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‘The Ultimate Fighter 29’ Bantamweight Final

NR | Ricky Turcios (10-2, 0-0 UFC) vs. NR | Brady Hiestand (5-1, 0-0 UFC)

ODDS: Turcios (-160), Hiestand (+140)

Turcios has been on the UFC’s radar for the last few years. He appeared on the first episode of Dana White’s Contender Series in 2017, dropping a decision to eventual contract winner Boston Salmon. Turcios has not been particularly active since, winning two out of three bouts over the ensuing four years, but that was enough to get him the call for “The Ultimate Fighter.” Turcios’ free-spirited personality was one of the highlights of the season’s reality show aspects. Turcios also backed it up inside the cage, as his free-flowing style led to his winning entertaining wars against Daniel Argueta and Liudvik Sholinian. In the other corner is Washington’s Hiestand, who was nowhere near the known entity that Turcios was coming into the season.

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Just 22 years old, Hiestand may have had the weakest resume of the entire cast, running over an extremely questionable level of competition before getting his shot. However, he made up for that in his two fights on the season, upending two of his most experienced castmates in Josh Rettinghouse and Vince Murdock, mostly on the back of his powerful and aggressive wrestling and grappling game. This basically comes down to Turcios’ experience against Hiestand’s danger and physicality, which really could go either way. Turcios is not exactly a focused or defensive fighter and has been sparked in the past, but Hiestand is completely unproven in fights that actually count on his record; and he still tired badly while gutting out his decision win against Rettinghouse. In the end, it is difficult not to favor Turcios’ experience and unorthodox approach against such a raw prospect, though a quick Hiestand win would not be a shock. The pick is Turcios via decision.

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