Preview: ‘The Ultimate Fighter 24′ Finale

Tim Elliott ran the 16-man gauntlet on Season 24 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series. His reward: a meeting with perhaps the most dominant champion in all of mixed martial arts. Elliott will challenge undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight titleholder Demetrious Johnson in “The Ultimate Fighter 24” Finale main event on Saturday at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Flyweights are also set to tangle in the co-headliner, as Joseph Benavidez squares off with 2008 Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo. The rest of the six-fight main draw features a welterweight clash pairing Jake Ellenberger with Jorge Masvidal, a light heavyweight tilt pitting Ion Cutelaba against Jared Cannonier, a women’s bantamweight affair matching Sara McMann with Alexis Davis and a flyweight battle slotting Brandon Moreno opposite Ryan Benoit.Let us take a closer look at each matchup at “The Ultimate Fighter 24” Finale, with analysis and picks:UFC Flyweight Championship Demetrious Johnson (24-2-1) vs. Tim Elliott (13-6-1)THE MATCHUP: Johnson is simply running out of men to beat. The flyweight champion’s winning streak stretches back to June 2012, and each of his 10 straight wins seems more impressive than the last. Desperate for fresh meat for its least popular but most dominant champion, the UFC has elected to bring in the winner of “The Ultimate Fighter 24” to face “Mighty Mouse.” As fate would have it, the challenger is a man the UFC cut less than two years ago, though he is now riding a three-fight winning streak — not including his four exhibition wins on the reality show. With his hunched posture, erratic footwork and creative takedown entries, you would not be remiss to call Elliott a sort of blue-collar Dominick Cruz. True, Elliott does lack many of the …

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