Michael Chiesa came in with a somber but inspirational back story, and the happy ending came true when he submitted Al Iaquinta midway through the first round and became an Ultimate Fighter winner. Iaquinta started out well on the feet, but Chiesa used a bodylock to drag Iaquinta on top of him and sunk in his hooks from the bottom. It was all academic from there, and the rear naked choke finish came at 2:47 of the first round. Chiesa wins the six-figure contract.

Iaqunita landed a solid shot early and caught a kick, but couldn't do anything with it. Chiesa came back by catching a kick of his own and briefly got it down, but he couldn't do anything with it either. Iaquinta eventually got dragged to the ground by Chiesa, who had full back mount with hooks from the bottom. He hunted for the choke, got the arm underneath the chin, and put Iaquinta to sleep without tapping.

Chiesa won a Harley with the win as well, along with a three-fight TapouT endorsement.

SBN coverage of The Ultimate Fighter Live Finale