The lightweight finals are now set for The Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated after the latest semifinal matchup went down this week.
Ahead of the fight between Team Cormier's Joe Giannetti and Team Miocic's Allan Zuniga, the fighters were beginning to wind down with their days remaining in the house soon dwindling down to zero.
To help keep their minds occupied as best as possible, light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier came over to the house with an Xbox One and the EA Sports UFC 3 game before matching up the fighters in a tournament to see who was the best. In the end, it was Luis Pena who got the job done, making an undefeated run through the tournament while all of the fighters in the house enjoyed a night off with some gaming.
The fighters also enjoyed a nice break during the week for the latest version of the coach's challenge as they got to sit back and watch while Cormier and heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic squared off in a hockey shootout.
Now neither Miocic nor Cormier were much as hockey players, but the heavyweight champ seemed to have a slight advantage going on because he had at least skated previously.
Meanwhile, Cormier was like a newborn deer trying to balance himself on the ice, with each movement taking him one step closer to crashing on his butt.
Daniel Cormier on skates.... enough said . pic.twitter.com/FIs4UAVbTd
— The Ultimate Fighter (@UltimateFighter) June 22, 2018
Needless to say, Cormier's confidence wasn't all that high when the shootout began.
Miocic won the coin toss and he elected to play goalie first with Cormier shooting at him.
Despite barely being able to stand — and essentially falling after every shot — Cormier still managed to score on four out of his 10 shots. From there, the UFC 226 main event fighters switched out their gear, with Cormier now stepping in front of the goal while Miocic would be shooting at him.
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Miocic quickly rattled off three goals in a row on his first three shots and Cormier was admittedly getting worried.
Before the competition began, Cormier said that if he won, he would use his $10,000 prize and give $1,500 each to all of the fighters on his team. After Miocic scored three straight goals, Cormier looked over and saw some worried faces on his fighters.
Not to be outdone, Cormier refused to surrender and Miocic began struggling as the light heavyweight champion was suddenly blocking all of his shots. In fact, Cormier blocked everything after those first three goals and it came down to the 10th and final shot for Miocic to tie the score to send it into sudden victory.
Miocic shot for the goal but Cormier was able to move into position to make the save and that put an end to the competition, with the light heavyweight champion getting the job done despite barely being able to stand on the ice.
"That has to be one of the proudest moments I've had in my entire life," Cormier said about his win on the ice.
Miocic was not too happy with the result.
"I hate losing. I hate losing so much," Miocic said.
From there, the attention turned to the fight, where Giannetti attempted to get his second win in a row to move on to the finals, while Zuniga was looking for the upset as one of the more underrated fighters in the competition this season.
JOE GIANNETTI VS. ALLAN ZUNIGA
ROUND 1
Zuniga looks for some leg kicks early as he stays on the outside of Giannetti. Giannetti begins finding his range with some kicks of his own to the legs and body. Zuniga ends up locking up in the clinch but he lands a low knee to the groin that causes a break in the action. Upon the restart, Zuniga is looking for those leg kicks once again, this time peppering to the inside and outside of Giannetti's calf and thigh. Giannetti is still firing back with his own kicking game as he goes straight to the body and even throws a spinning wheel kick. Giannetti looks very relaxed as he's striking with Zuniga, uncorking a nice head kick that nearly lands. Giannetti is beginning to get the better of Zuniga with his range and length, popping him with straight punches and a range of kicks. This time it's Giannetti with a kick low that lands on Zuniga as the referee pauses the action once again. Zuniga takes some time to recover and the fight restarts. Giannetti is still landing with much better accuracy as he continues to crack Zuniga with stinging punches and kicks. Giannetti is settling into a rhythm that finally forces Zuniga to go for a takedown. As soon as Zuniga shoots, Giannetti quickly catches him in a guillotine choke and then he transitions to a D'Arce choke before rolling the ground to lock up the submission. Zuniga does his best to fight out of the choke but Giannetti continues to make adjustments to hold on. Giannetti switches from a D'arce to an anaconda choke, locking his legs around Zuniga while rolling into mount. Finally Zuniga can no longer fight out of the submission and he's forced to tap out as Giannetti punches his ticket to the finale.
Official result: Joe Giannetti def. Allan Zuniga by submission (anaconda choke), Round 1
"I think I was a little lazy at times, but for the most part felt pretty sharp," Giannetti said about the victory. "I hope I made my coaches proud in that fight. I definitely think it was the coaching staff here that gave me so much confidence in the fight. We work harder than the other team. It is just fact, and I think I showed it.
"My team back home is able to work with my unorthodox fighting style and not being very athletic they are able to train me to be my best. Without them I would not be where I am today."
With Giannetti punching his ticket to the finals, he is now set to face Team Miocic fighter Mike Trizano in the live finale on July 6 from Las Vegas.
Next week, in the season finale of The Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated, Tyler Diamond will represent Team Cormier against Jay Cucciniello, who returns to the competition for Team Miocic after stepping in as an injury replacement.
Can Diamond make it an all-Cormier final where he will meet Brad Katona to determine the featherweight winner or will Cucciniello pull off the upset and move on to the finale?
Tune in to the season finale of The Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated next Wednesday night at 10 pm ET on FS1 to find out.
