The Ultimate Fighter
Episode 6 Recap | The Ultimate Fighter Season 33
The Action Shifts Back To Welterweight As Alex Sanchez And Matt Dixon Collide
PREVIOUSLY ON THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER…
Alibi Idiris became the fourth member of Team Cormier to claim a semifinal spot, joining teammate Imanol Rodriguez in the flyweight semifinals and welterweights Daniil Donchenko and Jeff Creighton, who also advanced. Thus far, only flyweight Joseph Morales has advanced for Team Sonnen.
TUF EPISODE RECAPS: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5
Tensions between Brazilian welterweights Diego Bianchini and Rodrigo Senzinando continue to simmer, as fellow welterweights Matt Dixon and Alex Sanchez prepare to do battle for a place in the semifinals.
TUF HOUSE
Alibi Idiris and Furkatbek Yokubov share an embrace at the house following their fight, with Idiris presenting his friend and opponent with a Kazakh robe similar to the one he bestowed upon Daniel Cormier in the previous episode. Yokubov sheds tears while looking at pictures of his family, promising to show more in his next fight.
Bianchini and Senzinando continue chirping at one another in the kitchen, going back-and-forth with one another. Senzinando pokes at Bianchini losing a fight in Mexico where his rival says “everybody knows I was robbed,” noting it’s the only loss on his record. Bianchini fired back about Senzinando’s lone loss, and the two argue about how Brazilian Senzinando is, as he lives in Canada.
It’s going to be fireworks when these two finally face off.
TRAINING SESSION | TEAM CORMIER
Cormier gathers the team and explains they have two former world champions that went through The Ultimate Fighter coming in to speak with them and work with them, and he brings out Raquel Pennington and Rose Namajunas.
Dana White recaps each athlete’s TUF journey. Pennington was on Season 18, the first season with female fighters, losing in the semifinals to Jessica Rakoczy. She was signed and has been in the UFC for the previous 11 years, claiming the bantamweight title last January in Toronto by defeating Mayra Bueno Silva.
Namajunas was on Season 20, where there was a tournament to determine the inaugural strawweight champion. She dominated on her way to the finals, where she lost to Carla Esparza. She claimed the strawweight title at UFC 223 by defeating Joanna Jedrzejczyk before reclaiming the title with a first-round knockout win over Zhang Weili.
The alums put the athletes through a shadowboxing workout and speak to them about how to get through this process and work going forward in their careers. Both Pennington and Namajunas call TUF a pivotal moment for their careers, and praise the learning experience it was for each of them.
TUF HOUSE
Dixon and Bianchini sit in the hot tub, with Dixon explaining he’s fought in front of Dana White before on Contender Series as his highlight reel runs.
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He explains he went 5-0 as an amateur and got to 9-0 as a pro before competing on Season 4 of Dana White’s Contender Series, where he lost to Orion Cosce. He gassed in the middle of the fight and was stopped in the third round. He calls this a chance to get redemption in front of the UFC CEO.
MATT DIXON FIGHT PREP
Dixon does some boxing prep on a dummy with coach Clayton Hires. Sonnen says that Hires believes there is a hunger and spark to Dixon before he speaks with Mason Fowler about Dixon’s conditioning. Sonnen predicts that Dixon is going to beat Sanchez, controlling him the whole time, but he wants this to be a race where he gets out in front early and stays there.
Dixon says the game plan is to walk him down, use his footwork, and knock him out. He knows he’s in for a tough fight, but is confident he’ll get the job done.
He comes from a working class family in Jalisco and started working early. He would bus to work in the fields in the United States, using the money to pay for training in Mexico. He’d get up at 3am to get the bus, returning home at six or seven at night, train, and then do it all over again the next day.
His home video from Mexico City begins with Sanchez and his girlfriend, UFC alum Silvana Gomez Juarez walking their dog. He trains at the UFC Performance Institute, praising Dana White for changing his life by opening the state-of-the-art facility.
TUF HOUSE
Bianchini and Dixon continue speaking about the journey of being in the house, with Dixon saying he’s enjoying this adventure, but that he misses his wife and seven-month-old daughter, acknowledging her birth lit a fire under him.
