Tina Black Books TUF 34 Strawweight Final vs Melissa Amaya

The Ultimate Fighter 34 strawweight final is locked in. Tina Black out-struck Team Daniel Cormier teammate Delphine Benouaich across three rounds to earn a decision, setting up a finale clash with Melissa Amaya at UFC Vegas 121 on Sept. 26.

It wasn't clean. Black survived some ugly exchanges and had her back taken in Round 1 before pulling away on the feet for a convincing nod. The subplot: Benouaich and Black were genuinely close in the house — Benouaich even helped organize a Team Cormier surprise for Black's birthday. Once the cage door shut, none of that mattered.

According to bantamweight contestant Xavier Franklin, MMA Fighting's guest blogger this season, Black fought like the friendship never happened — elbows, knees, the works. Benouaich, unranked at 7-2 with four KOs and a submission on her ledger, walks away from the tournament but isn't idle for long: she's booked against Sofia Montenegro at UFC Fight Night: Hooker vs. Parnasse.

The Bisping Blowout

Away from the fights, Team Bisping had its own drama. Franklin said a rift had formed between the team's bantamweights and strawweights, and Michael Bisping's fix was a high-end Vegas steak dinner. Peace was restored. Discipline was not.

Franklin, cutting weight for his semifinal against Ilimbek Akylbek Uulu, planned to eat light. Bisping had other ideas, personally spoon-feeding him Oreo ice cream with the reassurance that he'd make weight anyway. From there, Franklin says, everyone went sideways.

The real chaos came from Marlon Jones, eliminated earlier in the season by Christian Strong and sitting around 170-175 pounds with nothing to lose. Franklin described Jones double-legging Bisping inside the restaurant, befriending the waiter, and leading a drunken "Team Bisping" chant on the bus home before kicking the house door in.

It didn't stop there. Fighters piled into the pool fully clothed, and Jones — assigned to Franklin as an unofficial babysitter — ran wet through the house before spin-kicking a mirrored closet door off its hinges in the middle of the night. Franklin, two days out from fighting a friend, gave up and went to bed. Somewhere in the fallout, the production crew earned their paychecks.