The Upsets Continue on The Ultimate Fighter 24 | MMAWeekly.com

During the fourth episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions, No. 15 seed Eric Shelton, Caged Aggression MMA champion, took out No. 2 seed Yoni Sherbatov with a rear-naked choke. During Wednesday’s episode, Shelton dispatched No. 7 seed and Shooto champion Ronaldo Candido.

“Anything can happen in MMA. Seeds mean nothing,” said UFC president Dana White following Shelton’s win over Sherbatov.

“I was ranked kind of low in the rankings, but it is what it is. I got to fight the No. 2 guy for my first fight and proved that I belong here,” said Shelton prior to stepping in the cage with Candido.

Candido secured an early takedown in the fight and took Shelton’s back. Shelton spun and ended up in top position. He delivered several left hands before letting Candido back to his feet. While standing, Shelton targeted Candido’s body and proved to be the better striker.

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In the second frame, Shelton began to pick Candido apart on their feet. He stuffed takedown attempts and punished the Brazilian with combinations. Candido desperately tried to get the fight to the ground but was unsuccessful. Shelton took Candido down in the closing seconds to put an exclamation point on the round. After 10 minutes of fighting, all three judges scored the fight for Shelton.

“Eric did a good job of staying one step ahead of Ronaldo. He defended well, landed some solid shots, and Ronaldo just couldn’t capitalize on anything,” said White.

“I told people from the beginning that I wasn’t the fifteenth seed.  I’m just going to keep proving it to them, showing them what I’m about.  No. 2 seed or No. 1 seed, that’s where I belong.  I’m going to go in here and run through a few more guys and get to Demetrious,” said Shelton following the win.

The show put sixteen flyweight champions from various organizations around the world against each other with the winner gaining a title shot against UFC champion Demetrious Johnson. 

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