Katona becomes 1st to win 'Ultimate Fighter' twice

In its 18-year history, no one had won "The Ultimate Fighter" more than once - until Saturday night.

Brad Katona was crowned the bantamweight winner of "TUF 31" at UFC 292 in Boston after defeating Cody Gibson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27). Katona, a Winnipeg, Manitoba, native who now lives in Dublin, became the first fighter to ever win the show twice after winning the 27th season in 2018.

"It feels good to be home, baby," Katona said in his postfight interview.

It took a gutsy effort from Katona to win the "TUF" trophy. Gibson set a high pace in the first round and used his reach advantage to tag Katona with punches. Katona fought back in the final two frames, landing sharp shots to edge Gibson in what had become a back-and-forth slugfest by the final few minutes.

Katona, 31, competed on "TUF 27" in 2018 and beat Jay Cucciniello to win the show as a featherweight. He won his next UFC bout, too, but was then cut by the promotion in 2019 after back-to-back losses to Merab Dvalishvili and Hunter Azure.

Katona won four straight fights after his UFC release in Brave CF, a promotion based in Bahrain, to earn a second opportunity on "TUF." Katona beat Carlos Vera and Timur Valiev to reach the bantamweight final against Gibson.

"TUF 31," which featured a mix of former UFC fighters and MMA prospects, was filmed earlier this year in Las Vegas. Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler were the two coaches. Katona was initially on Chandler's team but moved to McGregor's team during the show. Katona trains at the same gym as McGregor, SBG Ireland in Dublin.

Katona, who has been a pro since 2014, improved to 13-2 with the victory.