411’s Ultimate Fighter 22: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber Report 11.18.15 – Episode Nine

WELCOME: Welcome back to 411 and our coverage of the Ultimate Fighter 22: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber. Last week, we were treated to two fights as Team McGregor’s Artem Lobov (11-10-1-1) defeated Team Faber’s James Jenkins via RD1 TKO and then Team McGregor’s David Teymur (3-1) defeated Team Faber’s Johnny Nunez (5-1) in a three round fight, via unanimous decision. Conor McGregor showed up late (during the third round) of the second fight, and was insulted that they did not hold the fight for him. Team McGregor is up 5-3 overall, and the final fight of the first round takes place today as Team Faber’s Jason Gonzalez (9-2) faces off with Team McGregor’s Abner Lloveras (19-7-1). Once that fight is finished, they will decide the quarterfinal fights, and one of the nine winners will be dropped, based on who had the worst performance. I am sure that will get interesting, but if team Faber can win here and talk their way into getting a team McGregor guy booted, we’d be 4-4 moving forward.

* Conor praises his team for being in a great frame of mind, and thinks that the competition will be easy going forward for them. We then see Team McGregor train, and feels that Abner Lloveras is a superior fighter, and due to the fact that he’s a veteran, will be able to adapt to anything in his upcoming fight. He also doesn’t feel he has to give him too much advice, just remind him of what he does well and keep him on track. Conor admits that Lloveras’ opponent, Jason Gonzalez, is a good fighter, but will be outmatched in the fight.

* We now see Gonzalez train; he respects Lloveras but isn’t trying to think about his opponent too much, instead he wants to focus on what he needs to do. Faber explains that Gonzalez is a standup fighter, and they need to help him with ground defense because they think Lloveras will want to take the fight to the ground.

* Time for the COACHES CHALLENGE! Faber and McGregor talk all kinds of shit to each other, and Conor says this desert they are in looks like where he buried Chad Mendes. Damn. Dana White arrives in a helicopter with Arianny. She’s there to wear very tiny shorts and to hold a box of money for the winner. They are doing an airdrop front a helicopter, dropping 5 watermelons and trying to hit a target filled with different point values. The winning coach gets $10,000 for themselves and $1,500 for each of their fighters. Conor says Arianny has his money in a briefcase, which is how he likes his money delivered to him. Faber hits the bull’s-eye on the final toss, and secures the win for he and his team. Faber enjoys his victory, while Conor hates that he lost.

* Lloveras talks about fighting for his family, and that he would do anything for them. White says Lloveras is 35 and the oldest guy in the competition with a great pedigree, Gonzalez is younger and has speed. It’s fight day and we see the guys preparing and doing the usual pre-fight warm-ups.

FIGHT NINE – Team Faber’s Jason Gonzalez (9-2) vs. Team McGregor’s Abner Lloveras (19-7-1) – ROUND ONE: And here we go. They both come out swinging with Lloveras takes control of center cage and lands a good hook and body kick. Leg kick by Jason, Lloveras shoots and Jason stuffs him. They battle for position and then to the cage. Lloveras keeps working for a takedown, good defense by Jason here and then a knee and body kick to escape. Jason with knees to the body here, leg kicks and Lloveras shoots again and is stuffed. They trade body kicks, another knee by Jason and then he stuffs another takedown. They go to the cage again and Lloveras finally gets Jason down. He gets mount and smothers Jason, landing a few shots but keeping dominant position. Side control now for Lloveras, and then back to mount. Lloveras islanding more here, including elbows as Jason tries to buck out and escape. Lloveras keeps landing, nothing huge, but he is taking the round here. SCORECARD: Lloveras 10-9

ROUND TWO: Round two begins and Jason throws a high kick, which is partially blocked. Lloveras putting together better striking here, Jason with body kicks and Lloveras shoots and takes Jason to the cage and drags him down. Jason gets to his feet as Lloveras tries to take his back and then pulls him down and lands in mount. He controls here, smothering Jason again and is having no issue keeping him grounded. Jason tries to use the cage to escape, and finally does. To the feet they go and then along the cage again. Lloveras dumps Jason and works from half guard. Lloveras gets warned to work; Jason eventually gets to his feet but Lloveras pulls him right back down. Lloveras doesn’t do much, but rides out the round on top to take the victory.

SCORECARD: Lloveras 20-18

OFFICIAL RESULT: Abner Lloveras via decision (20-18 across the cards)

* Lloveras says it was a hard fight, and he is exhausted but happy with the win. Conor says Jason is a good fighter, but Lloveras what he had to do to win the fight. Jason says he kept begin taken down, and Lloveras felt heavy and strong.

* Now it’s time to decide who is gone, due to the least impressive performance. Faber and Conor join Dana and make their cases. Conor feels that Chris Gruetzemacher was the least impressive in victory, while Faber thinks Martin Svensson needs to go. Dana says Martin Svensson had mount and couldn’t throw punches, but he finished his fight. He also thinks Chris Gruetzemacher could have finished, but he didn’t finish. Dana says he wants to avoid conspiracy, and that you cannot cut a guy that finished his fight. Faber thinks Chris Gruetzemacher is better. They then run down who they think that should face off, which leads to some shit talk between the two about money and who is better. The back and forth stuff between these two is simply fantastic. McGregor keeps saying he wanted to fight Faber in Dublin as a warm up to Aldo.

* Dana announces that Chris Gruetzemacher is out based on performance. But if anyone gets injured, he is the first in line to replace them. Gruetzemacher is devastated and breaks down in his interview.

THE QUATERFINAL FIGHTS ARE:
– Artem Lobov (11-10-1-1, 1-0 TUF) vs. Martin Svensson (14-5 MMA, 1-0 TUF)
– Saul Rogers (10-1 MMA, 1-0 TUF) vs. Ryan Hall (4-1 MMA, 1-0 TUF)
– Marcin Wrzosek (10-2 MMA, 1-0 TUF) vs. David Teymur (3-1, 1-0 TUF)
– Julian Erosa (14-2 MMA, 1-0 TUF) vs. Abner Lloveras (19-7-1, 1-0 TUF)

* On the next episode, the quarterfinal fights begin. We also see that Gruetzemacher is devastated due to being cut, and a tease that someone may not be able to make their fight. There will also be a pool party. We also get TWO fights next week!

Team Faber (United States)
–Ryan Hall (4-1 MMA, 1-0 TUF)
–Julian Erosa (14-2 MMA, 1-0 TUF)
–Jason Gonzalez (9-2, 0-1 TUF)
–Johnny Nunez (5-1, 0-1 TUF)
–James Jenkins (8-1, 0-1 TUF)
–Thanh Le (4-1 MMA, 0-1 TUF)
–Billy Quarantillo (6-1 MMA, 0-1 TUF)
–Tom Gallicchio (19-8 MMA, 0-1 TUF)
–Chris Gruetzemacher (12-1 MMA, 1-0 TUF) {Dropped to alternate status, based on performance}

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, 1-0 TUF)
–David Teymur (3-1, 1-0 TUF)
–Abner Lloveras (19-7-1, 1-0 TUF)
–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.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”