As the Ultimate Fighter Season 25 reached its conclusion early on Saturday morning, Jesse Taylor was crowned the winner and received a lovely $290,000 cheque after submitting Dhiego Lima in the second round due to a rear-naked choke whilst Justin Gaethje and Michael Johnson went to war for just under 10 minutes in what could be the fight of the year so far.
Justin Gaethje entered the octagon with a perfect 17-0 record in mixed martial arts but with an attached stigma that he had never tested himself at the elite level, having spent most of his career fighting under the World Series of Fighting banner.
Not many fighters join the UFC and debut in a main event, especially in the modern era but Gaethje was matched up against perennial lightweight contender Michael Johnson who happened to be ranked as the fifth ranked 155-pounder in the UFC. After swinging for the fences in Round 1 with both fighters leaving each other on wobbly feet before Johnson probably swung the round in his favour by severely rocking the debutant.
The second round continued in similar fashion, but with Johnson looking exhausted after his barrage at the end of the first five minutes, Gaethje began to slowly pick away at his defence and eventually started dropping Johnson repeatedly as he became so tired and was barely able to stand before a succession of strikes forced the referee to call a close to proceedings. The fight unsurprisingly won the fight of the night bonus as well as a performance of the night bonus, netting Justin Gaethje an extra $100,000.
A true redemption fairy-tale became reality for thirty-four-year-old Jesse Taylor as he returned to the competition nine years on from his withdrawal from the final after a drunken rampage across Las Vegas. But Taylor completed a dramatic turnaround in his career and managed to stop Dhiego Lima in the second round after being dropped by a left hand from the Brazilian early in the round.
Taylor dominated the first round also, outwrestling Lima and controlling proceedings as much to earn a possible 10-8. It was a perfect performance from an athlete who now holds an 8-0 record in the Ultimate Fighter.
British prospect Marc Diakiese faced fellow unbeaten star Drakkar Klose and struggled to deal with Klose’s assault in the opening round. The unbeaten American continued to target Diakiese’s legs with repeated, unchecked leg kicks that began to take its toll as the fight wore on.
Diakiese continued to show regular glimpses of the spectacular striking he is most known for but Klose remained strong in the clinch and grinded out the victory. Unsavoury scenes followed with Klose going after Diakiese in the octagon as he retained his unbeaten professional record whilst the Congolese-born lightweight tastes defeat for the first time.
Elsewhere on the card, Gray Maynard dominated Teruto Ishihara in the opening bout, scoring a unanimous 30-26 decision victory whilst Tecia Torres got the only finish of the preliminary portion with a stunning rear-naked choke over Juliana Lima. She transitioned to the back almost seamlessly to win inside the distance for the first time in her career and earn a performance of the night bonus in the process.
C.B. Dolloway outpointed Ed Herman in the light-heavyweight division before James Krause sealed third position in the Ultimate Fighter Season 25 after controlling a very durable Tom Gallicchio.
Angela Hill concluded the prelims with a comfortable decision victory over Ashley Yoder before Jordan Johnson continued the decision victory trend, outpointing Marcel Fortuna over fifteen minutes.
Brad Tavares made it six out of the opening seven bouts to go the full distance with a victory over Elias Theodorou before Jared Cannonier broke the mould with a TKO stoppage over late replacement Nick Roehrick.
The UFC returns on Saturday evening for UFC 213.
