Xavier Franklin Stops Micaias Urena in Round 1, Sending TUF 34 to 4-4 Tie

Q: Did a TUF 34 fighter really admit to faking a head injury just to steal a disqualification victory?

Yes — but the claim came from Xavier Franklin, not from an on-camera confession by Micaias Urena. After Franklin’s controversial first-round knockout win on *The Ultimate Fighter 34*, he said Urena later told him he knew the disputed knee had landed to the chest, not the head, and that he stayed down hoping to win by disqualification. Franklin’s quoted account was: Urena said, “I knew you didn’t knee me in the head… I just laid there to try to play it off so I could try to get the win by DQ.” Video replay shown on the episode supported Franklin’s version of the strike itself, appearing to show the knee landing on Urena’s chest/shoulder rather than his head. Daniel Cormier initially protested loudly, believing it was illegal, but later acknowledged the knee was legal after review. What is not established independently is whether Urena actually intended to fake a head injury. That allegation has been reported through Franklin’s retelling of a private conversation, not through a direct public statement from Urena in the materials provided. The fight result was allowed to stand because officials determined the knee was legal and Franklin’s follow-up punch ended the bout. So the short answer is that a TUF 34 fighter did publicly say his opponent admitted trying to sell an illegal blow for a DQ, but the “admission” remains secondhand unless Urena confirms it himself.

3 articles · Updated · Yahoo Sports · Aug 3

Franklin advanced to the TUF 34 semifinals with a last-second first-round TKO of Urena, a finish briefly clouded by protests over a knee thrown just before the knockout punch.
Replay showed the knee landed to Urena’s chest and shoulder rather than his head, and Franklin said Urena later admitted he stayed down hoping to draw a disqualification.
The stoppage triggered a chaotic cage-side scene as Daniel Cormier and others argued the strike was illegal, even though Cormier later acknowledged on a post-show clip that the knee was legal.
Franklin’s win leveled coaches Michael Bisping and Cormier at 4 fighters each, but he was then matched against friend Ilimbek Akylbek Uulu in the bantamweight semifinals instead of preferred target Christian Strong.
The semifinal field is now set, with Franklin one win from the live finale where bantamweight and strawweight finalists will fight for six-figure UFC contracts.