The Ultimate Fighter 24, Episode 1: Tournament of Champions Begins

Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson has dominated the 125-pound division to the point that there’s no one left for him to fight. To fix the situation, the UFC decided to gather 16 titleholders from other promotions around the world to find a suitable challenger.

“For the first time ever, we’re doing a whole season of The Ultimate Fighter with 125-pounders. The winner will get a title shot against the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson,” said UFC president Dana White.

Sixteen champions will compete for a UFC contract and a shot at Johnson’s title on this season of The Ultimate Fighter, which premiered on FS1 on Wednesday.

The champions were evaluated by the coaches and seeded by UFC matchmakers. Coaching the opposing teams are flyweight contenders Joseph Benavidez and Henry Cejudo. The contestants will fight according to their seed. A tournament bracket was set, and the coaches chose their fighters.

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TEAM PICKS

Coach Benavidez won the customary coin toss to determine which coach would get to pick the first fighter.

For his first pick, Benavidez chose former UFC fighter Tim Elliot, seeded No. 3 and representing Titan Fighting Championship. Elliot will face No. 14 seed Charlie Alaniz representing Hex Fight Series.

Coach Cejudo selected Alexandre Pantoja, the top seed in the tournament representing Resurrection Fighting Alliance. Pantoja will take on No. 16 seed and World Fighting Federation champion Brandon Moreno.

For his second team pick, Benavidez selected MMA veteran Damacio Page. Page was seeded No. 4 and holds the Legacy Fighting Championship title. He’ll take on the No. 13 seed, representing Tachi Palace Fights, Adam Antolin.

Cejudo chose the second seed, Russian Yoni Sherbatov, who holds the Xcessive Force Fighting Championship flyweight belt. Sherbatov will meet No. 15 seed, Caged Aggression MMA titleholder Eric Shelton.

No. 7 seed, Shooto South America champion, Ronald Candido was chosen by Coach Benavidez next. He’ll face No. 10 seed, Absolute Fighting Championship titleholder Jaime Alvarez in the opening round of the tournament.

Cejudo opted for No. 6 seed, Legacy Fighting Championship titleholder Matt Schnell as his next team pick. He’ll fight No. 11 seed, Ring of Combat champion Matt Rizzo.

Benavidez picked Shooto Japan titleholder and No. 5 seed Hiromasa Ogikubo as his next team pick. He’ll meet No. 12 seed, Extreme Fighting Championship representative Nkazimulo Zulu in the opening round.

Two fighters remained, and Cejudo chose No. 9 seed Kai Kara-France who holds the Bragging Rights Fight Series title. He’ll face No. 8 seed, Alaska Fighting Championship titleholder Terrence Mitchell in the opening round of the tournament.

“Now that the match-ups are set, this is how the competition is going to work.  This will be a seeded tournament with the order of the fights already predetermined,” said White.  “The first fight will be the No. 1 seed Alexandre Pantoja of Brazil versus the No. 16 seed Brandon Moreno out of Mexico.

“The second fight will be the No. 8 seed Terrence Mitchell out of Alaska taking on the No. 9 seed Kai Kara-France from New Zealand,” he added.

The Fight: Alexandre Pantoja (16-2) vs. Brandon Moreno (11-3)

Moreno nearly took out the top seed in the tournament in the first fight of the season, but fell victim of a second-round submission.

Moreno stunned Pantoja in the opening round, but was unable to follow up.  The top seed gained momentum and finished the round strong.  Moreno came out aggressive in the second frame.  He let his hands go and secured two takedowns, but couldn’t keep Pantoja grounded.  Pantoja got back to his feet and inflicted damage before taking Moreno down and locking in a rear-naked choke that force his opponent to tap out.  Pantoja became the first fighter to advance to the next round.

The Fight: Terrence Mitchell (11-2) vs. Kai Kara-France (12-5)

Kara-France obliterated Mitchell in the 29 seconds with a combination of aggression and accurate right hands, leaving the Alaskan wondering where he was.

“The tournament has got off to a great start.  After two fights, it’s Team Cejudo 2, Team Benavidez zero,” said Dana White.

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