After early first-round fireworks, the Welterweight clash between Jake Ellenberger (31-12) and Jorge Masvidal (31-11) last night (Sat., Dec. 3, 2016) ended rather strangely. Masvidal, 32, defeated Ellenberger via technical knockout at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 24 Finale inside Palms Resort Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, after Ellenberger got his foot caught in the bottom of the fence and preceded to get hit with several punches (watch it here). Ellenberger looked like he was defending himself when referee Herb Dean waved off the bout. There was a conversation with a commission official as to what appropriate measures to take, but since Dean stopped the action, it could not start back up again and was ultimately ruled a technical knockout.
The official time of the stoppage came at 4:05 of round one.
In the first round, Masvidal caught a kick by Ellenberger and began to tee off in close with big left hands. Masvidal then began waving Ellenberger on for more. After that Masvidal landed at will with a barrage of strikes, which included a huge knee in the clinch. Dean was just seconds away from calling it as Ellenberger was on his back getting walloped by Masvidal, but somehow managed to survive the onslaught of "Gamebred."
Later, when Ellenberger missed on a flying knee, his foot got caught in the bottom of the fence near the canvas. As he began to clutch his foot, Masvidal began to rain down punches before Dean stepped in to stop it.
The win marks two straight for Masvidal, who looked awesome early despite the odd ending of the contest. "Gamebred" is now 8-4 in UFC. It was another tough loss for Ellenberger, 31, but he should get the benefit of the doubt because of the odd ending of the bout. However, it must be noted he got absolutely thrashed by Masvidal early on in the contest. Ellenberger falls to 10-8 in UFC in defeat.
For complete TUF 24 Finale results, including play-by-play updates, click here.