Tonight’s episode is titled “What Are You Fighting For?”
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to FOX Sports 1 tonight (Wed., Nov. 9, 2016) for The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 24 combat sports reality show, coached by top Flyweight contenders and bitter rivals Joseph Benavidez and Henry Cejudo.
In last weeks elimination round, No. 1 seed Alexandre Pantoja took out Team Cejudo stablemate Kai Kara France to advance. This week, No. 5 Hiromasa Ogikubo of Team Benavidez takes on Team Cejudo’s Adam Antolin, who is ranked No. 13.
If you missed last week’s episode click here.
Te kick things off, coaches from Team Benavidez treated its fighters to a cookout featuring some nice juicy steaks and a few bears and drinks to wash them down with. Of course, the over consumption of alcohol leads to an argument between Tim Elliott and Eric Shelton, who starts confessing his beliefs that God put him in the TUF house for a reason, while Elliott shoots down that theory and proceeds to tell him being in UFC will not fix his problems.
And Elliott should know, as he’s already had a run with the biggest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion in the world. UFC President Dana White, as usual, then proceeds to give us a quick breakdown of both fighters.
Antolin gets a quick workout in, and reveals he has a back issue he’s been dealing with since his previous outing. While he’s adamant it won’t play a factor in his next bout, he admits it’s a rather frustrating thing to be dealing with. His coach advises him to take the night off to relax and be a “fat ass.”
The rest of the house realize that trying to teach Japanese-born Hiromasa Ogikubo the English language is a tough task. It’s a challenge coach Benavidez has had to navigate with his pupil, but thankfully everyone understands the universal language of fighting.
Both competitors get one last good training session in before their big showdown. To keep things light and friendly, the competitors came together to play a game of charades, which mostly included the contestants trying to imitate one another before the next day’s weigh-ins.
After making weight, Antolin takes advantage of the fact that his teammate Nkazimulo Zula has already faced Ogikubo, and asks to give him some insight on his foe’s tendencies, despite coming up short against him.
Time to fight!
125 lbs.: Adam Antolin (11-3) vs. Hiromasa Ogikubo (15-3 )
Round 1: Antolin comes out striking with a good combination, which is answered by Ogikubo with a high kick. A few more whiffed high kicks from Ogikubo. A lot of feints from Antolin before he eats a high kick from his foe. Antolin catches Ogikubo’s body kick and takes him down. Ogikubo quickly gains the better position, though. In guard. Good defense from Antolin to stop his foe from getting full mount. Ogikubo sneaks in a few shots from top position, while Antolin returns the favor. Side control for Hiro and on to full mount. He rains down some strikes as Antolin tries to escape. Ogikubo tries to take his back and attempts rear-naked choke, but to no avail. Antolin quickly reverses position and attempts a guillotine choke as the round comes to and end. Dominant round for Ogikubo.
Round 2: Front kick from Antolin. Whiffed high kick from Ogikubo. They exchange body kicks. Ogikubo throws another body kick, Antolin catches it, much to the chagrin of his coach, as Ogikubo quickly takes him down. Ogikubo fighting for control, but Antolin fights his way back up to the feet. Nice hard body kicks and strikes from Antolin as he stuffs Ogikubo’s takedown attempt. Nice leg kick from Antolin as Ogikubo takes him down once again. They get back to the feet and Ogikubo lands a nice one-two before slamming his foe back to the canvas. Antolin valiantly gets back up, only be dragged down once again. Back up to the feet as Adam lands a nice high kick. Antolin scores a takedown right in front of his corner, which benefits him greatly for advice. Ogikubo, though, quickly reverse position and now he’s back to the feet. Hiro takes Adam down once again. Rinse and repeat. Ogikubo dominates the round with his smothering wrestling once again.
Final result: Hiromasa Ogikubo defeats Adam Antolin via unanimous decision.
Here’s where we stand after episode nine:
#1 Alexandre Pantoja vs.
#9 Kai Kara-France
#13 Adam Antolinvs. #5 Hiromasa Ogikubo#7 Ronaldo Candido vs. #15 Eric Shelton
#6 Matt Schnell vs. #3 Tim Elliot
Stay tuned next week as it will include two bouts, as No. 15 Ronaldo Candido does battle with his Team Benavidez teammate and No. 7 ranked Eric Shelton. Plus, No. 3 seed Tim Elliot, also of Team Benavidez, faces off against No. 6, Matt Schnell of Team Cejudo.
See you in seven!