The Ultimate Fighter: Team Cormier vs Team Sonnen S33E12
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Preview
The episode opens with the entire house enjoying one last meal along Las Vegas’s iconic Strip, offering a rare moment of camaraderie before the pressure cooker of competition ratchets up. As tensions simmer, Team Sonnen receives a strategic boost when former champion Rashad Evans returns to sharpen Matt Dixon’s striking game. The episode builds to a high-stakes clash: Team Sonnen’s gritty TKO artist Matt Dixon takes on Team Cormier’s precise and powerful Daniil Donchenko, with only one of them advancing to the welterweight final.
Match Card
Welterweight Semifinal: Matt Dixon (Team Sonnen) vs Daniil Donchenko (Team Cormier)
This bout determines who advances to the finals alongside Rodrigo Sezinando.
Date & Location
Air Date: August 12, 2025, at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN+
Location (filming): Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Conclusion
In a ferocious semifinal showdown, Dixon and Donchenko traded heavy blows from the very first second. An early elbow from Donchenko split Dixon open, prompting a brief referee intervention. Despite the warning, the fight resumed with heightened intensity. Dixon managed to drop Donchenko briefly, but it was Donchenko’s lightning-fast hands that ultimately prevailed. The barrage forced a referee stoppage in Round 1, granting Donchenko the win and a spot in the welterweight final against Rodrigo Sezinando. The episode also confirms that the flyweight final—featuring Joseph Morales versus Alibi Idiris—will take place on the UFC 319 preliminary card.