum. [7] [8] A middleweight title fight was scheduled between Whittaker and Gastelum after the show on February 9, 2019, at UFC 234. [9] [10] [11] However, Whittaker pulled out of the event a few hours beforehand after he was forced to undergo emergency dual surgery due to an abdominal hernia of the intestine and a twisted and collapsed bowel. [12] The pairing eventually met 2 years later at UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Gastelum. [13] The cast was announced on July 11, 2018. [1]
Team Whittaker:
| Team Gastelum:
|
Episode 1: Biggest and Baddest (August 29, 2018) [14]
Coach | 1st Pick | 2nd Pick | 3rd Pick | 4th Pick | 5th Pick | 6th Pick | 7th Pick | 8th Pick |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Whittaker | Anderson da Silva (HW) | Julija Stoliarenko (WFW) | Juan Francisco Espino Dieppa (HW) | Leah Letson (WFW) | Michel Batista (HW) | Larissa Pacheco (WFW) | Przemysław Mysiala (HW) | Katharina Lehner (WFW) |
Gastelum | Ben Sosoli (HW) | Macy Chiasson (WFW) | Maurice Greene (HW) | Pannie Kianzad (WFW) | Josh Parisian (HW) | Bea Malecki (WFW) | Justin Frazier (HW) | Marciea Allen (WFW) |
Episode 2: Throw Leather (September 5, 2018) [15]
Episode 3: War Tanks (September 12, 2018)
Episode 4: A Win is a Win (September 19, 2018) [16]
Episode 5: Life is a Fight (September 26, 2018) [17]
Episode 6: Comfortable with the Uncomfortable (October 3, 2018) [18]
Episode 7: I never have Fear (October 24, 2018) [19]
Episode 8: Be First to be Last (October 31, 2018) [20]
Episode 9: Act Like a Professional (November 7, 2018) [21]
Episode 10: Made For This (November 14, 2018) [22]
Episode 11: Be loose, be Free, be me (November 21, 2018) [23]
Episode 12: One Thousand Percent (November 28, 2018) [24]
Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
Josh Parisian | 2 | |||||||||
Michel Batista | TKO | |||||||||
Michel Batista | 1 | |||||||||
Justin Frazier | TKO | |||||||||
Justin Frazier | UD | |||||||||
Anderson da Silva | 2 | |||||||||
Justin Frazier | 1 | |||||||||
Juan Espino | SUB | |||||||||
Maurice Greene | KO | |||||||||
Przemysław Mysiala | 1 | |||||||||
Maurice Greene | 1 | |||||||||
Juan Espino | SUB | |||||||||
Ben Sosoli | 2 | |||||||||
Juan Espino | UD | |||||||||
Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
Pannie Kianzad | UD | |||||||||
Katharina Lehner | 2 | |||||||||
Pannie Kianzad | UD | |||||||||
Julija Stoliarenko | 3 | |||||||||
Marciea Allen | 1 | |||||||||
Julija Stoliarenko | SUB | |||||||||
Pannie Kianzad | 2 | |||||||||
Macy Chiasson | SUB | |||||||||
Bea Malecki | 2 | |||||||||
Leah Letson | UD | |||||||||
Leah Letson | 1 | |||||||||
Macy Chiasson | KO | |||||||||
Macy Chiasson | TKO | |||||||||
Larissa Pacheco | 1 | |||||||||
Team Whittaker | ||
Team Gastelum | ||
UD | Unanimous Decision | |
MD | Majority Decision | |
SUB | Submission | |
(T)KO | (Technical) Knock Out |
The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters Finale | ||||
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Information | ||||
Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
Date | November 30, 2018 | |||
Venue | Pearl Theatre at Palms Casino Resort | |||
City | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |||
Attendance | 2,020 [25] | |||
Total gate | $204,600 [25] | |||
Event chronology | ||||
|
The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters Finale (also known as The Ultimate Fighter 28 Finale) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on November 30, 2018 at Pearl Theatre at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. [26]
A welterweight bout between former UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos and The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians welterweight winner Kamaru Usman served as the event headliner. [27]
The heavyweight and women's featherweight finals of The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters are expected to take place at the event. [6]
Former Strikeforce and WEC Lightweight Champion (as well as former UFC Lightweight Championship challenger) Gilbert Melendez was scheduled to face Arnold Allen at the event. However, Melendez pulled out of the fight on November 5 citing an injury and was replaced by former WSOF Featherweight Champion Ricky Glenn. [28] In turn, Allen pulled out of the fight on November 16 citing a cut he received while training. [29] He was replaced by promotional newcomer Kevin Aguilar. [30]
Ashlee Evans-Smith was expected to face promotional newcomer Antonina Shevchenko at the event. However, Evans-Smith pulled out on November 8 and was replaced by Ji Yeon Kim. [31]
A bantamweight bout between Boston Salmon and Khalid Taha was initially scheduled for this event. [32] However the pairing was removed from the card for undisclosed reasons. [33]
At the weigh-ins, Glenn and Kim both missed the required weight for their respective fights. Glenn weighed in at 148.5 pounds, 2.5 pounds over the featherweight non-title fight limit of 146. Meanwhile, Kim weighed in at 130.5 pounds, 4.5 pounds over the flyweight non-title fight limit of 126. Both of them were fined 20 percent of their purse, which went to their opponents Aguilar and Shevchenko. The bouts proceeded at catchweight. [34]
Main card (Fox Sports 1) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
Welterweight | Kamaru Usman | def. | Rafael dos Anjos | Decision (unanimous) (50–43, 49–45, 48–47) | 5 | 5:00 | |
Heavyweight | Juan Espino | def. | Justin Frazier | Submission (straight armlock) | 1 | 3:36 | [lower-alpha 1] |
Women's Featherweight | Macy Chiasson | def. | Pannie Kianzad | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 2 | 2:11 | [lower-alpha 2] |
Bantamweight | Pedro Munhoz | def. | Bryan Caraway | TKO (body kick and punches) | 1 | 2:39 | |
Middleweight | Edmen Shahbazyan | def. | Darren Stewart | Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
Catchweight (130.5 lb) | Antonina Shevchenko | def. | Ji Yeon Kim | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
Preliminary card (Fox Sports 1) | |||||||
Catchweight (148.5 lb) | Kevin Aguilar | def. | Ricky Glenn | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
Flyweight | Joseph Benavidez | def. | Alex Perez | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:19 | |
Heavyweight | Maurice Greene | def. | Michel Batista | Submission (triangle choke) | 1 | 2:14 | |
Women's Featherweight | Leah Letson | def. | Julija Stoliarenko | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
Early Preliminary card (UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
Lightweight | Roosevelt Roberts | def. | Darrell Horcher | Submission (guillotine choke) | 1 | 4:50 | |
Welterweight | Tim Means | def. | Ricky Rainey | TKO (punches) | 1 | 1:18 | |
Bantamweight | Raoni Barcelos | def. | Chris Gutiérrez | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 2 | 4:12 |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses: [36]
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. It does not include sponsor money and also does not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses. The total disclosed payout for the event was $1,007,000. [37]
*Ji Yeon Kim was fined $6,000, 30 percent of her purse for failing to make the required weight for her fight with Antonina Shevchenko. That money was issued to Shevchenko, an NSAC official confirmed [37]
**Rick Glenn was fined $5,000, 20 percent of his purse for failing to make the required weight for his fight with Kevin Aguilar. That money was issued to Aguilar, an NSAC official confirmed [37]
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