Rob Hinds, a well-known MMA referee, judge, and Association of Boxing Commissions-certified instructor for both forms of officiating, tweeted this on Saturday night:
I guess we now know who won TUF… #oops pic.twitter.com/ThSmHg1dNJ
— Robert Hinds (@hindsmmareferee) November 27, 2016
When asked what cable company he has, Hinds obliged us with further details:
@davidbix AT&T. They list the prelims and main card as TBA, but the Weigh In and Pre-Fight show listing gave it away.
— Robert Hinds (@hindsmmareferee) November 27, 2016
It wasn’t exactly a well-kept secret who was winning this season of The Ultimate Fighter, and Tim Elliott was realistically the favorite going in, but this is still a bit of an unexpected error. The result had also been spoiled in some now-deleted tweets just before the season started. Elliott being the winner was also a bit of a forgone conclusion when he was shown on TUF Talk a few weeks back to be rooming with Joseph Benavides in Colorado so they could train together at Elevation MMA.
You can watch Elliott defeat Hiromasa Ogikubo in the final this Wednesday, and then he gets his flyweight title shot against Demetrious Johnson a week from tonight (Saturday December 3rd) at the finale. Benavidez faces Henry Cejudo in the co-main event.