The final episode of The Ultimate Fighter 21 means the final 100 points are up for grabs. That’s right, winner takes all in the final fight for gym pride between the Blackzilians and American Top Team.
The coaches of both teams had to think about who they trusted in to win the competition for them. For ATT it was an obvious choice, as they went with Hayder Hassan. Hassan is already 2-0 in the competition and has really carried the team emotionally and competitively.
The Blackzilians went with Vicente Luque, a fighter who is 1-0 in the competition already. It was a good choice for their team, as Luque has looked like one of their best fighters so far.
When fight time came, it was an absolute war, capping off a somewhat disappointing season fight-wise. Hassan and Luque went to war, throwing bombs for three rounds and participating in arguably the best fight of the season.
After three rounds of tiresome physical exertion, the fight went to the judges’ scorecards. The verdict was split, but two of the three judges gave the fight to Hassan, giving ATT the win for the fight and giving them a 400-300 win for the overall season.
ATT’s win capped off a furious comeback at the end of the season after an awful start to the show. While the Blackzilians did win seven fights to ATT’s five, ATT won the bigger fights, taking three of the 100-point fights and two of the 50-point fights.
After the fight, the coaches were to pick who they wanted to fight in the finale for the title of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Both teams went with their obvious front-runners. ATT went with Hassan, who went 3-0 in the competition, while the Blackzilians went with Kamaru Usman, who was dominant in his 2-0 run.
So, the stage is set for the finale and $300,000 is up for grabs. Can the Blackzilians cauterize the wounds of a blown lead in this competition, or will ATT continue their momentum from the show?
Season Results
| Winner | Loser | Points | Leader |
| Kamaru Usman (B) | Mike Graves (A) | 25 | Blackzilians lead 25-0 |
| Luiz Firmino (B) | Uros Jurisic (A) | 25 | Blackzilians lead 50-0 |
| Valdir Araujo (B) | Steve Carl (A) | 25 | Blackzilians lead 75-0 |
| Carrington Banks (B) | Sabah Homasi (A) | 25 | Blackzilians lead 100-0 |
| Hayder Hassan (A) | Andrews Nakahara (B) | 50 | Blackzilians lead 100-50 |
| Jason Jackson (B) | Marcelo Alfaya (A) | 50 | Blackzilians lead 150-50 |
| Vicente Luque (B) | Nathan Coy (A) | 50 | Blackzilians lead 200-50 |
| Hayder Hassan (A) | Felipe Portela (B) | 50 | Blackzilians lead 200-100 |
| Kamaru Usman (B) | Steve Carl (A) | 100 | Blackzilians lead 300-100 |
| Nathan Coy (A) | Valdir Araujo (A) | 100 | Blackzilians lead 300-200 |
| Mike Graves (A) | Jason Jackson (A) | 100 | Tied at 300-300 |
| Hayder Hassan (A) | Vicente Luque (A) | 100 | ATT wins 400-300 |
Notes and Observations
- Before this episode’s fight, Hassan was shown to be working with UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler. That’s a great guy to work with, especially when it comes to experience and striking. Hassan is a striker, and getting some pointers from a more seasoned striker probably helped him out in this fight.
- With their win of the points this season, ATT took home $200,000 as a gym. Owner Dan Lambert announced to Dana White at the fight announcement for the finale that they would be donating all of that money to the Wounded Warrior Project, a charity for American military veterans. It just goes to show how great of a guy Lambert is and how noble his fighters are to agree to donating all that money.
- When discussing who they wanted in the finale, the coaches could only pick fighters who competed twice. Surprisingly, most of the Blackzilian coaches suggested to Glenn Robinson that they go with Luque in the finale. That is incredibly surprising, as Usman has been their strongest competitor. He’s not exactly the most exciting fighter, I get that, but Usman should have been the hands-down choice. The only coach who concurred with Robinson on Usman was Rashad Evans, whose opinion I respect the most out of everyone.
- How crazy is this? The finals will be a fighter from Africa vs. a fighter with Middle East origins. That is a first. Africa and the Middle East are both very behind in terms of MMA development, so this is a really interesting storyline.
- The postseason awards should be pretty easy to pick here, in my opinion. The Knockout of the Season should go to Hassan, for his quick blitz of Andrews Nakahara. The Submission of the Season should go to Mike Graves, for his comeback rear-naked choke of Jason Jackson. The Fight of the Season should go to Hassan and Luque for their war in the final episode that decided the outcome of the competition.
- Just a note: Hassan is undefeated against Blackzilians at 5-0. Outside of the competition, he owns knockout wins over Jackson and Felipe Portela. This season, he knocked out Nakahara and took decisions over Portela and Luque.
KO SEASON: HASSAN SUB-SEASON: GRAVES FIGHT SEASON: HASSAN LUQUE
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