There was one last spot open in The Ultimate Fighter 34 women’s strawweight semifinals, with Mackenzie Stiller and Delphine Benouaich battling for that spot in this week’s installment.
Episode 7 got right down to business, with Mackenzie Stiller taking on another Mackenzie in training: Mackenzie Dern, the current UFC women’s strawweight champion. The Team Bisping fighter admits that she got a little overwhelmed in sparring because the pair were doing “pure boxing,” rather than MMA. “I’ll turn a pure boxer into dogsh*t with one punch,” Stiller tells the camera. In the gym, Stiller breaks down in front of Coach Bisping, who tells her to let it out.
Bisping gives his fighter a good little pep talk, noting that they won’t turn her into a boxer in a week, but they’ll give her a few little tips. Then it’s back to the TUF house, with the focus shifting to France’s Benouaich. Where Xavier Francis is teaching her English slang. That may or may not be the wisest course of action for Benouaich, but it is entertaining.
Benouaich explains that, with a handful of brothers, her father really wanted a daughter – only to get one who “wasn’t girly at all.”
Coach Daniel Cormier calls her “fun to work with,” noting that she works hard and loves to fight. But, he adds, her wrestling isn’t the best.
Stiller’s housemates adore her. “Any time you’re bored, just go find Mackenzie. She’s going to entertain you.” Stiller does a mean GOAT impression. Sorry, goat impression. The animal, not the greatest of all time.
In one of the most emotional moments of the series, Stiller then opens up about being sexually abused as a child, for the better part of 12 years. “I couldn’t escape it no matter how hard I tried. I thought it was normal when I was little,” she says. Martial arts became her outlet. “I think I’d be dead without it.”
“Something good came out of something bad. If I did not go through that, I don’t think I would be the fighter I am today. But I just put it out there so people going through that, or who have gone through that, can relate.”
It’s heavy. Stiller says that trauma makes the toughest fighters.
Weigh-ins for the last strawweight quarterfinal go off without a hitch. Delphine Benouaich is shredded. Stiller is no slouch herself. Both make weight with ease.
Delphine Benouaich vs. Mackenzie Stiller
Round one opens with Stiller firing an overhand and Benouaich throwing a kick. It’s single strikes for a bit from each lady before they crash together in a clinch. Stiller gets in the driver’s seat against the fence, but Benouaich fires a knee. They break, no takedown. Benouaich’s corner claims Stiller is tiring just 90 seconds into the round, which seems dubious at best. Stiller continues to attack, looks to change levels, but can’t get inside for a takedown. Benouaich catches her with a right hand that causes Stiller to take a step back.
Stiller fans on an overhand. Blows an entry, eats a kick, then clinches up again. “Mackenzie, you have to make this position count now,” Michael Bisping tells her. Benouaich fires a knee, and finally breaks free. Outside of a bit of control time, it’s hard to see Stiller made the position count. A late takedown by Stiller is stuffed, but a second one with 15 seconds to go lands, just barely. Benouaich reverses right at the horn.
Stiller slips early in round two, recovers, then shoots a sloppy takedown. Bisping warns her to set the takedown up. After some back-and-forth on the feet, the ref pauses the action, warning Mackenzie Stiller for having her fingers outstretched. Benouaich lands a nice uppercut. Fires a kick. Works her jab. If she started putting them all together a little more fluidly, she’d pull away.
Instead, Stiller lands a takedown right at the midway mark of the round. She’s able to climb the back as Benouaich stands up, but slides off. Back to the fence, and it’s a clinch and a stalemate. At range, Benouaich has the edge until Stiller again takes her down. Stiller briefly looks for an arm-bar but reverts to firing punches. Cormier sees what he believes is an illegal knee, and hollers at the ref, to no avail. Benouaich makes it back up and Stiller fires an elbow. They break, and finish trading a few more strikes.
It’s off to a third round, with Stiller showing a small lump/hematoma on her forehead. Both coaches try to fire up their fighter. Stiller fires a high kick early. Benouaich lands a right hand. Stiller lets go with a superman punch. She connects with a right. And a spinning back elbow. Stiller is looking better on the feet as the fight goes on, or at least more creative. Benouaich however has the tighter, more technical striking. Stiller finally goes back to the well 90 seconds, in, looking for a takedown, but she doesn’t have it.
Lots of action on the feet from there, with Bisping urging his fighter to finish strong. “Forward pressure!” Benouaich rips the body late, slips, and Stiller moves in but can’t get her down. Dana White gives a round of applause at the end.
The closest round of the three, and it’s a unanimous decision win for Delphine Benouaich. “I did a step, but I didn’t cross the finish line yet,” she says.
Next up on The Ultimate Fighter 34
One more bantamweight quarterfinal to go. Xavier Franklin, Team Bisping’s first pick overall, takes on Micaias Ureña. Franklin’s only loss came on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2024, against David Martinez.
