Season 24 of The Ultimate Fighter features former UFC flyweight title challengers Joseph Benavidez and Henry Cejudo as the head coaches for eight 125-pound fighters each. The victor of the tournament will earn a six-figure UFC contract, as well as a shot at Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and his UFC flyweight title. The show airs Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. (ET) on FOX Sports 1. Tim Elliott was the first pick by Coach Benavidez and the No. 3 overall seed in the tournament. He is a UFC veteran who went 2-3 with the promotion and ended up getting released following a three-fight skid. He went on to the Titan FC promotion, where he captured the Titan FC flyweight title and successfully defended it twice. In the opening round of the tournament, he faced Australia’s Charlie Alaniz and defeated him via bulldog choke submission in the opening round of action. Elliott is one of the favorites to win the tournament. In the quarterfinals, Elliott will be squaring off against Team Cejudo’s Matt Schnell. Brandon Moreno was the last seed in the tournament at No. 16 overall, and he went to Team Benavidez after Coach Cejudo selected Alexandre Pantoja as his first pick. Moreno trains at Cejudo’s gym, so it was a sour moment for the Olympic gold medalist. He got the better of Pantoja in the first round of their bout in the opening round of the tournament, but was unfortunately submitted via rear-naked choke submission in the second round. While the show is still running, Moreno got a short notice call from the UFC to replace Sergio Pettis against Louis Smolka, and he made the best of the opportunity, defeating Smolka via first-round guillotine choke submission in one of the biggest upsets of the year. Prior to entering the TUF house, Moreno was the World Fighting Federation’s flyweight champion. Damacio Page was the second pick by Coach Benavidez and the No. 4 seed in the tournament. He is a UFC/WEC veteran who went 2-5 under the Zuffa banner and has gone 3-1 since dropping to the flyweight division following his UFC release, with his lone 125-pound defeat coming against the aforementioned Pantoja at the RFA vs Legacy FC supercard. Page was the Legacy FC flyweight champion heading into the TUF house. In the opening round of the tournament, he lost via second-round TKO to 13th-seeded Adam Antolin. Eric Shelton was sent to Team Benavidez as the No. 15 seed in the tournament when Coach Cejudo selected Yoni Sherbatov with his second pick. Shelton put Sherbatov to sleep in their opening round bout via technical rear-naked choke submission in the second stanza. Heading into TUF 24, Shelton took with him his Caged Aggression MMA flyweight strap. In the quarterfinals of the tournament, Shelton will be battling it out with fellow Team Benavidez team-mate Ronaldo Candido. Ronaldo Candido was the third fighter selected by Coach Benavidez and No. 7 seed in the tournament. He is known as the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach for Jose Aldo and Claudia Gadelha and remains the biggest submission threat in the tournament, which is saying a lot considering Pantoja is in the mix. In the opening round of the tournament, Candido took on Team Cejudo’s No. 10 seed Jamie Alvarez and defeated him via first-round rear-naked choke submission. In the quarterfinals, he will be facing off against fellow teammate Eric Shelton. Matt Rizzo was shipped directly to Team Benavidez as the No. 11 seed when Coach Cejudo selected sixth-seeded Matt Schnell with his third pick. He went into the competition with a 9-2-1 NC professional record and succumbed to a second-round triangle choke submission against Schnell. Rizzo took with him the Ring of Combat flyweight title heading into the TUF house. Hiromasa Ogikubo was the fourth fighter selected by Coach Benavidez and the No. 5 seed in the tournament. He was the Shooto flyweight champion heading into the TUF house and defeated Team Cejudo’s Nkazimulo Zulu via second-round rear-naked choke submission. In the quarterfinals of the tournament, the Japanese fighter will take on Team Cejudo’s Adam Antolin. Terrence Mitchell was sent to Team Benavidez as the No. 8 seed in the tournament and faced Team Cejudo’s ninth-seeded Kai Kara-France in the opening round of the tournament, losing the bout via knockout in the very first round of action. Mitchell was the Alaska Fighting Championship flyweight champion heading into the TUF house.
