{"id":773328,"date":"2026-07-02T02:21:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T02:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/773328\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T02:21:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T02:21:23","slug":"tuf-34-highlights-mehemmedeli-osmanli-taps-artem-belakh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/773328\/","title":{"rendered":"TUF 34 Highlights: Mehemmedeli Osmanli Taps Artem Belakh"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 34th season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), coached by UFC Hall of Famers<\/a> Daniel Cormier and Michael Bisping, is currently airing on Paramount+ every Tuesday.<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re not watching it \u2014 don\u2019t worry, I got you covered.<\/p>\n

In the fourth episode, which aired Tuesday night (June 30, 2026), top Azerbaijan Bantamweight prospect Mehemmedeli Osmanli scored a slick rear-naked choke submission win over LFA Bantamweight and Team Cormier\u2019s No. 1 overall pick, Artem Belakh, in less than one round during their quarterfinal matchup inside the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.<\/p>\n

On paper, Osmanli vs. Belakh was one of the best fights of the season. Both fighters entered with serious upside, and Belakh in particular was viewed as one of the most dangerous strikers in the TUF house.<\/p>\n

But the fight did not play out that way.<\/p>\n

Belakh actually tagged Osmanli with a clean combination in the opening seconds, then strangely abandoned his crisp, technical striking and started hunting takedowns. He landed a couple of them, but he was forced to work hard, and the pace quickly caught up to him.<\/p>\n

Whether it was the bad game plan, a rough weight cut or a combination of both, Belakh faded fast, and Osmanli took full advantage.<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old eventually worked his way to Belakh\u2019s back, locked up a rear-naked choke and forced the tap, punching his ticket to the semifinal round while eliminating Cormier\u2019s top pick from the competition.<\/p>\n

Check out the finish below:<\/p>\n

Osmanli (12-1) was one of the favorites to win TUF 34, and he definitely showed why. He also got a chance to show off his loud, boisterous personality, which should make him a very easy fighter for fans to remember.<\/p>\n

The Azerbaijani prospect is now riding a nine-fight win streak and owns an 84 percent finish rate, with eight submissions and two knockouts.<\/p>\n

As for Belakh (11-2), the loss is a tough one, especially considering he seemed to have a clear advantage on the feet and never really gave himself a chance to use it.<\/p>\n

Still, he should absolutely get another look from UFC matchmakers, whether that means a call-up to the roster or a shot on Contender Series. Belakh is extremely fun to watch, and his training-room resume is legit: he is a main sparring partner for Merab Dvalishvili when he trains in Las Vegas and for Petr Yan when he trains in Thailand.<\/p>\n

In episode five, former Contender Series alumni Valesca Machado collides with Natalia Alves in a Brazil-on-Brazil showdown.<\/p>\n

To checkout UFC\u2019s upcoming schedule of events click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 34th season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), coached by UFC Hall of Famers Daniel Cormier and Michael…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":773329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,40762,785,85,1396,179146,355513],"class_list":["post-773328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-latest-ufc-mma-news","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ufc-news","tag-ufc-on-paramount","tag-ufc-mma-social-media-videos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/773329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}