Daniel Cormier took a commanding lead in his teaching duel with Chael Sonnen – and considered one of Cormier’s fighters took dwelling some further money.
The fourth episode of The Final Fighter 33 featured some intense weigh-in drama as Workforce Sonnen’s Andreeas Binder (10-1, 1 NC) didn’t make weight for his 170-pound match quarterfinal bout towards Workforce Cormier’s Jeff Creighton (11-2-1). Worse, Binder was not even shut.
It was Binder’s staff that made the decision for him to cease slicing weight after he slipped on the TUF home with three hours till it was time to weigh in. At that time, Binder was nonetheless 5 kilos over the restrict.
The disaster pressured Sonnen to name Cormier and provide a deal to maintain the battle intact: Creighton can be paid $1,000 for every pound that Binder was over. When Cormier offered the provide to Creighton, the TUF contestant urged they increase the penalty to $2,500 per pound. Sonnen agreed and confirmed as much as the weigh-ins with an envelope containing $12,500 in money, which Cormier and Creighton gleefully accepted.
Creighton’s gambit paid off in a serious approach as he not solely made 5 figures to take the battle, he went on to defeat Binder and advance to the semifinals. Binder got here out robust within the first spherical, dealing effectively with Creighton’s stress and catching him with exhausting punches to again him as much as the fence. He then caught a kick and put Creighton on his again earlier than touchdown a number of punches and leaping into Creighton’s guard. Creighton weathered the storm to make it to the second spherical.
Although Binder was clearly up 10-9 on the playing cards, Cormier identified that Binder had a big reduce on his brow and he was assured the Irish fighter wouldn’t give you the option in a position to sustain with Creighton’s tempo as a result of exhausting weight reduce. Positive sufficient, Creighton continued to stress and ultimately scored a takedown early in Spherical 2. From there, he took Binder’s again and peppered him with punches, threatening with chokes as Binder’s blood poured onto the mat.
Although Creighton didn’t discover a end, his dominance was sufficient to earn him a 10-8 spherical and a call victory (19-18 scores throughout the board) within the two-round.
With the win, Cormier now has two welterweights within the semifinals (Creighton and Daniil Donchenko) and holds 3-1 lead over Sonnen of their teaching competitors.
In subsequent week’s flyweight matchup, Workforce Cormier’s Alibi Idiris (Kazakhstan) fights Workforce Sonnen’s Furkatbek Yokubov (Eire).
The Final Fighter 33 airs stay each Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Not like most editions of TUF, coaches Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen is not going to battle on the conclusion of the season as each are lengthy retired.
The finalists of the TUF 33 welterweight and flyweight tournaments will compete for a six-figure UFC contract within the present’s stay finale fights. A date for these bouts is but to be introduced.
Listed here are the TUF 33 rosters divided by staff:
Workforce Cormier
Flyweights
- Eduardo Henrique (13-2), Brazil
- Alibi Idiris (10-0), Kazakhstan
- Imanol Rodriguez (5-0), Mexico
- Tumelo Manyamala (6-1), South Africa
Welterweights
- Rodrigo Sezinando (8-1), Brazil
- Daniil Donchenko (11-2), Ukraine
- Jeff Creighton (11-2-1), USA
- Alex Sanchez (15-3), Mexico
Workforce Sonnen
Flyweights
- Joseph Morales (12-2), USA
- Furkatbek Yokubov (13-4), Uzbekistan
- Roybert Echeverria (10-2), Venezuela
- Arshiyan Memon (7-0), India
Welterweights
- Diego Bianchini (9-1), Brazil
- Matt Dixon (11-1), USA
- Richard Martins (9-1), Brazil
- Andreeas Binder (10-1, 1 NC), Eire
Listed here are the quarterfinal outcomes to date:
Joseph Morales def. Eduardo Henrique by way of first-round submission (rear-naked choke)
Daniil Donchenko def. Richard Martins by way of resolution
Imanol Rodriguez def. Arshiyan Memon by way of first-round TKO (strikes)
Jeff Creighton def. Andreeas Binder by way of resolution
Advancing to semifinals: Morales, Donchenko, Rodriguez
Eradicated: Henrique, Martins, Memon
