TUF 25 Finale results: Brad Tavares outscores Elias Theodorou for narrow unanimous decision

Neither Brad Tavares nor Elias Theodorou looked to risk making a mistake against the other.

The result? A chess match of sorts.

Tavares (13-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) defeated Theodorou (15-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) by unanimous decision with all three judges scoring it 29-28, though one would believe it was by the narrowest of margins.

The middleweight bout was part of the main card for today’s UFC event, The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It aired on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

It was hard to tell what could’ve been the difference in the fight, with the second round especially proving to be difficult to score.

Theodorou came out in the third round going for takedown, which was stuffed once, though he succeeded on his second attempt sort of. With both men on the ground, they remained there in a stalemate until Tavares pulled a nifty switch to stand up. Theodorou continued to try and impress the judges with another takedown near the fence, but Tavares was back up quickly.

They struggled for position against the cagem with Tavares taking Theodorou’s back and attempting a rear-naked choke. As Theodorou broke free, the fight turned into a chess match on the ground with both men executing transitions for dominant position. They stood and threw strikes in the final 15 seconds, with Tavares landing the final few significant strikes to potentially earn the nod from the judges.

Asked how he felt about the win over Theodorou, Tavares was a man of few words.

“Stoked,” Tavares said. “That guy is tough. That guy is tough.”

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

• 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.)