Could we really see an all European semi-final stage?
It looked to be highly improbable at the start of the 22nd season of The Ultimate Fighter but Conor McGregor was one fight away from having eliminated Team U.S.A. at the quarter-final stage.
First, he had to watch two of his fighters take each other on as Sweden’s David Teymur took on Poland’s Marcin Wrzosek.
Teymur came out in southpaw but quickly switched to orthodox where he fired off some vicious leg kicks and shots to the body.
It’s hard to call it a tentative opening as both fighters threw heavy punches but the defensive guard of each stood firm and neither really landed cleanly for the two minutes.
The gym was eerily silent as Team Europe hesitated to pick between two of their members but Teymur definitely came off better in the early exchanges and looked much more fluid on his feet than Wrzosek.
The most significant strike of the opening stanza came when Teymur caught Wrzosek with a left high kick but was countered instantly by an overhand right which dropped the Swede.
The Polish lightweight landed some short shots from side control but nothing that put the fight in any danger of being halted and, in a scramble to the feet, Teymur ended up regaining full guard.
Teymur eventually swept his opponent and worked to his favourable standing position but, likely feeling the need to earn his own takedown after being held down for the previous minute, he shot in on a double leg and worked from Wrzosek’s guard until the 1 minute mark of the round.
Teymur landed a teep to the face before attempting a roundhouse kick that was caught and used to take him to the mat but the Swede used head control to edge his way back up to the feet.
In a tight opening round, Wrzosek edged it 10-9.
The pair traded some sloppy shots from the pocket to open the second round before Teymur, once more, dived on a takedown to score points.
Wrzosek threatened with a kimura which he used to end up in a dominant position after Teymur attempted a front head lock.
Wrzosek transitioned beautifully from side control to mount but Teymur got back to half guard and reversed position.
“Keep them nice and busy,” McGregor yelled from the corner as the fight was beginning to feel very much like a sparring match.
The inactivity was such that referee Jason Herzog briefly stopped the grappling exchange and brought the fighters back to their feet.
There was a distinct lack of urgency in the final 90 seconds with the only shot of significance being a straight left down the pipe from Teymur but Wrzosek secured a fairly routine 20-18 victory with a late, late takedown.
All hope of an American winning the tournament was left in the gloves of Julian Erosa as he squared off with Abner Lloveras in the final quarter-final.
Erosa came out looking for front kicks to the chin early on but, after some McGregor prompting, Lloveras began pressuring his opponent to the fence with combinations.
A sneaky overhand right landed from Erosa however the Spaniard began timing the striking and came off the better in a back-and-forth exchange.
The American did well to stay on his feet after a right hook sent his head snapping backwards and his hesitance to throw in combinations allowed Lloveras the ability to time and counter.
To be fair to him, Erosa walked right through a stunning Lloveras combination and connected with a crunching jab but the Spanish lightweight likely took the round after taking Erosa to the mat in the dying seconds.
Team U.S.A.’s final representative came out with a point to prove in the second, landing a beautiful combination which backed his opponent up.
Erosa was looking quicker to the punch early on in the second as the 32-year-old’s gas tank appeared to have waned but Lloveras stayed in the fight with his popping jab.
The American intelligently defended an uncommitted takedown from the Spaniard and Lloveras was cut open with an uppercut.
It was that same uppercut that, a minute later, dropped Lloveras on his backside and Erosa pursued the finish after smelling blood in the water.
The finish never arrived and the knockdown forced a decisive third round and both men looked surprisingly fresh as they answered the bell on their toes.
Lloveras shot for a single but the sweat made it all too easy for Erosa to slip out and a clinch battle for underhooks took place for a large part of the third.
Lloveras’ jab and lead left hook maintained their pop throughout but Erosa continued to dance forward which is always going to leave an impression with the judges.
The Spaniard’s relentless mission to get the fight to the mat eventually ended with a double leg against the fence but Erosa succeeded in springing straight back up to his feet and fought off Lloveras’ attempts to secure back mount.
That scenario was reversed with just seconds remaining as Erosa looked to have earned a takedown but Lloveras jumped back into a standing position which brought an end to a thoroughly entertaining fight.
Neither outcome would have been surprising as the bout was so close and it was Erosa who was awarded a split decision victory which left him the sole American representative in the competition’s quarter-finals.
UFC president Dana White took the opportunity at the end of Wednesday night’s episode to announce the semi-final match-ups and he decided to have Artem Lobov take on Julian Erosa and tournament favourite Saul Rogers meet Marcin Wrzosek.
Catch The Ultimate Fighter at 3am GMT every Thursday morning on BT Sport (part of the Setanta pack in Ireland). Repeated at 10pm GMT on Thursdays.
