Melissa Amaya Fights for Her Village

Melissa Amaya is approaching the strawweight finale of The Ultimate Fighter with a purpose that reaches beyond the season’s prize. When she faces Tina Black on September 26 in Las Vegas, Amaya sees the opportunity as a thank-you to the family, teammates, coaches and training partners who helped her arrive at this point. The undefeated 31-year-old did not set out to become a professional fighter, and she said the meaning of a possible win is rooted in the people who sustained an unexpected journey. For Amaya, the finale is not simply a chance to collect an individual accomplishment. It is a moment to recognize the people who made the difficult daily work possible.

Amaya described fighting as demanding both physically and mentally, stressing that no competitor can do it alone. Her language about the finale was direct: she called it a “love letter” to everyone who has helped her. That perspective gives the matchup a clear personal frame without changing the competitive stakes. A victory over Black would make Amaya a season winner and earn her a place on the UFC roster, but Amaya has said the moment is also a chance to give something back to the people who answered calls for practice, shared the work and supported her along the way. Her focus is not on presenting the fight as an isolated achievement. Instead, she has connected it to the collective effort required to reach a finale. She said fighting requires people willing to train with her and answer when she asks about an available practice, which is why the support around her carries so much weight this week. The central development is clear: Amaya is heading into the final with Black viewing the fight as a public expression of gratitude to the people behind her unexpected path.

Melissa Amaya’s view of the journey changed

Amaya said she initially treated fighting as a job and a cerebral sport rather than a lifestyle. A registered nurse who came to the sport looking for a challenge, she did not enter it with a plan to become a professional fighter. During her first seven fights, she arrived with only her corner and did not have family in attendance. She even told relatives that she would not respond to her phone in the final 24 hours before competing because she was in go-mode and focused. That approach was built around preparation, but it did not always make the outcome feel complete to her. Amaya’s account of that early period helps explain why the finale has a different emotional shape. The fight itself remains a brief part of a much longer process, in her view, while the people with whom she spends that process give it lasting meaning.

The shift came at her final Combate fight, when Amaya invited her family and a teammate was able to attend with her family and friends. Amaya said that experience showed her what had been missing after previous hand raises left her feeling empty inside. It also explains why this week carries particular weight. Her family is expected to be present for the finale: her husband received time off from the military and is flying from Florida, while her three older brothers and both parents are also set to attend. The development is meaningful because it places the people Amaya once kept at a distance during fight week at the center of the event she now describes as a shared celebration. The broader Sikjitsu setting adds to that sense of occasion.

Amaya trains in Spokane, Washington, and is the fourth member of the team to advance to an Ultimate Fighter finale, joining Michael Chiesa, Julianna Pena and Brady Hiestand. Hiestand also competes on the card, while Jaden Ortega earned a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series earlier in the week and Devon Jackson headlines a Tuff-N-Uff event Friday. Amaya described the week as an amazing blessing, with the separate moments around the team reinforcing her belief that the journey matters as much as the fight.

Melissa Amaya earned the final the hard way

The personal story runs alongside a notable competitive stretch. Amaya was Daniel Cormier’s sixth pick and the fifth strawweight selected overall on the season. In the quarterfinals, she submitted Anna Melisano in the opening round. Melisano was Team Bisping’s first pick, making the result an early statement in Amaya’s run. Amaya then survived an armbar attempt from Gigi Canuto in the semifinals before rallying to finish Canuto in the second round. Those wins mean Amaya has taken out Team Bisping’s top two selections on her route to the final. They also gave her a clearer answer to the doubts she said can affect any competitor when entering a field filled with strong opponents. After the Melisano win, Amaya said the energy shifted with the coaches and others around the show. Her route is presented as one of the strongest underdog runs in the show’s 34-season history, and the sequence of results gives readers the competitive context behind the personal stakes of the finale.

• Amaya submitted Anna Melisano in the opening round of their quarterfinal matchup.
• Amaya survived an armbar attempt and finished Gigi Canuto in the second round of their semifinal.

Those results brought Amaya to Black, Cormier’s first strawweight pick, in the September 26 finale. Black advanced with a unanimous decision over Delphine Benouaich, Cormier’s second strawweight pick. Amaya has praised Black as a good striker, a good grappler and a veteran of the sport, calling the matchup the next test. She said Black has been fighting longer than Amaya had even considered going to a kickboxing class, and she described the chance to test herself against the best as amazing. A win would show the strawweight division not to underestimate her, while also completing a run that has steadily reinforced her belief that she belongs in the competition. Asked what she needs to do, Amaya gave a simple assessment of the task ahead: “I’m gonna have to make it ugly, and my style is ugly, so I think I’ll be okay.” For Amaya, that challenge now arrives with her village much closer to the moment. The fight offers the competitive opportunity of a UFC roster place, but her own framing remains centered on the family, coaches, teammates and training partners whose help turned an unplanned path into a finale.