Daniel Cormier took a commanding lead in his coaching duel with Chael Sonnen – and one of Cormier’s fighters took home some extra cash.
The fourth episode of The Ultimate Fighter 33 featured some intense weigh-in drama as Team Sonnen’s Andreeas Binder (10-1, 1 NC) failed to make weight for his 170-pound tournament quarterfinal bout against Team Cormier’s Jeff Creighton (11-2-1). Worse, Binder was not even close.
It was Binder’s team that made the call for him to stop cutting weight after he slipped at the TUF house with three hours until it was time to weigh in. At that point, Binder was still five pounds over the limit.
The crisis forced Sonnen to call Cormier and offer a deal to keep the fight intact: Creighton would be paid $1,000 for each pound that Binder was over. When Cormier presented the offer to Creighton, the TUF contestant suggested they raise the penalty to $2,500 per pound. Sonnen agreed and showed up to the weigh-ins with an envelope containing $12,500 in cash, which Cormier and Creighton gleefully accepted.
Creighton’s gambit paid off in a major way as he not only made five figures to take the fight, he went on to defeat Binder and advance to the semifinals. Binder came out strong in the first round, dealing well with Creighton’s pressure and catching him with hard punches to back him up to the fence. He then caught a kick and put Creighton on his back before landing a few punches and jumping into Creighton’s guard. Creighton weathered the storm to make it to the second round.
Though Binder was clearly up 10-9 on the cards, Cormier pointed out that Binder had a large cut on his forehead and he was confident the Irish fighter wouldn’t be able able to keep up with Creighton’s pace due to the hard weight cut. Sure enough, Creighton continued to pressure and eventually scored a takedown early in Round 2. From there, he took Binder’s back and peppered him with punches, threatening with chokes as Binder’s blood poured onto the mat.
Though Creighton didn’t find a finish, his dominance was enough to earn him a 10-8 round and a decision victory (19-18 scores across the board) in the two-round.
With the win, Cormier now has two welterweights in the semifinals (Creighton and Daniil Donchenko) and holds 3-1 lead over Sonnen in their coaching competition.
In next week’s flyweight matchup, Team Cormier’s Alibi Idiris (Kazakhstan) fights Team Sonnen’s Furkatbek Yokubov (Ireland).
The Ultimate Fighter 33 airs live every Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Unlike most editions of TUF, coaches Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen will not fight at the conclusion of the season as both are long retired.
The finalists of the TUF 33 welterweight and flyweight tournaments will compete for a six-figure UFC contract in the show’s live finale fights. A date for those bouts is yet to be announced.
Here are the TUF 33 rosters divided by team:
Team Cormier
Flyweights
Eduardo Henrique (13-2), Brazil
Alibi Idiris (10-0), Kazakhstan
Imanol Rodriguez (5-0), Mexico
Tumelo Manyamala (6-1), South Africa
Welterweights
Rodrigo Sezinando (8-1), Brazil
Daniil Donchenko (11-2), Ukraine
Jeff Creighton (11-2-1), USA
Alex Sanchez (15-3), Mexico
Team Sonnen
Flyweights
Joseph Morales (12-2), USA
Furkatbek Yokubov (13-4), Uzbekistan
Roybert Echeverria (10-2), Venezuela
Arshiyan Memon (7-0), India
Welterweights
Diego Bianchini (9-1), Brazil
Matt Dixon (11-1), USA
Richard Martins (9-1), Brazil
Andreeas Binder (10-1, 1 NC), Ireland
Here are the quarterfinal results so far:
Joseph Morales def. Eduardo Henrique via first-round submission (rear-naked choke)
Daniil Donchenko def. Richard Martins via decision
Imanol Rodriguez def. Arshiyan Memon via first-round TKO (strikes)
Jeff Creighton def. Andreeas Binder via decision
Advancing to semifinals: Morales, Donchenko, Rodriguez
Eliminated: Henrique, Martins, Memon
