‘TUF 22’ Recap: Episode 6
“I am going to hurt you real bad.”
That was the promise made by Team Europe’s Mehdi Baghdad to Team USA’s Julian Erosa when the fighters were matched up by Conor McGregor at the conclusion of last week’s episode.
As expected, Team USA isn’t too fond of the Frenchman’s remarks;
head coach Urijah Faber
is visibly irritated. The team vows to make Baghdad pay for the
comment, even though only Erosa will be able to face him inside the
cage.
The show quickly switches to Team McGregor and the training for Baghdad, who is a former K-1 and muay Thai champion. McGregor praises the striker’s powerful, precise standup and says that Erosa is in for a rude awakening.
Over on Team Faber, “The California Kid” talks about current UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw, whom Faber calls a great fighter and teammate. Faber chats briefly about how Duane Ludwig came to Team Alpha Male when Ludwig was virtually penniless with nowhere to go before he resurrected himself and bolted to Denver. Naturally, this is expected to be the perfect segue into the eventual showdown between Dillashaw and the two head coaches.
After the weigh-ins, where both Erosa and Baghdad make the lightweight limit, the teams are sitting on their respective bleachers. As usual, McGregor and Faber trade verbal barbs, though it doesn’t become sour until “Notorious” begins teasing Faber about Dillashaw once again.
Faber reveals to his rival that Dillashaw is, in fact, present and will help the team. McGregor has a field day with this comment and is relentless with his trash talk about how much of a pushover Faber is for allowing Dillashaw to do as he pleases while Ludwig takes all the glory. Finally, one of the Team Faber fighters -- it’s unclear which -- speaks just loud enough that McGregor will hear: “But he wouldn’t say it if T.J. was sitting here.”
McGregor turns his attention to the peanut gallery and calls the fighter a “little twerp” before launching into an anti-Dillashaw tirade.
“Where is the little weasel?” McGregor asks Faber’s team. “Where’s the little snake? Has he got Duane with him? Are they going to come in and take over the show? They take over your gym and then they’ll take over the show, too.”
Faber is clearly angered but he remains silent, gritting his teeth. McGregor tells the camera that Faber needs to wake up and realize what’s happening. He accuses Dillashaw of infiltrating Team Alpha Male and taking what they had, then says Dillashaw is probably Faber’s last hope at a big-money fight.
The unfriendly banter between coaches continues, but when “The California Kid” says he’d do much better against the UFC interim featherweight champ because he doesn’t get tired, McGregor immediately accuses Faber of talking trash about his own teammate, Chad Mendes, and says that maybe Faber’s the snake, not Dillashaw.
After plenty more verbal sparring, one of Team USA’s guys has had enough and tells McGregor to “stop talking s--t” because Dillashaw is his boy. As it turns out, it’s Team Alpha Male coach and fighter Cody Garbrandt who is not enthusiastic about McGregor’s words. When the Irishman tells Garbrandt to do something about it, “No Love” shoves McGregor in the chest. A brief melee breaks out but nothing major comes from it; it’s just a bunch of dudes smack-talking and shoving.
Finally, Dillashaw shows up and McGregor starts to unload on both Dillashaw and Faber. McGregor goes into a rant about how he is the one fighting Jose Aldo, the same guy who ran roughshod over the entire Team Alpha Male team, among a dozen other things that chap the skin of both Faber and Dillashaw.
Finally, it’s fight day. The bout begins with Erosa keeping his distance with a few jabs, but his weapon of choice is a long front kick to the body. Baghdad continually tries to get inside to land some of his bombs, but the American is smart with his attacks. Baghdad constantly tries to make it a dirty brawl, but he’s raked to the stomach and ribs over and over with the front kick and sporadic leg kicks. Still, Baghdad is able to deliver a few lead elbows to the head, and since his blows are much harder than Erosa’s, he’s staying close in points for the round. After the first frame ends, it appears as though Erosa’s higher strike output is the difference.
Round two follows a similar blueprint, though Baghdad is able to land several more elbows when he gets inside. Erosa remains mobile, eluding the majority of Baghdad’s punches, which are much more telegraphed now. Erosa is able to slip and duck under them, which allows him to blast his foe’s body with left hooks. With McGregor yelling at his fighter to be first, Erosa continues to keep him at bay with that annoying front kick to the body.
At the end of the two rounds, Team McGregor thinks the battle will go to a third stanza but it doesn’t. Much to the chagrin of Team Europe, Erosa is declared the victory by majority decision, winning via tallies of 20-18, 20-18 and 19-19.
With Faber once again in control of the next fight, he opts to go with flashy striker Thanh Le who will oppose Sweden’s Martin Svensson. The coaches and fighters all agree that this will be a terrific brawl, the perfect striker versus grappler matchup.
