The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 15 is officially in the book after a long season of knockouts, tapouts, and thrilling back-and-forth fights. And it was all the way live on its new broadcast home on the FX channel.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) gave fans the ability to vote for the season's bonus award winners for all the usual categories -- "Knockout of the Season," "Submission of the Season" and "Fight of the Season" -- except the stakes were much higher.
The winners would receive $25,000.
That's no small prize considering all the time and effort these fighters surrendered in the name of chasing a contract with the world's largest fight promotion. And with nothing promised to them, that extra cheese could go a long way in paying some bills that piled up while they were stashed away in Las Vegas.
So who did you fans (who bothered to vote, anyway) decide deserved the moolah?
Chris Tickle was undoubtedly the bad boy of the TUF house, stirring up trouble at every turn. That's probably why Joe Proctor was awarded "Submission of the Season" for choking him until he tapped back on episode six.
Nothing fancy, just a rear-naked choke to quiet the "dog with no bark."
Al Iaquinta turned in what was unquestionably the performance of the season when he absolutely destroyed Andy Ogle in the quarterfinals on episode 11. The Serra-Longo product blasted the ballsy Brit and when his initial flurry didn't put him away, Iaquinta knocked him cold with a standing elbow strike.
Really, there was no better choice for "Knockout of the Season."
Speaking of Iaquinta and impressive, he went toe-to-toe with early season favorite Myles Jury on episode four and their ensuing back-and-forth war of attrition was good enough to last in fan's minds to earn him "Fight of the Season."
Maybe that extra $50K will help him cope with losing to Michael Chiesa in the finals.
For complete coverage of The Ultimate Fighter 15 be sure to check out our archive by clicking here.