The Ultimate Fighter
The Ultimate Fighter: Season 22 Recap
Conor McGregor Returns To The Ultimate Fighter For The Second Time for Season 31. So What Happened The Last Time He Coached a Squad of UFC Hopefuls?
This all-lightweight season of TUF was an interesting one, with Conor McGregor coaching Team Europe and Urijah Faber coaching Team United States. The cast started with 32 hopefuls and the preliminary round would cut that number in half. UFC President Dana White announced that not only would the winner of the competition get a six-figure contract with the promotion, but a brand-new Harley Davidson to drive off into the sunset with, as well.
Conor came into the season with a “I don’t really feel an emotional connection to them or anyone here…I'm just here to handle business” kind of mindset. The Irishman was there to teach mental warfare and hoped his team of nine would adopt that same killer mentality that made him the champ-champ.
The nine lucky athletes to join him for this journey were Abner Lloveras (Spain), David Teymur (Sweden), Frantz Slioa (Sweden), Marcin Wrzosek (Poland), Martin Svensson (Sweden), Mehdi Baghdad (France), Sascha Sharma (Germany), Saul Rogers (England), and Artem Lobov (Ireland).
Conor McGregor | The Ultimate Fighter Highlights
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Conor McGregor | The Ultimate Fighter Highlights
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The first two weeks probably didn’t have the results McGregor was hoping for, as he was down 2-0 after the first couple episodes, with Frantz Slioa being submitted by Ryan Hall and Sascha Sharma losing via unanimous decision to Chris Gruetzemacher. McGregor became more emotionally invested after the latter loss when Faber took at dig at him, saying, “I think you need to show up to morning practices here on out…this is their opportunity.”
Taking the advice, though not admitting it, Conor became a little more hands-on in the evening practices and Team Europe wins the next two in a row with Marcin Wrzosek and Saul Rogers. McGregor claimed that with the right matchups Team Europe would demolish Team USA in any fight. Starting a little drama, McGregor told Faber he should fight his teammate, TJ Dillashaw, because he’s “a snake in the grass.” But Urijah brushed it off, not letting it affect him.
Ecstatic after the “picture perfect” performances from his team, McGregor’s confidence would quickly be shut down by Julian Erosa defeating Mehdi Baghdad. But that would be the last win the Americans got in the elimination round, as Team Europe secured wins from Martin Svensson, Artem Lobov, David Teymur, Abner Lloveras.
Before we saw the quarterfinal matchups, Team McGregor’s momentum would come to a halt when a coach’s challenge that involved dropping watermelons on targets gave Faber a win for the Americans.
In the Octagon, the Europeans ran through the quarterfinals, winning three out of the four bouts. The results were:
Artem Lobov defeated Chris Gruetzemacher via knockout
Saul Rogers defeated Ryan Hall via majority decision
Marcin Wrzosek defeated David Teymur via majority decision
Julian Erosa defeated Abner Lloveras via split decision
Erosa is the lone survivor on Team USA, much to Team McGregor’s dislike, saying that he was “gifted” two decisions. That led to Lobov asking Dana White if he could try his chances with Erosa in the semis, making teammates Rogers and Wrzosek face off against each other.
Faber brought in featherweight champ Jose Aldo to assist with his team’s last training session. McGregor was set to fight Aldo later that year in the biggest matchup to date at UFC 194. Surprisingly, the interaction between the two was mild.
Due to a turn of events, the finale would be comprised of Artem Lobov facing the returning Ryan Hall. And after three rounds, with a near perfect performance, Hall would win by unanimous decision, earning a contract with the UFC.
The Ultimate Fighter airs May 30. Watch on ESPN and ESPN+.
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