Diego Bianchini vs. Rodrigo Sezinando was forecasted as a potential welterweight finale matchup on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Cormier vs. Team Sonnen, however the 170-pound Brazilian rivals were instead paired together in the quarterfinals.
Team Sonnen’s Bianchini and Team Cormier’s Sezinando were the top two welterweight picks during team selection this season and have been butting heads in the fighter house all throughout the season.
Despite being compatriots, the two standout talents have different backgrounds and lifestyles and their personalities did not mesh. Bianchini, 28, is from a nice area in Sao Paulo, while Sezinando, 27, is from a favela in Rio de Janeiro.
Bianchini has a 9-1 pro record and is a member of the famed Fighting Nerds team meaning he is teammates with the likes of UFC stars Caio Borralho, Jean Silva Mauricio Ruffy and Carlos Prates. Meanwhile, Sezinando is an 8-1 pro who has been living and training in Canada in recent years with title wins in both the Battlefield Fight League and Samourai MMA organizations.
“This is one we’ve all been waiting for,” UFC president Dana White said ahead of the anticipated matchup. “These two did not like each other right off the bat, tension has been building the entire season and they finally get to settle it in the Octagon.”
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Both fighters successfully made weight and continued talking trash in the days leading up to their matchup.
Once the fight started, Bianchini began aggressively throwing kicks and Sezinando countered with an early takedown although the ground control did not last very long before the action returned to the feet. Sezinando secured a nifty foot sweep that sent Bianchini to the mat and then appeared to hurt Bianchini with a left hand as the two exchanged heavy punches. Round 1 was a close, back-and-forth round during which it appeared Sezinando did the more effective work.
Round 2 began with Sezinando getting in top position early like he did in the first round but this time he was able to maintain a dominant position for longer. Bianchini defended effectively but couldn’t mount much offence of his own as Sezinando worked from half-guard, landing elbows and fending off a leg lock attempt.
All fights on TUF are scheduled for two five-minute rounds where if after the second round it’s a draw they go to a third “sudden victory” round.
Despite the close opening round, the judges scored both rounds for Sezinando and a third round was not needed. In fact, none of the quarterfinal matchups ended up going to a sudden victory round.
Sezinando now moves on to join Team Cormier teammates Daniil Donchenko and Jeff Creighton, plus Team Sonnen’s Matt Dixon in the semifinals of the welterweight tournament.
SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS ANNOUNCED
With the quarterfinals in the books, the coaches met with all advancing fighters to hear who each athlete's preferred next opponent was then Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen determined the matchups for the next round.
Sezinando will face Creighton in a battle of teammates, while Donchenko will take on Dixon in the welterweight semis.
In the flyweight bracket, Team Cormier’s Alibi Idiris will face Team Sonnen’s Roybert Echeverria, and Team Cormier’s Imanol Rodriguez will go up against Team Sonnen’s Joseph Morales.
Rodriguez had some choice words for Morales when the fighters had a stare down during the matchup announcement and it was determined Idiris vs. Echeverria will be the first semifinal bout.
