TUF 25 Finale results: At long last, Jesse Taylor wins 'TUF' with submission of Dhiego Lima

After being taken down and swarmed on the mat in the opening round, Dhiego Lima finally turned things around with a left hook that dropped Jesse Taylor at the start of the second.

Moments later, Taylor (31-15 MMA, 1-1 UFC) was back on top, taking Lima’s (12-6 MMA, 1-4 UFC) back and sinking in the rear-naked choke to force the submission just 43 seconds into Round 2, claiming a reality show tournament title worth nearly $300,000 in the end.

The welterweight bout co-headlined today’s UFC event, The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The “TUF 25” tournament final aired on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Any doubts as to Taylor’s game plan were put to rest in the first 10 seconds of the fight, as he immediately charged across the cage and shot for a takedown on Lima, who spent most of the next 90 seconds defending against it.

He was ultimately unsuccessful, and with Taylor on top the grind the began. From the guard to side control to the back and all over again, Taylor was relentless in his attacks, twice coming close to locking up rear-naked chokes before letting them go and settling for softening Lima up with ground-and-pound.

After surviving that round, Lima came out for the second frame looking for a change. He found one early, as Taylor pressed forward and Lima tagged him with a left hook above his ear that sat him down in the center of the cage. But just as Lima dove in with a right hand to the downed Taylor, hoping to capitalize on his good fortune, he inadvertently played right into Taylor’s hands.

Within seconds, Taylor had scrambled up, shucked Lima off his back, and taken Lima’s back in response, quickly locking up the rear-naked choke and putting on the squeeze. Lima tried everything he could to escape, but the choke was in and there was no escape, forcing him to tap less than a minute into a round that had started in such promising fashion.

The win gives Taylor the TUF 25 title, which brings with it a $250,000 cash prize, in addition to the money he earned for his previous victories on the show. Lima has now lost his last two pro bouts.

Up-to-the-minute TUF 25 Finale results include:

• Jesse Taylor def. Dhiego Lima via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 0:43
• Drakkar Klose def. Marc Diakiese via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Jared Cannonier def. Nick Roehrick via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 2:08
• Brad Tavares def. Elias Theodorou via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Jordan Johnson def. Marcel Fortuna via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Angela Hill def. Ashley Yoder via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• James Krause def. Tom Gallicchio via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• C.B. Dollaway def. Ed Herman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
• Tecia Torres def. Juliana Lima via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 0:53
• Gray Maynard def. Teruto Ishihara via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)

For more on The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Steven Marrocco contributed to this report on site in Las Vegas.)