There is no doubt that the TUF concept was dying a death.
The UFC had done everything to revive the reality show format from which five eventual champions were unearthed including an attempt at a live series, having male and female fighters live together and the production of an entire weight division.
But still the numbers plummeted so the promotion broke out their biggest cash cow in the form of Conor McGregor.
Wednesday night saw the airing of the first episode of Season 22 which will feature a McGregor-coached Team Europe take on Urijah Faber’s Team U.S.A.
And in the double episode we saw 32 fighters turn into 16, plenty of potential winners and countless gags from The Notorious.
Here’s what we learned…
Thanh Le is going to knock some people out
Nobody’s striking stood out more than that of 30-year-old Louisiana lightweight Thanh Le.
The taekwondo expert picked apart Andreas Quintana on the feet, landing spinning back kicks, body kicks and straight punches at will.
As Urijah Faber stated, his grappling ability leaves a lot to be desired but he got the most memorable knockout of the opening episode with a straight right that got a standing ovation from both Urijah Faber and Conor McGregor.
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Artem Lobov will need an injured European or a favour from McGregor
We presumed that Conor McGregor’s main sparring partner would feature in the competition for the duration but Artem Lobov was, in fact, eliminated at the first hurdle.
Taking on the dangerous Mehdi Baghdad, Lobov engaged in an absolute slugfest that had McGregor the most animated we’ve ever seen him and UFC president Dana White left in absolute awe at the heart on display.
It’s not definitely the end of the road for The Russian Hammer because injuries happen, fighters get cut open and oftentimes replacements are called upon and a hurt European could see Lobov get the nod to return to action.
Plus at the end of the episode, we saw both coaches asked which fighter they wanted to bring back so don’t be surprised to see a little bit more of Artem Lobov this season.
Conor McGregor is going to drive Team U.S.A. insane
In the art of getting into opponents’ heads, Conor McGregor has a third degree black belt.
You saw him being shoved by Cody Garbrandt, being snubbed by certain Team U.S.A. fighters as they walked to shake hands with Urijah Faber and being taunted by UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw.
Faber may have the first pick of fights after winning the coin toss but we simply can’t underestimate the mental advantage that Dublin’s own McGregor will be able to establish.
Chris Gruetzemacher is going to be an interesting character
To look at him, you would not have pegged Chris Gruetzemacher as a professional cage fighter but he actually made his fight tough to watch so superior was he against Austin Springer.
Springer looked truly outclassed and had McGregor, Faber and Dana White all shouting for the referee to call a halt to the fight.
Going to the bathroom would probably have been an unpleasant experience for Springer in the days after this fight as he suffered countless knees to the body and eventually the referee did wave the fight off.
How many knees did Chris Gruetzemacher land? #TUF22 pic.twitter.com/IkB69hcDoz
— UFC (@ufc) September 10, 2015
Ryan Hall is nasty on the mat
To have the confidence to dive on a leg the way that the 4-1 Ryan Hall did in the opening fight of episode one shows how comfortable fighting off his back and in 50/50 guard he is.
It took the 30-year-old less than a minute to get the heel hook on Johnny Nunez to earn a spot on Team U.S.A.
Hall, a multi-time BJJ world champion summed up his victory with the profound statement – “When it comes to Jiu Jitsu, people don’t think it be like it be… but it do.”
Urijah Faber’s chin is going to be mentioned more than once
Conor McGregor has these go-to gags for his rivals. In McGregor’s eyes, Chad Mendes is small and weak; Jose Aldo is old and afraid; TJ Dillashaw can’t attract attention with fans; the list goes on and on.
And the slight reserved for Urijah Faber is based on his chin.
When Faber asked about the lack of ring girls, McGregor came up with a pretty hilarious solution.
Cody Garbrandt is a brave boy
It may not have been a huge part of the first episode but the season’s teaser trailer showed some conflict that we can expect between Team U.S.A. and Team McGregor.
Something that the Irishman said obviously irked the Team Alpha Male fighters who Faber had enlisted as assistant coaches and bantamweight Cody Garbrandt was the link that snapped as he leapt to his feet to confront McGregor.
We don’t know how far the shemozzle goes but Garbrandt proved that he had some serious cojones to shove McGregor who is a hell of a lot bigger than him.
Conor McGregor is taking a back seat
We had already gotten the sense that McGregor wouldn’t be the most hands-on coach we’ve ever seen in the build-up to The Ultimate Fighter and he confirmed that towards the end of the episode.
“I am happy with my team,” he said. “I don’t feel an emotional connection to anyone here for that matter.
“I am just here to handle business but I look forward to growing in this journey myself and witnessing their rise and giving them advice on how to approach it.”
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Urijah Faber really is as sound as he seems
There are some Conormaniacs who are so infatuated with The Notorious that they unconditionally despise his rivals. But Urijah Faber is a sound fella and that can’t be ignored.
He takes all McGregor’s ribbing in good spirit and is more than able to fire back with a jibe or two of his own.
If a scrap is going to kick off throughout the series, it looks like it’s going to be between McGregor and one of Faber’s assistant coaches rather than with The California Kid himself.
Frantz Slioa could be the dark horse for Team Europe
Nobody really knew Frantz Slioa’s name going into TUF 22 but we sure do now.
The undefeated 24 year old out outworked the experienced Scot Martin Delaney in the preliminary round and looks to be a real threat in all areas.
Training alongside the likes of Alexander Gustafsson, Ilir Latifi and Reza Madadi means that the Swede knows a thing or two about fighting and we wouldn’t be surprised to see him progress deep into the competition.
Hello Twitter! #myfirstTweet
— Frantz Frank Slioa (@FrantzSlioa) September 9, 2015
UFC strawweight Aisling Daly and Ultimate Fighter contestant Artem Lobov attended Setanta Sports advance screening of the first episode in the latest series of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ featuring Conor McGregor. Episode 1 was shown live at 3am Wednesday night on BT Sport 2 and will air at 10pm every Thursday thereafter on Setanta Ireland & BT Sport. The Setanta Sports Pack will also have exclusively live coverage of UFC 194 Aldo v McGregor on December 12th. Visit Setanta.com
