Ultimate Fighter Quarterfinal Review
This season of “The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs. Team Chandler” may not be an experiment the UFC is eager to repeat. While coaches Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler are strong personalities that know how to sell a fight, the setup for the TUF season they are currently coaching has produced a lot of drama. Chandler’s team, composed of MMA veterans, has dominated McGregor’s team, made up of prospects, thus far.
McGregor did get a glimmer of positivity during the bantamweight quarterfinal round. How far that will carry Team McGregor will be seen as the teams march toward the semifinals. Here’s a look back at how the bantamweight quarterfinals went for both sides.
Double Hammer Fist Shocker
Everything appeared to be going well for Hunter Azure during his Ultimate Fighter quarterfinal bout with Rico DiSciullo. Azure won the first round and appeared to be ready to give Team Chandler a clean sweep of the quarterfinals. However, the UFC veteran, who was 2-2 in the octagon with the promotion before being cut in April 2021 after losing to Jack Shore, caught a bad break in the second round.
Azure got caught with a stiff punch that sent him straight on his back. Veteran UFC referee Herb Dean couldn’t get in between Azure and DiScuillo quickly enough before DiScullio dropped a vicious double hammer first. Azure was bloodied by the fight’s finish and needed help to get back on his stool.
The loss was especially tough for Azure, who was hoping to find a path back to the UFC. Azure is 10-3 in sanctioned bouts in his career.
Gibson Clips Gutierrez In First Round
Cody Gibson, who is 19-8 as a professional, punched his ticket to the Ultimate Fighter bantamweight semifinals with a nasty flying knee win over Mando Gutierrez (8-2). What helped Gibson was Gutierrez becoming more aggressive to try and avoid the clinch with Gibson. When Gibson tried to close the distance by throwing wild punches, Gibson was able to floor him with a switch knee.
Gibson was able to quickly get on Guiterrez’s back and unleash a vicious round of strikes. Those strikes would force referee Jason Herzog to stop the first with 1 minute, 40 seconds left in the first round. It was the second win over the night for a Team Chandler fighter after a bizarre set of circumstances forced the postponement of the Timur Valiev and Trevor Wells fight.
Cold Sore Causes Drama
Trevor Wells and Timur Valiev both had their hands wrapped when the Nevada Athletic Commission had to step in before the start of their fight. Wells, who fights for Team McGregor on the Ultimate Fighter, was deemed unfit to fight after he woke up with a cold sore. The NAC wouldn’t allow him to fight with that on his face.
Valiev was upset because he was afraid he would have to cut weight again before they fought. However, UFC President Dana White decided to postpone the fight and have it as a catchweight bout. Valiev was able to control their bout when they had it by being the better man in the grappling and winning the first two rounds.
Katona Gives Chandler Three In The Bantamweight Semifinals
Brad Katona’s stay in the UFC was short the first time around. Katona went 1-2, dropping decisions to Merab Dvalishvili and Azure before being cut from the promotion. However, after Katona left the UFC, he went to Brave CF and captured and defended their bantamweight belt.
Fighting against Carlos Vera, Katona made sure to lean on his diverse background in the sport. He was able to overwhelm Vera with a consistent attack that allowed him to grab a decision and move on to the Ultimate Fighter semifinals. Katona will be paired with DiScuillo in the semifinals, who knocked out Azure.
Lightweight Fights Mostly A Disappointment From Angle Of Coaches
The Ultimate Fighter lightweight semi finals will be a case of Chandler vs Chandler. Jason Knight, Austin Hubbard, Roosevelt Roberts, and Kurt Holobaugh all won in the quarterfinals. This will create some interesting dynamics between teammates, who will suddenly have to square off with each other.
However, the results mean that Chandler’s fighters finished with a 7-1 record against McGregor’s guys. While it is impossible to know how these contests will go when the season starts, how things have shaken out so far shows that maybe matching up prospects against veterans isn’t the best plan of action moving forward.
Part of the accusations from some observers has been that McGregor hasn’t been involved much with coaching the fighters on his team. However, no matter how involved you believe McGregor is with the guys on his squad, it is unlikely that he would be able to help out the prospects much more than he has, as they lack fight experience compared to their counterparts.
Will McGregor and Chandler Ever Fight?
The TUF episodes have mostly been cheeky about whether or not McGregor, a former two-division UFC champion, and Chandler, a former Bellator champion, will actually square off or not. When both were announced as coaches, there was excitement for the eventual fight between McGregor and Chandler, who both feature a number of highlight-reel finishes in their careers.
Conor McGregor, however, hasn’t been in the USADA testing pool for performance-enhancing drugs. McGregor hasn’t fought since he had his fight with Dustin Poirier stopped due to a leg injury in July 2021. He hasn’t won a fight since he knocked out Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds at UFC 246 in January 2020.
Chandler, meanwhile, has been extremely active since entering the UFC in 2021. He has fought five times and has a 2-3 record with the promotion. Four of his five fights have ended inside the distance. While it is unclear if these two will ever fight, what appears on the “The Ultimate Fighter” show is unlikely to provide much clarity.
