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411’s Ultimate Fighter 22: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber Report 11.04.15 – Episode Seven

November 4, 2015 | Posted by Larry Csonka

WELCOME: Welcome back to 411 and our coverage of the Ultimate Fighter 22: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber. Two weeks ago, Team Faber’s Julian Erosa (14-2) defeated Team McGregor’s Mehdi Baghdad (11-3) via majority decision (20-18, 19-19, 20-18). The victory gave team Faber control back, and also a 3-2 advantage as far as wins go for the season. This was also the show where TJ Dillashaw appeared, and Conor was in vintage promo mode, running down Faber for being too stupid to see that Dillashaw was leaving him. Quite honestly, for as tired as “The Ultimate Fighter” is, that was some great TV. This week’s fight will be Team Faber’s Thanh Le (4-1) vs. Team McGregor’s Martin Svensson (14-5). Can Team McGregor even things up, or will team Faber take a 4 to 2 lead?

* Faber is praising Erosa for his victory, both for what it meant for Erosa personally and for the team. Team Faber’s Thanh Le is up next, and is a striker with 5th degree black belt in tae kwon do. He faces Team McGregor’s Martin Svensson, who is a jiu jitsu guy. We see McGregor saying he loves the match up, and wants Svensson to take the fight to the ground. McGregor once again says this is an individual thing and that the guys need to take care of business. Svensson then mocks the Americans, saying that they don’t fight, they just dance and hump in the cage.

* Erosa gets a NOS shower as Team McGregor watches on, and they find it weird and that it is a waste. They also do not like that they wear bandanas with penises drawn on them. Svensson found MMA through his love of martial arts movies, and says Swedish people are nice until they get into the cage. He has been working for 10-years and wants to make this a career. We see Team McGregor practice, where they drill ground work. Svensson got to roll with Conor and says he is really good and a true champion. Svensson says he will throw a left kick, a left knee, clinch and then use his elbows to cut him up and take Le to the ground. He will then land strikes and then take a submission and win. Le will either tap from strikes or a submission; it’s up to him.

* Le has been doing tae kwon do since age 5. His parents own and run a martial arts school, and admits that his dad is still better than him. He feels he is a free fighter, he is comfortable anywhere, but prefers to stand and work on his feet. Faber says they drilled avoiding takedowns, submission defense and getting back to the feet. He wants Le to keep the fight standing. Le strives to be a smarter fighter, and doesn’t want to be lured into a brawl.

* Back at the house, team USA starts to drink early, and is drinking Absinthe. They then play pool, and when you miss you have to take a shot. Chris Gruetzemacher drank a lot, and then they went outside. They accused Gruetzemacher of having the most boring fight, and Gruetzemacher claims no one can beat him. Gruetzemacher argues with some of his teammates, and starts to throw water and other stuff on one of his teammates. They argue for a while, Erosa keeps talking shit and telling Gruetzemacher to punch him. Team McGregor tries to egg it on a bit and Erosa calls Gruetzemacher a pussy. Well that led to nothing.

* The next day Gruetzemacher says he was letting off steam, because he feels like he’s doing the same thing every day and it gets to him. They all chalk it up to too much drinking.

* Faber mocks Conor for how he dresses, and then takes his team to the Epic Thrift Store to buy some outfits to make fun of Conor with. They shopped for skinny jeans in the women’s section.

* Weigh-in time. Svensson weighs in at 155. Le weighs in at 155.

* The fighters arrive at the training center, and go through their usual warm-ups prior to the fight. Team Faber is dressed in their Conor-like attire, which was purchased at Epic Thrift. Conor appreciates the outfits. Judging by the time left, we’re going two rounds.

FIGHT SIX – Team Faber’s Thanh Le (4-1) vs. Team McGregor’s Martin Svensson (14-5)ROUND ONE: Svensson appears very stationary, while Le bounces around and uses movement better early, although not landing much of anything. He flashes a kick and then connects with a good right. They both land body kicks, with Svensson taking the fight to the ground. Le quickly got to his feet, but then Svensson pulled him back to the mat and worked from side control. Le has a really loose guard, but Svensson is having trouble passing. After some effort he gets to side control, but then Le pulls him back to half guard. Le fishes for a kimura as Svensson looks to pass again. Svensson has good pressure, but cannot get to side control. Le is defending well enough, Svensson looks to take his back and starts to land some strikes. Le gets to his feet and they work along the cage. Le switches position and presses Svensson to the cage, and then they separate. They both swing wildly, and then Le starts to land some good strikes as he lands on top. Svensson eats a couple of elbows and the round ends. Until the end there was almost no damage done by anyone, and Svensson controlled the majority of the round. He’ll likely take the round on riding time alone. SCORECARD: Svensson 10-9

ROUND TWO: The second round begins as they circle, Le chases with a big right by almost falls when he misses. Leg kick by Svensson, he then shoots and Le stops that momentarily, and then Svensson drags him to the mat. Le tries to hold onto Svensson’s arm, but Svensson works into mount. Le rolls and gives up his back, allowing Svensson to work a body lock. Le out of that, but Svensson is still on top and looks to take the back and does. He had the body triangle, le rolls and can’t get out fully. Svensson is back to half guard, Le counter grappling well here but Svensson keeps the pressure on and drops back into half guard. Svensson then gets mount, takes the back and locks up the body and works for a choke again. He finally locks it in and Le taps.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Martin Svensson via RD2 submission (rear naked choke)

* Team McGregor evens things back up, and takes back control of the competition. Faber felt Le was doing well early. White says Svensson used his size, but did nothing with the advantage in round one.

* Svensson says the fight was tough and that Le hits very hard, he had never been hit that hard. Conor praises Faber’s outfit.

* Faber tells Le he needs to dedicate himself to ground work to make it in MMA. Le felt he was winning the fight, but went for a stupid arm lock and that cost him. Svensson is proud of himself and his performance overall. Conor loved his performance.

* Next week, Team McGregor’s Artem Lobov (11-10-1-1) faces Team Faber’s James Jenkins (8-1).

* On the next episode, we get TWO FIGHTS. Conor also talks more shit to Faber.

Team Faber (United States)
Ryan Hall (4-1 MMA, 1-0 TUF)
Chris Gruetzemacher (12-1 MMA, 1-0 TUF)
Julian Erosa (14-2 MMA, 1-0 TUF)
-Johnny Nunez (5-1)
-James Jenkins (8-1)
-Jason Gonzalez (9-2)
Thanh Le (4-1 MMA, 0-1 TUF)
Billy Quarantillo (6-1 MMA, 0-1 TUF)
Tom Gallicchio (19-8 MMA, 0-1 TUF)

Team McGregor (Europe)
Marcin Wrzosek (10-2 MMA, 1-0 TUF)
Saul Rogers (10-1 MMA, 1-0 TUF)
Martin Svensson (14-5 MMA, 1-0 TUF)
-Artem Lobov (11-10-1-1)
-Abner Lloveras (19-7-1)
-David Teymur (3-1)
Mehdi Baghdad (11-3 MMA, 0-1 TUF)
Sascha Sharma (8-2, 0-1 TUF)
Frantz Frank Slioa (4-0 MMA, 0-1 TUF)

* End scene.

* Thanks for reading.

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