Tina Black Wins TUF 34 Crown While Illegal Knee Ruins Mens Finale at UFC Vegas 121
Tina Black earned a UFC contract with a second-round TKO, but an illegal knee disqualification spoiled the mens TUF 34 bantamweight finale.
Two Ultimate Fighter Season 34 champions were crowned Saturday night at UFC Vegas 121, but only one walked away with a moment worth celebrating.
Tina Black delivered a statement finish in the womens strawweight finale, stopping Melissa Amaya by TKO at 3:19 of the second round. Black, 30, showed superior speed and power from the opening bell, per LowKick MMA. She hurt Amaya with right hooks in the first round and dropped her, though Amaya briefly stunned Black before the bell. In the second, Black landed back-to-back right hooks that put Amaya down again, and the referee had seen enough. Black earned a UFC contract and a $25,000 finish bonus.
The mens bantamweight finale did not go as planned. Mehemmedeli Osmanli and Ilimbek Akylbek Uulu opened with a competitive exchange before Uulu secured a takedown and worked from full mount for roughly a minute. Osmanli fought back to his feet, but as they re-engaged, Uulu slipped, and Osmanli drove a knee into the head of his now-grounded opponent. Referee intervention was immediate. Osmanli was disqualified at 2:19 of the first round, per LowKick MMA.
Akylbek Uulu was awarded the TUF 34 bantamweight championship and a UFC contract by disqualification. The finish drew widespread frustration on social media, with observers calling it a wasted opportunity for Osmanli.
Black, who collected a $25,000 finish bonus on top of her contract, made the stronger case for her UFC future. Amaya, previously undefeated, will need to regroup.
Two finales, two completely different feelings. Tina Black looked like a fighter who belonged on the big stage. She cracked Amaya with power shots in both rounds and finished the job clean. That is how you announce yourself.
Osmanli, man. You fight your way through an entire season of TUF, make the finale, and throw it away with an illegal knee in the first round. You cannot tell me he did not know his opponent was grounded. That is the kind of mistake that haunts a career. Akylbek Uulu gets the contract, but nobody is happy about how he got it. Least of all him, probably.
Black is the story here. She earned it the right way.
