Ilimbek Akylbek Wins TUF 34 After Mahammadali Osmanli Illegal Knee
Ilimbek Akylbek is the The Ultimate Fighter 34 bantamweight winner after Mahammadali Osmanli was disqualified for an illegal knee at 2:19 of Round 1.
The finish came Saturday on the main card of UFC Fight Night: Rosas Jr. vs. Barcelos at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas. Akylbek moved to 12-3. Osmanli fell to 13-2.
It was the TUF 34 bantamweight final and both men’s official UFC debut. It ended with a commission ruling instead of a trophy-lift after a clean stoppage.
Osmanli opened in the center with a high kick and punches to the body. Akylbek stayed outside and looked for the overhand right while the Azerbaijani mixed in front kicks.
Osmanli then went to spinning attacks. Akylbek did not stay in that range. He changed levels, hit a single-leg, and put Osmanli on his back.
The Kyrgyz fighter worked from top position in open guard. Osmanli punched from the bottom and eventually returned to his feet.
That is when the fight left the rule book. Osmanli dropped Akylbek, then drove a knee into his head while Akylbek was grounded.
Unified Rules do not allow a knee to the head of a grounded opponent. Referee Kerry Hatley called timeout and checked Akylbek.
After a few minutes it was clear Akylbek could not continue. Hatley waved it off. The commission reviewed the sequence and disqualified Osmanli.
The official result is a DQ win for Akylbek at 2:19 of Round 1. The UFC posted the same ruling, naming Akylbek the TUF 34 bantamweight winner.
The stat line froze in the middle of a fight Osmanli had been winning on volume. He landed 46 of 53 total strikes at 86.8 percent. Akylbek landed 18 of 29 at 62.1 percent.
Significant strikes were even at 6-6. Akylbek was 1-for-2 on takedowns. Neither man attempted a submission before the illegal knee.
The pairing already had heat from the TUF house. Both fighters were on Team Michael Bisping. A sparring session late in the season turned into a blowup after elbows on the mat, and the coaches had to separate them.
Akylbek downplayed that part before fight night. “Regarding the conflict, yeah there was a little bit of a conflict at the end of the season,” he told MMA Junkie through an interpreter. “But it was during the sparring. There’s nothing personal to me.”
He said he wanted the answers inside the cage. He got the win. He did not get the finish he had trained for.
Osmanli, nicknamed “The Ineffable,” arrived as the louder prospect. The 22-year-old from Baku had submitted Artem Belakh in the quarterfinals and Christian Strong with a buggy choke in the semifinals.
Most of his career wins have come by submission. A first-round DQ is now the first blemish since 2022.
Akylbek, 23, came through the other side of Team Bisping. He beat Sean Mora and then Xavier Franklin to reach the final after earlier work outside the UFC, including a title win for American Fight Promotions.
All three of his professional losses had come by knockout. Saturday’s injury came from a strike that should never have been thrown.
A TUF final is supposed to hand one fighter a clean contract-night moment. This one hands Akylbek the trophy and leaves an obvious rematch question hanging over both records.
No immediate rebooking was announced in the cage. The rest of the card still had the women’s bantamweight co-main and the five-round headliner between Raul Rosas Jr. and Raoni Barcelos.
Tina Black had already been crowned the TUF 34 women’s strawweight winner earlier against Melissa Amaya. The men’s final needed a commission table to produce the same result.
Akylbek leaves Las Vegas as the season’s bantamweight champion. Osmanli leaves knowing the strike that ended the fight also ended his night.