Liudvik Sholinian became the first bantamweight to advance past the opening round in Season 28 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” defeating Mitch Raposo via unanimous decision on Tuesday’s episode.
Sholinians win saw him make somewhat of a comeback, battling back from losing the first round and forcing an overtime round against Raposo.
Raposo had strong striking on his backfoot during the first round, landing punches to the head and body that proved effective. He was able to stop some takedown attempts of Sholinian, something that would become a larger issue later in the fight.
Sholinian started to take Raposo down in the second round, putting him on his back for several minutes in the frame. He was able to win the round this way, tying the fight up after two rounds.
In “The Ultimate Fighter,” a third round is only played if the scorecards are tied following two rounds.
Similar to the second round, Sholinian was able to use his wrestling to keep Raposo down. Raposo looked to turn the tide of the fight at a point in the final round, taking the back of Sholinian for a moment. This was something that Sholinian eventually stopped.
The result of Sholinian winning on scorecards was somewhat of an upset, as it eliminated the first overall pick in the draft for the season.
Sholinian entered the bout with 11 pro fights under his record. On a four-fight win streak, Sholinian has notable wins over Yuma Horiuchi and Vince Cachero.
Raposo entered the season with an undefeated pro record of five wins.
It was announced at the end of the episode that bantamweights Ryder Newman and Tresean Gore will fight on next week’s episode. Along with Andre Petroski, the winner next week will be one of two middleweights past the quarterfinals of the show.
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