— Paul Dollery reports from Las Vegas
THE FINAL EPISODE of the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter was broadcast last night, with the last four contestants battling it out for a spot in the final.
Filming took place during the summer so the decider is scheduled for tomorrow night at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas at The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale, which will be headlined by a featherweight bout between Chad Mendes and Frankie Edgar.
Last night’s semi-finals featured three fighters from Conor McGregor’s European team — Saul Rogers (England), Marcin Wrzosek (Poland), Artem Lobov (Ireland/Russia) — while Julian Erosa was the last man standing for Urijah Faber’s Team USA.
In the first semi-final, Rogers was dominant right from the start against Wrzosek and eventually forced a tap from his fellow Cage Warriors veteran courtesy of a rear-naked choke with 54 seconds of the second round remaining.
Before the second semi-final between Lobov and Erosa was aired, UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo showed up on an invitation from Urijah Faber and took part in a Team USA training session, along with his own coach, Andre Pederneiras.
Aldo also showed off his soccer skills while he was at the gym, but never one to be outdone, Conor McGregor displayed some nifty footwork of his own.
Julian Erosa was in confident mood before his fight with Artem Lobov, one of Conor McGregor’s Straight Blast Gym team-mates. Erosa said: “It’s just going to be awesome to see Conor’s face when I beat his boy.”
However, things didn’t go according to plan for the American lightweight. Lobov — who booked his place in the semi-finals with two KO victories after receiving a wildcard back into the competition following a loss at the first hurdle — finished the contest after just 1:00 of the first round.
Again, it was Lobov’s heavy hands that did the damage. He dropped Erosa with a big left hook before following up with a flurry of strikes to seal another stoppage win.
There were three wins by KO on this season of The Ultimate Fighter and Lobov was responsible for them all. Afterwards, UFC president Dana White said: “That’s the most impressive display of power we’ve ever had on The Ultimate Fighter.”
“They brought me back into the house and I believe I proved that Dana’s decision was right,” said Lobov. “I got three KOs, nobody else got a KO, so I definitely added some excitement. I represented my countries with pride and honour.”
Not for the first time during this TUF season, Conor McGregor was unable to contain his emotions in the aftermath of a win for his SBG team-mate. The UFC interim featherweight champion scaled the fence and jumped into the cage to celebrate with Lobov. In doing so, however, he managed to rip his pants.
“My emotions got the better of me,” said McGregor. “I’ve never been more proud in my life. I told him afterwards, with that knockout [bonus] you can buy me a new pants.”
With just two fighters remaining in the competition, viewers were preparing for a meeting of Artem Lobov and Saul Rogers at the Finale tomorrow night — a rematch of a 2011 fight between the pair, which Rogers won via split decision.
However, then came the unexpected twist.
According to Dana White: “Saul lied on his visa application and now has problems getting into the country. He cannot fight in the Finale for The Ultimate Fighter.”
As a result of the issue — which it appears only came to light in recent weeks — Lobov will now face elite Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Ryan Hall instead. Hall lost to Rogers in the quarter-finals but, like Lobov, he has now been given a second bite at the cherry.
It’s an interesting outcome because, as Hall told The42 last month, he was in Ireland recently training with Lobov, McGregor and the team at SBG on the Naas Road. Little did they know at the time that they’d be facing each other before the year is out.
“I got a call from the UFC asking if I would be willing to step in and replace Saul to fight Artem in the final and, I’ll be honest, I was shocked,” Hall said on last night’s episode.
“I was just over in Ireland training with Artem the week prior. He was helping me out with striking a little bit, I was helping him out with jiu-jitsu. Obviously this changed plans significantly and I’m incredibly excited, fighting such a dangerous opponent for the biggest stakes possible in my career right now.”
With a UFC contract on the line, it’ll be Artem Lobov versus Ryan Hall tomorrow night at The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale here in Las Vegas.
