TUF 26 Finale crowns new UFC champion this Friday

TUF 26 final takes place this Friday (Photo: UFC Disclosure)

The end of the 26th edition of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), the UFC's reality show, will be historic. The program's grand final will crown the first champion of the organization's fourth female category. After Rose namajunas in the straws, Amanda nunes in the roosters and Chris Cyborg In the featherweight division, Americans Roxanne Modafferi and Nicco Montaño compete for the chance to hold the women's flyweight belt for the first time.

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But it's not just the finalists who will have the chance to show their service at the event, as the rest of the program is filled with participants from the 26th season of The Ultimate Fighter, which featured lightweights Eddie Alvarez and Justin gaethje as coaches – the two, in fact, will face each other in the main portion of UFC 218 the day after TUF Finale 26.

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Different paths

One of the greatest veterans of women's MMA, Roxanne Modafferi will have a second chance to turn things around. After failing to make it past the first round in TUF 18, when she was on the Miesha Tate As a bantamweight, “Roxy” reinvented herself as a flyweight and achieved relevant results outside the UFC, mainly at Invicta FC, an event with exclusively female fights.

Her latest performances were so impressive that she entered TUF 26 as the overwhelming favorite. However, she ended up losing to sijara eubanks in the semi-final. Fate gave her a new chance when she was called to replace her tormentor, who fell ill and had to be removed from the title fight with Montaño.

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Speaking of the other finalist, Nicco Montaño was one of the big surprises. Ranked 14th out of 16 fighters on the show, she left several favorites along the way, including Lauren Murphy, who previously fought in the UFC as a bantamweight, and Barb Honchak, former Invicta flyweight champion. In addition to having dominated Montana Stewart by decision. With this, Montaño arrives confident to make history and become world champion even with an irregular record of just three wins and two losses.

Other fights

If Montaño and Modafferi certainly stood out over the other 14 participants in the show, the UFC decided to give a chance to several athletes who fell by the wayside in the tournament. Initially, Roxanne would face Honchak in a main card fight, but with “Roxy” going to the title fight, Lauren Murphy, who was without an opponent, returns to Ultimate against the former Invicta champion, in a very interesting duel.

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Another renowned athlete who failed to reach the final, DeAnna Bennett, who already beat the Brazilian Jennifer maia in Invicta, in addition to having dominated Julianna Pena, TUF 18 champion, faces Melinda Fabián and the “muse” of the season Rachael Ostovich-Berdon fights to stay in Ultimate against Karine Gevorgyan.