That was the promise made by Team Europe’s Mehdi Baghdad to Team USA’s Julian Erosa when the fighters were matched up by Conor McGregor at the conclusion of last week’s episode.
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The show quickly switches to Team McGregor and the training for Baghdad, who is a former K-1 and muay Thai champion. McGregor praises the striker’s powerful, precise standup and says that Erosa is in for a rude awakening.
Baghdad goes into ‘80s action flick persona when he tells the
camera, “I want to cut him like when I cut my filet mignon.”
Bennett-from-“Commando” theatrics aside, Baghdad appears to be at
the top of his game and looks as prepared as he’ll ever be going
into a fight.
Over on Team Faber, “The California Kid” talks about current UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw, whom Faber calls a great fighter and teammate. Faber chats briefly about how Duane Ludwig came to Team Alpha Male when Ludwig was virtually penniless with nowhere to go before he resurrected himself and bolted to Denver. Naturally, this is expected to be the perfect segue into the eventual showdown between Dillashaw and the two head coaches.
After the weigh-ins, where both Erosa and Baghdad make the lightweight limit, the teams are sitting on their respective bleachers. As usual, McGregor and Faber trade verbal barbs, though it doesn’t become sour until “Notorious” begins teasing Faber about Dillashaw once again.
Faber reveals to his rival that Dillashaw is, in fact, present and will help the team. McGregor has a field day with this comment and is relentless with his trash talk about how much of a pushover Faber is for allowing Dillashaw to do as he pleases while Ludwig takes all the glory. Finally, one of the Team Faber fighters -- it’s unclear which -- speaks just loud enough that McGregor will hear: “But he wouldn’t say it if T.J. was sitting here.”
McGregor turns his attention to the peanut gallery and calls the fighter a “little twerp” before launching into an anti-Dillashaw tirade.
“Where is the little weasel?” McGregor asks Faber’s team. “Where’s the little snake? Has he got Duane with him? Are they going to come in and take over the show? They take over your gym and then they’ll take over the show, too.”
Faber is clearly angered but he remains silent, gritting his teeth. McGregor tells the camera that Faber needs to wake up and realize what’s happening. He accuses Dillashaw of infiltrating Team Alpha Male and taking what they had, then says Dillashaw is probably Faber’s last hope at a big-money fight.
The unfriendly banter between coaches continues, but when “The California Kid” says he’d do much better against the UFC interim featherweight champ because he doesn’t get tired, McGregor immediately accuses Faber of talking trash about his own teammate, Chad Mendes, and says that maybe Faber’s the snake, not Dillashaw.
After plenty more verbal sparring, one of Team USA’s guys has had enough and tells McGregor to “stop talking s--t” because Dillashaw is his boy. As it turns out, it’s Team Alpha Male coach and fighter Cody Garbrandt who is not enthusiastic about McGregor’s words. When the Irishman tells Garbrandt to do something about it, “No Love” shoves McGregor in the chest. A brief melee breaks out but nothing major comes from it; it’s just a bunch of dudes smack-talking and shoving.
Finally, Dillashaw shows up and McGregor starts to unload on both Dillashaw and Faber. McGregor goes into a rant about how he is the one fighting Jose Aldo, the same guy who ran roughshod over the entire Team Alpha Male team, among a dozen other things that chap the skin of both Faber and Dillashaw.
Finally, it’s fight day. The bout begins with Erosa keeping his distance with a few jabs, but his weapon of choice is a long front kick to the body. Baghdad continually tries to get inside to land some of his bombs, but the American is smart with his attacks. Baghdad constantly tries to make it a dirty brawl, but he’s raked to the stomach and ribs over and over with the front kick and sporadic leg kicks. Still, Baghdad is able to deliver a few lead elbows to the head, and since his blows are much harder than Erosa’s, he’s staying close in points for the round. After the first frame ends, it appears as though Erosa’s higher strike output is the difference.
Round two follows a similar blueprint, though Baghdad is able to land several more elbows when he gets inside. Erosa remains mobile, eluding the majority of Baghdad’s punches, which are much more telegraphed now. Erosa is able to slip and duck under them, which allows him to blast his foe’s body with left hooks. With McGregor yelling at his fighter to be first, Erosa continues to keep him at bay with that annoying front kick to the body.
At the end of the two rounds, Team McGregor thinks the battle will go to a third stanza but it doesn’t. Much to the chagrin of Team Europe, Erosa is declared the victory by majority decision, winning via tallies of 20-18, 20-18 and 19-19.
With Faber once again in control of the next fight, he opts to go with flashy striker Thanh Le who will oppose Sweden’s Martin Svensson. The coaches and fighters all agree that this will be a terrific brawl, the perfect striker versus grappler matchup.
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