Team Faber’s Michael Chiesa capped off an emotional season with a come-from-behind win over Team Cruz’s James Vick, while Team Faber’s Al Iaquinta beat Team Cruz’s Vinc Pichel on the final episode of The Ultimate Fighter Live.
Chiesa and Iaquinta will meet next Friday at the TUF Live Finale in Las Vegas to determine who will win a six-figure fight contract with the UFC and earn the title of being a TUF champ.
The two tallest fighters in the competition — Vick at 6’3” and Chiesa at 6’1” – went toe-to-toe in the first round of their bout. Chiesa, whose strength is the ground game, was unable to get the fight where he wanted and looked uncomfortable striking with Vick, even though he managed to land some good left hands.
Overall Vick dictated the pace and had Chiesa backing up. When the fight did briefly go to the ground it was Vick that nearly locked in a guillotine choke in the dying seconds.
In the second round, though, Chiesa came out more aggressive on the feet and was able to take Vick down. He quickly moved into mount, began landing shots, hurt Vick and referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the fight at the 1:55 mark.
It was yet another emotional win for Chiesa, whose father passed away during the first week of filming.
“I feel great. It has been quite a journey,” Chiesa said after the fight. “A lot of ups and downs but I feel like I’ve earned my spot in the finale and I’m very excited to seize the moment.”
In the second live fight, Iaquinta came out the crisper fighter. His head movement was on point and he was landing the more frequent kicks and punches. The second round was much of the same except the energy level was amped up by both fighters and Iaquinta was awarded with a unanimous decision.
Iaquinta, who trains with former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra, is grateful everything has worked out the way it has.
“I couldn’t have done it without a great team, great roommates. Everyone really helped me out. The coaching staff was just awesome. Everything was a dream come true,” Iaquinta said. “When I left I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. Now I have the toughest fight of my life ahead of me, and I’m ready for it.”
The TUF Live Finale features a welterweight contender bout between Jake Ellenberger and Martin Kampmann. It will also see TUF 12 winner Jonathan Brookins take on rising featherweight star Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway vs. Pat Schilling, and John Albert vs. Erik Perez.
Plus, there are a number of fights on the card featuring TUF Live contestants including: Justin Lawrence vs. John Cofer; Myles Jury vs. Chris Saunders; Daron Cruickshank vs. Chris Tickle; Cristiano Marcello vs. Sam Sicilia; and Jeremy Larsen vs. Joe Proctor.
