The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions will air on December 3, 2016, in Las Vegas Nevada.
(C) DEMETRIOUS “MIGHTY MOUSE” JOHNSON (24-2-1) vs TIM ELLIOTT (10-6-1)
This is a five-round fight for the UFC Flyweight Championship. Johnson brings Muay Thai and wrestling giving him efficient striking and grappling techniques leading him to become the current champion. Elliott brings striking, jiu-jitsu and wrestling giving him grappling techniques as well along with cardio. With both fighters being champions of different companies this fight could be a fight worth watching, but I believe Johnson’s speed and striking will be too much for Elliott to handle as he has never faced an opponent to the caliber of Johnson. The only way I could see Elliott standing a chance is to use his wrestling to the fullest and take Johnson to the ground and turn the fight into a ground and pound. However, Johnson has great takedown defense, so it will not be an easy task to complete and show Elliott the UFC is a completely different fighting game. My prediction: Johnson wins via knockout in Round 1.
#1 JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ (24-4-0) vs #2 HENRY “THE MESSENGER” CEJUDO (10-1-0)
This is a three round fight in the flyweight division. Benavidez brings boxing, kickboxing and wrestling making him efficient in all three methods of victory. Cejudo brings Muay Thai and wrestling that have made him well-rounded in grappling as well as having a near perfect record. With both of these fighters having great striking and grappling techniques the key to winning the fight will be on who uses them to the fullest. Benavidez has had much more experience in the sport and so he looks to take this fight with ease, but one cannot forget the Olympic wrestling of Cejudo, which could prove to be much more of a challenge for Benavidez than expected. If Benavidez can keep the fight on their feet he would be able to use his striking to place pressure on Cejudo to keep him from setting up any takedowns and thus brings the fight to a decision. However, Cejudo is a guy who is hard to avoid a takedown against and if Benavidez does not increase his defense he will find himself on his back taking a beating from the former title challenger. My prediction: Cejudo wins via unanimous decision.
KAILIN CURRAN (4-3-0) vs JAMIE MOYLE (3-1-0)
This is a three round fight in the women’s strawweight division. Curran brings kickboxing and wrestling giving her grappling and cardio with some striking power. Moyle brings striking and jiu-jitsu giving her ground game along with cardio in her early career. Since both of these two female athletes are almost identical with not much experience it looks difficult to chose a favorite, but I believe Curran’s grappling is little better than Moyle’s striking. With that in mind, I see Curran bringing the fight to the ground and keeping Moyle in a world of trouble as Moyle is not very effective on the ground. Now at the same time, Moyle will look to try to out strike Curran with hopes of finding her weak spot, but she will have to increase her takedown defense even more if she wants to make her presence noticed in her octagon debut. My prediction: Curran wins with a unanimous decision.
