Illegal knee hands Ilimbek Akylbek the Ultimate Fighter 34 bantamweight title

Ilimbek Akylbek won the bantamweight final of The Ultimate Fighter season 34 by disqualification on September 26, 2026, after opponent Mahammadali Osmanli landed an illegal knee to his head while he was down. The stoppage came at 2:19 of the first round at UFC Fight Night: Rosas Jr. vs. Barcelos, held at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, according to UFC's official results. UFC's own account describes it as the first disqualification finish in the show's 34-season history, and the win made Akylbek the first fighter from Kyrgyzstan to capture the tournament.

What happened in the cage

The fighters exchanged on the feet and the mat before Akylbek went down to his knees. With his opponent grounded, Osmanli drove forward and landed a full-force knee to the head, a strike barred under the unified rules once any part of a fighter's body besides the feet touches the canvas. The referee stopped the action immediately. Officials determined Akylbek could not continue and ruled the bout a disqualification win in his favor, per UFC's report.

Sherdog's report on the finish independently confirms the sequence, describing Osmanli landing the knee on a grounded Akylbek less than halfway through the first round. Sherdog also reports that the loss was Osmanli's second as a professional and snapped a nine-fight unbeaten streak, and that friction had built between the two men while they trained together on the same team during the season.

A season built around two former champions

The bantamweight and women's strawweight fields on season 34 trained under former UFC champions Daniel Cormier and Michael Bisping, who were announced as head coaches, with Bisping leading the bantamweight side and Cormier the strawweight side, according to Yahoo Sports' report on the coaching assignments. Both Akylbek and Osmanli trained under Bisping. The season premiered June 14, 2026 on Paramount+, with the tournament finals airing live as part of the September 26 UFC Fight Night card.

What it means

A disqualification is an unusual way to close a reality tournament built to crown a fighter through competition rather than a foul, but the result still delivers what matters most for Akylbek's career: a place on a UFC roster and the distinction of being the first fighter from Kyrgyzstan to win the show. For Osmanli, the defeat interrupts the unbeaten run he built before reaching the UFC's developmental platform. How the promotion books each fighter's next appearance has not been announced.