His home video from Tulsa, Oklahoma kicks off with Dixon showing his family home. He’s a preacher’s kid, noting his folks divorced when he was young, falling in love with fighting and sports as a kid that had tremendous freedom. Old home movies of him boxing a friend in a backyard airs, while Dixon talks about struggling to stay focused in school, with sports being the only thing that kept his attention.
He trains at Hurricane Training Center with Gerald Harris from TUF 7. He’s shown going through a mitt workout with his boxing coach and working on things with Harris. Dixon speaks about how much this means to him and what he’s willing to sacrifice to be in the UFC, including this early time away from his daughter.
ALEX SANCHEZ FIGHT PREP
Highlights from Sanchez’ previous fights roll, with the Mexican welterweight noting that he’s 15-3 overall and riding a seven-fight winning streak. He’s a striker with eight of his finishes coming by knockouts.
He believes he’ll be able to deal with whatever Dixon brings to him. Cormier calls it a tough fight, noting that getting pushed into the fence and held is “the enemy” in this fight. Cormier works with coach Ro Sanchez to formulate a game plan and approach, calling Sanchez incredibly mentally strong, with serious pop in his hands.
Like Dixon, he feels it’s going to be an entertaining, competitive fight.
WELTERWEIGHT WEIGH-INS
Both teams roll into the UFC APEX for weigh-ins.
Dixon is up first, making 171 pounds, looking ripped. Sanchez follows, tipping the scale at 170.5 pounds, making the fight official.
“Striker versus striker, this fight should be exciting,” White says, explaining the promotion gave Dixon a shot on DWCS a couple years ago and that he’s always shown good power, calling this a chance for redemption. He calls Sanchez a brawler, and is excited to see how this one plays out.
FIGHT DAY
Both athletes arrive at the UFC APEX and load into their respective locker rooms, getting taped and having a little shake out with their team.
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“I’ll do anything short of sin to win a fight,” says Dixon, while Sanchez explains that he fights for his family and to build a legacy, as well as representing the Mexican people.
Cormier believes Dixon will wilt later in the fight, while Team Sonnen heaps praise on Dixon in the back before they make the walk.
Alex Sanchez vs Matt Dixon
The welterweights stuck to their promise of getting after it early and trading on the feet, with Dixon walking down Sanchez and finishing him along the fence late in the round.
The two men never stopped throwing, with Dixon doing exactly what he suggested he would do: marching Sanchez down, controlling the distance, and leading the exchanges. As Sanchez continues to back up, Dixon continues to land, eventually finding his chin as the two men exchanged late in the round.
Cormier voices his frustrations about Sanchez breaking from the game plan and constantly moving backwards, while Sonnen notes that Dixon’s body work throughout the round helped set up the left hook that ultimatey dropped the Team Cormier fighter.
Matt Dixon Post-Fight Interview | The Ultimate Fighter Season 33
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Matt Dixon Post-Fight Interview | The Ultimate Fighter Season 33
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Official Result: Matt Dixon defeats Alex Sanchez by TKO (left hook) in Round 1
Dixon calls the win and the opportunity to advance surreal, getting daps and hugs in the locker room after getting Team Sonnen back in the win column. Cormier lays into Sanchez about backing up, saying that you have to be willing to go forward, into the fire, into the fray. The whole team is present for the message.
FLYWEIGHT FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENT
The final flyweight pairing is announced, with Team Sonnen’s Roybert Echerverria facing off against Tumelo Manyamala of Team Cormier.
Daniel Cormier Reacts To Matt Dixon's Win | The Ultimate Fighter Season 33
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Daniel Cormier Reacts To Matt Dixon's Win | The Ultimate Fighter Season 33
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It’s South Africa versus Venezuela for the final spot in the semis. Dana White believes Manyamala will look to keep it standing in order to use his height and reach advantage, while the more experienced Echerverria will likely aim to wrestle.
Chael Sonnen Reacts To Matt Dixon's Win | The Ultimate Fighter Season 33
Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there’s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world’s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!
Chael Sonnen Reacts To Matt Dixon's Win | The Ultimate Fighter Season 33
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ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER…
The coaches take the athletes to a BJJ event at the UFC APEX before Robert Whittaker visits Team Sonnen for a training session before the flyweights make their way into the cage to battle for the final place in the next round.
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