The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters

Last updated
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 originUnited States
Production
Running time60 minutes
Original release
Network Fox Sports 1
ReleaseAugust 29 (2018-08-29) [1]  
November 30, 2018 (2018-11-30) [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]

Contents

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]

Cast

Coaches

Fighters

Episodes

Episode 1: Biggest and Baddest (August 29, 2018) [14]

Coach1st Pick2nd Pick3rd Pick4th Pick5th Pick6th Pick7th Pick8th Pick
WhittakerAnderson 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)
GastelumBen 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]

Tournament bracket

Heavyweight bracket

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 
 
 
  Josh Parisian2
 
 
 
  Michel Batista TKO
 
  Michel Batista 1
 
 
 
  Justin Frazier TKO
 
  Justin Frazier UD
 
 
 
  Anderson da Silva2
 
  Justin Frazier 1
 
 
 
  Juan Espino SUB
 
  Maurice Greene KO
 
 
 
  Przemysław Mysiala1
 
  Maurice Greene 1
 
 
 
  Juan Espino SUB
 
  Ben Sosoli2
 
 
  Juan Espino UD
 

Women's Featherweight bracket

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 
 
 
  Pannie Kianzad UD
 
 
 
  Katharina Lehner 2
 
  Pannie Kianzad UD
 
 
 
  Julija Stoliarenko 3
 
  Marciea Allen1
 
 
 
  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
 
Legend
 Team Whittaker
 Team Gastelum
UD
 Unanimous Decision
MD
 Majority Decision
SUB
 Submission
(T)KO
 (Technical) Knock Out

The Ultimate Fighter 28 Finale

The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters Finale
Tuf28Poster.png
The poster for The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters Finale
Information
Promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship
DateNovember 30, 2018 (2018-11-30)
Venue Pearl Theatre at Palms Casino Resort
City Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Attendance2,020 [25]
Total gate$204,600 [25]
Event chronology
UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Ngannou 2 The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters Finale UFC Fight Night: dos Santos vs. Tuivasa

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]

Background

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]

Results

Main card (Fox Sports 1)
Weight classMethodRoundTimeNotes
Welterweight Kamaru Usman def. Rafael dos Anjos Decision (unanimous) (50–43, 49–45, 48–47)55:00
Heavyweight Juan Espino def. Justin Frazier Submission (straight armlock)13:36 [lower-alpha 1]
Women's Featherweight Macy Chiasson def. Pannie Kianzad Submission (rear-naked choke)22:11 [lower-alpha 2]
Bantamweight Pedro Munhoz def. Bryan Caraway TKO (body kick and punches)12:39
Middleweight Edmen Shahbazyan def. Darren Stewart Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28)35:00
Catchweight (130.5 lb) Antonina Shevchenko def. Ji Yeon Kim Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)35:00
Preliminary card (Fox Sports 1)
Catchweight (148.5 lb) Kevin Aguilar def. Ricky Glenn Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)35:00
Flyweight Joseph Benavidez def. Alex Perez TKO (punches)14:19
Heavyweight Maurice Greene def. Michel Batista Submission (triangle choke)12:14
Women's Featherweight Leah Letson def. Julija Stoliarenko Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28)35:00
Early Preliminary card (UFC Fight Pass)
Lightweight Roosevelt Roberts def. Darrell Horcher Submission (guillotine choke)14:50
Welterweight Tim Means def. Ricky Rainey TKO (punches)11:18
Bantamweight Raoni Barcelos def. Chris Gutiérrez Submission (rear-naked choke)24:12
  1. The Ultimate Fighter 28 Heavyweight tournament final.
  2. The Ultimate Fighter 28 Women's Featherweight tournament final.

[35]

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses: [36]

Reported payout

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]

See also

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