Wait, The Ultimate Fighter was still airing?
The 34th season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), coached by UFC Hall of FamersDaniel Cormier and Michael Bisping, concluded this week on Paramount+ — and the show went out with a historic finish.
The season’s final semifinal featured top Azerbaijani Bantamweight prospect Mehemmedeli Osmanli, who stole the show throughout TUF 34 with his over-the-top personality, against American wrestler Christian Strong.
And Osmanli showed out when it mattered most.
Strong controlled most of the opening round with his wrestling, grinding Osmanli against the cage and controlling him on the ground for nearly four minutes. However, when Osmanli finally returned to his feet with less than one minute remaining, he lit Strong up like a Christmas tree and bloodied the American with several clean shots.
Osmanli carried that momentum into the second round, cracking Strong with nearly everything he threw. Strong eventually secured another takedown and settled into half guard, but that proved to be a costly mistake.
From the bottom, Osmanli locked up a buggy choke. The submission initially didn’t appear tight, and Bisping even instructed him to let it go. Osmanli refused, continued squeezing, and eventually forced Strong to go to sleep.
With the victory, Osmanli recorded the first successful buggy choke in TUF history — and to land one inside the Octagon, as it hasn’t been done in the UFC yet.
Check out the historic finish below:
THE REAL DEAL 🤯
Mehemmedeli Osmanli locks in the BUGGY CHOKE for the impressive RD2 submission victory to move on to the #TUF34 finale!
STREAM NOW on @ParamountPlus! pic.twitter.com/X9dtV81cnV
Ya se han anunciado las finales del TUF 34 así que voy a comentar lo que pasó en el último episodio de la temporada
Mehemmedeli Osmanli ganó a Christian Strong por Buggy Choke en el R2, un tipo de sumisión que nunca había sucedido en la UFC, TUF ni DWCSpic.twitter.com/F3XY6CpBob
With Osmanli’s spectacular victory, the Bantamweight and women’s Strawweight finals are officially set.
Osmanli (12-1) will face fellow Team Bisping representative Ilimbek Akylbek Uulu (10-3) in a matchup that already has some serious heat behind it. The two prospects got into an altercation during a training session on the show and had to be separated by the coaching staff.
In the women’s finale, Valesca Machado, better known as “Tina Black” (15-4), will collide with undefeated prospect Melissa Amaya (8-0). Amaya punched her ticket to the finale by finishing both Anna Melisano and GiGi Canuto.
The TUF 34 finals will take place at UFC Vegas 121 on Sat., Sept. 26, 2026, inside Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card will be headlined by Raul Rosas Jr. against Raoni Barcelos.
Two TUF trophies and two UFC contracts will be on the line — and after Osmanli’s wild semifinal finish, the season may have finally given fans a reason to pay attention.
To checkout UFC’s upcoming schedule of events click here.
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