Demetrious Johnson to Defend Title Against Tim Elliott Saturday at TUF 24 Finale

It’s been nearly five years since Demetrious Johnson last tasted defeat. Since then, “Mighty Mouse” has gone on such a tear in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and has proven that he has no equal inside the Octagon that his bosses had to resort to assembling a reality TV show in order to find a suitable man to be his next challenger.

Granted, the UFC didn’t create “The Ultimate Fighter” just for Johnson, but the Las Vegas-based promotion flipped the script on the long-running reality show for Season 24 in that a collection of 16 flyweight champions for smaller promotions across the globe vied for a chance at whom many consider the best fighter on the planet pound-for-pound.

After several weeks cooped up in the TUF house and winning four bouts, it was UFC veteran Tim Elliott who arose from the heap of titlists to try his hand at “Mighty Mouse.”

Elliott opened his stint on TUF 24: Tournament of Champions by dominating Charlie Alaniz by first-round bulldog choke and then was nearly as flawless against Matt Schnell by subbing him in the first courtesy of a front-naked choke. The Titan Fighting Championships champ’s run of destruction ended in his third match when he narrowly edged Eric Shelton via majority decision but when it was time for the semifinals, he turned it up a notch and shutout Shooto champion Hiromasa Ogikubo via unanimous decision.

The 4-0 run in the TUF house granted Elliott a chance at fighting Johnson for the undisputed UFC flyweight championship, which will occur on Saturday night in the main event of the “The Ultimate Fighter 24” Finale. The event will take place at the Pearl inside the Palms Resort Casino in Las Vegas (current odds).

The co-feature will see opposing TUF 24 coaches square off : Joseph Benavidez and Henry Cejudo, who are a combined 0-3 against Johnson. Former lightweight title challenger Gray Maynard will take on TUF 22 champion Ryan Hall while Jorge Masvidal will collide with Jake Ellenberger.

The TUF 24 Finale will begin live on UFC Fight Pass at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. From there, the rest of the prelims and the entire main card will be televised live on FS1 starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.