Alexa Grasso has edged out Valentina Shevchenko in their coaching battle.
Team Grasso featherweight Mairon Santos (13-1) earned the last spot in the The Ultimate Fighter 32 finals with a unanimous decision win over teammate Guillermo Torres (7-1) on the long-running television program’s season finale. That means three Team Grasso fighters will compete at Saturday’s UFC Vegas 96 event, with a UFC contract on the line.
Torres, who fell short in his quarterfinal bout, was given a second chance after being called upon to replace Team Bullet’s Zygimantas Ramaska. Prior to this episode, doubts swirled around whether Ramaska would be medically cleared after suffering an injury in his first fight, and it was eventually ruled that he could not compete.
To add further controversy to the bout, Santos actually came in half a pound over the featherweight limit, but was still allowed to fight as scheduled.
The semifinal bout was closely contested, with neither fighter able to establish much offense through the first two rounds. Santos maintained a slight striking edge throughout, winning the kicking battle from distance and occasionally landing a hard shot. Torres’ wrestling made him a constant threat, though, and he was always looking for an opening to take Santos down even with the Brazilian cutting off the cage.
In the end, Santos’ striking acumen and aggression were enough to carry him to a victory and a spot in the TUF 32 featherweight tournament finals.
Santos fights teammate Kaan Ofli (11-2-1) on Saturday, while Grasso’s Robert Valentin (10-3) fights Shevchenko’s Ryan Loder (6-1) to determine the season’s middleweight champion.
See the finals matchups below:
TUF 32 Featherweight Final
Kaan Ofli (Australia) vs. Mairon Santos (Brazil)
TUF 32 Middleweight Final
Ryan Loder (USA) vs. Robert Valentin (Switzerland)
Overall, Grasso proved to be the better coach by a small margin as her fighters won five of the eight opening-round matchups, and then three of the semifinal bouts (one of which pitted two Team Grasso fighters against one another).
With the conclusion of TUF 32, Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko are set to face off in a flyweight championship trilogy bout at UFC 306 on Sept. 14 at Sphere in Las Vegas.
The finalists of the TUF 32 middleweight and featherweight tournaments compete for a six-figure UFC contract at the show’s live finale, which takes place as part of the main card of UFC Vegas 96.
Here are the TUF 32 rosters divided by team:
Team Grasso
Featherweights
Guillermo Torres (Mexico) (7-1)
Kaan Ofli (Australia) (10-2-1)
Bekhzod Usmonov (Tajikistan) (11-4)
Mairon Santos (Brazil) (13-1)
Featherweights
Robert Valentin (Switzerland) (10-3)
Paddy McCorry (Ireland) (4-1)
Omran Chaaban (Finland) (6-1)
Tom Theocharis (Canada) (9-5)
Team Shevchenko
Featherweights
Roedie Roets (South Africa) (7-1)
Zygimantas Ramaska (Lithuania) (9-2)
Nathan Fletcher (England) (8-1)
Edwin Cooper Jr. (USA) (6-1)
Middleweights
Shamidkhan Magomedov (Russia) (7-1)
Mark Hulme (South Africa) (12-3)
Ryan Loder (USA) (6-1)
Giannis Bachar (Greece) (9-2)
See the semifinal results below:
Middleweight
Ryan Loder def. Omran Chaaban via decision
Paddy McCorry def. Robert Valentin via submission (leg trap Americana) (R1)
Featherweight
Kaan Ofli def. Roedie Roets via submission (guillotine choke) (R1)
Mairon Santos def. Guillermo Torres via decision
See quarterfinal results below:
Roedie Roets def. Guillermo Torres via decision
Robert Valentin def. Giannis Bachar via KO (strikes) (R1)
Kaan Ofli def. Nathan Fletcher via decision
Omran Chaaban def. Shamidkhan Magomedov via technical submission (anaconda choke) (R2)
Zygimantas Ramaska def. Bekhzod Usmonov via decision
Ryan Loder def. Tom Theocharis via submission (arm-triangle choke)
Mairon Santos def. Edwin Cooper Jr. via split decision
Paddy McCorry def. Mark Hulme via submission (guillotine choke) (R1)
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