The Ultimate Fighter: Redemption Finale UFC betting event will be held on July 7th at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, and it will feature a match to determine the winner of the show.
Dhiego Lima vs. Jesse Taylor
Weight class: Welter
Offshore sportsbook odds for fans who bet on UFC:
Dhiego Lima – 2½ (-195) +165
Jesse Taylor – 2½ (+160) -205
As the name of the event implies, The Ultimate Fighter 25 revolved around the premise of casting welterweights who were former participants and winners of the show. Jump the shark much? Lima was cast as a middleweight on The Ultimate Fighter 19, which aired April 16th-July 6th, 2014. Lima defeated Adam Stroup via unanimous decision in a preliminary fight, defeated Tim Williams via submission in round 2, defeated Roger Zapata via submission in the semifinals, but lost to Eddie Gordon by KO at The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale on July 6, 2014th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Lima then switched to welterweight and won his divisional debut against Jorge de Oliveira in November but went on to lose his next to UFC fights and was released from the promotion on July 5th, 2015. Lima won and lost the Titan FC Welterweight Championship in 2016 before being selected to compete in TUF 25. There he defeated Hayder Hassan via unanimous decision in the prelims, defeated Gilbert Smith via unanimous decision in the ¼finals, and beat Tom Gallicchio by UD in the semis.
Of the two, however, Taylor has more to atone for, which perhaps plays into his being the UFC betting favorite on Friday. JT Money appeared in The Ultimate Fighter 7 (aired April 2nd-June 21st, 2008) where he defeated Nick Rossborough by submission in the preliminary round, defeated Dante Rivera by unanimous decision in the quarters, and defeated Tim Credeur by UD in the semifinals to earn a spot in the TUF 7 Finale versus Amir Sadollah. Unfortunately, he became the only fighter to ever be removed from the finals after being caught on camera while DIP (drunk in public, if you’re not into the whole brevity thing). Dana White nonetheless brought him back to face CB Dollaway at Fight Night: Silva vs. Irvin on July 19, 2008 in Las Vegas – a losing effort following which White released him again.
Taylor then plied his trade in numerous promotions, including Total Combat (where he was a one-time Middleweight Champion), Xtreme Cagefighting Federation, King of Champions (where he was a one-time Middleweight Champion), Shark Fights, DREAM, Strikeforce, MFC, Impact FC, Battlefield Fight League, Cage Warriors (where he was a one-time Welterweight Championship), Dragon House, Cage Gladiator, K-Oz Entertainment (where he is the current Middleweight Champion), World Series of Fighting (where he challenged for the WSOF Middleweight Championship), and Absolute Championship Berkut. He was cast in TUF 25, where he defeated Mehdi Baghdad via unanimous decision in the prelims, defeated Hayder Hassan via submission in the QFs, and beat James Krause in semis by submission to enter the finals as the UFC betting fave.