Don’t call it a comeback … TUF has been here for years.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) managed to breathe new life into the aging combat sports reality show by luring former two-division champion, Conor McGregor, back for “full immersion” to coach opposite ex-Bellator 155-pound titleholder and No. 5-ranked UFC lightweight Michael Chandler.
McGregor and Chandler will face off atop a UFC pay-per-view (PPV) event later this year.
The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 31 kicked off a brand new season with Episode 1 earlier tonight (Tues., May 30, 2023) on ESPN. If you missed it, remember that full replays of TUF 31 will air immediate following the live broadcast a 11 p.m. ET on ESPN+ (sign up here).
Here’s our complete recap for TUF 31: Episode 1.
We kick things off at the UFC APEX facility in Las Vegas with the grand arrivals of both McGregor and Chandler, who go through sort of a loosey-goosey introduction of themselves and their respective purposes for being on the show. McGregor tells the camera “Chandler and I are set to fight” before quickly getting cut off in the editing room because as we know, they are not set to fight and won’t be until “Notorious” completes six months of clean USADA drug testing, which has yet to get underway.
Blame all that messy “paperwork.”
Things start out cordially enough — right up until Chandler tells McGregor he’s getting knocked out in the second round. UFC President Dana White pops in to introduce this season’s cast, an eclectic mix of battle-tested veterans and hungry up-and-coming prospects. White makes time to gush for “Notorious” and remind everyone what a big deal it is to have the “global phenomenon” return to the combat sports reality show. Chandler is referred to as “as badass as they come” and “electrifying” inside the cage.
White flips the coin but instead of picking individual fighters, the winning coach gets to choose between all veterans or all prospects at lightweight. The losing coach then gets first pick for the bantamweight class. McGregor wins the toss and picks 155-pound prospects, sending the lightweight veterans to Chandler. In a somewhat surprising pick, “Iron” then uses his first pick to choose bantamweight veterans, sending the 135-pound prospects over to McGregor, making this all veterans vs. all prospects for Season 31.
The squads will later head to the training facility to be evaluated by their coaches, who then assign each contestant a ranking, 1-4, in each class. White explains that for the quarterfinal fights, rankings 1 and 4 will collide in the first fight, followed by rankings 2 versus 3.
Here’s how the teams shake out.
Team McGregor:
135 lbs.: Mando Gutierrez (No. 1)
135 lbs.: Trevor Wells (No. 2)
135 lbs.: Carlos Vera (No. 3)
135 lbs.: Rico DiSciullo (No. 4)
155 lbs.: Lee Hammond (No. 1)
155 lbs.: Nate Jennerman (No. 2)
155 lbs.: Aaron McKenzie (No. 3)
155 lbs.: Landon Quinones Stewart (No. 4)
Team Chandler:
135 lbs.: Hunter Azure (No. 1)
135 lbs.: Brad Katona (No. 2)
135 lbs.: Timur Valiev (No. 3)
135 lbs.: Cody Gibson (No. 4)
155 lbs.: Jason Knight (No. 1)
155 lbs.: Austin Hubbard (No. 2)
155 lbs.: Roosevelt Roberts (No. 3)
155 lbs.: Kurt Holobaugh (No. 4)
Katona, who won TUF 27 as a featherweight, trains with McGregor at SBG Ireland, so we’ll see if that becomes a factor in some way later in the season. “Superman” insists his loyalty is to … Brad Katona.
The fighters report to the TUF house and the mad race begins to secure the best bedrooms (and best bunks). White expects things “to get a little crazy” across the next 12 weeks though I’m not sure anyone will ever top Splushi, which still haunts me to this day. Not surprisingly, there is plenty of Proper No. 12 scattered throughout the house. Mando Gutierrez uses the word “bro” about four times per sentence and now I’m forced to root against him, bro.
We return to the gym and Chandler introduces his assistant coaches, which includes former UFC light heavyweight and TUF 8 champion Ryan Bader. His experience and insight on the TUF process will no doubt prove invaluable as we get deeper into the season and contestants find it harder to stay sequestered. Joining Bader is grappling world champion Robert Drysdale and former Roufusport kickboxing phenom Jason Strout. That folks, is an all-star lineup. McGregor counters with his longtime coach John Kavanagh, as well as grappling guru Owen Roddy and boxing trainer Phil Sutcliffe.
Now we get a second coin toss to see which coach gets to pick the first fight. That honor goes to Chandler but that’s not necessarily an advantage because he doesn’t know how McGregor ranked his fighters (1-4) so all he’s really doing is deciding which fighter from his team will compete first. Chandler picks lightweight Roosevelt Roberts, ranked No. 3, who gets paired with No. 2-ranked Nate Jennerman. They stare down before the remaining picks are announced, conveniently listed below.
155 lbs.: Roosevelt Roberts (No. 3) vs. Nate Jennerman (No. 2)
135 lbs.: Trevor Wells (No. 2) vs. Timur Valiev (No. 3)
155 lbs.: Austin Hubbard (No. 2) vs. Aaron McKenzie (No. 3)
135 lbs.: Mando Gutierrez (No. 1) vs. Cody Gibson (No. 4)
135 lbs.: Brad Katona (No. 2) vs. Carlos Vera (No. 3)
155 lbs.: Lee Hammond (No. 1) vs. Kurt Holobaugh (No. 4)
155 lbs.: Jason Knight (No. 1) vs. Landon Quinones Stewart (No. 4)
135 lbs.: Rico DiSciullo (No. 4) vs. Hunter Azure (No. 1)
Rico is wearing sunglasses indoors to look cool and badass for the fight picks and now I’m rooting for Hunter to grease him in the first round.
Since Roberts and Jennerman are fighting next, we get some background on them before they do battle. Jennerman is up first and he’s also sporting sunglasses but they are wrapped around the back of his head. Maybe I’m too old to understand the fascination with sunglasses but wear them when it’s sunny and take them off when it’s not. Sheesh. Anyway, the 30 year-old Jennerman, a product of Roufusport with a 16-5 record, misses his wife and young children but knows they support his dream of UFC superstardom. That would be his ticket to leaving his part-time UPS job behind. “Nasty” has experience in both LFA and PFL.
We now turn our attention to Roberts (12-3, 1 NC), who was cut from UFC after getting knocked out by Ignacio Bahamondes at UFC Vegas 34, leaving him at 4-3 (1 NC) inside the Octagon. The 29 year-old “Predator” claims his head was never in the game and he was just fighting for a paycheck. Hitting rock bottom helped him reevaluate his place in combat sports and he realized it was time to get serious and make the most of his second opportunity, for his kids as well as himself. Chandler believes no one on his team has the same hunger as Roberts — who holds a significant height and reach advantage — and expects Jennerman to be a tailor-made opponent for a kickoff win. Both fighters make weight but Chandler mocks McGregor for no-showing the weigh ins.
Two five minute rounds, plus a third “sudden victory” round if necessary. Let’s fight!
155 lbs.: Roosevelt Roberts (Team Chandler) vs. Nate Jennerman (Team McGregor)
Round 1: No touch of gloves and Roosevelt tags him early. Jennerman responds with a tight 1-2 then takes a clean shot to the dome and collapses to the canvas, Roosevelt with a flying follow-up hammerfist just as referee Herb Dean dives in to wave it off. Dana White is stunned. Wow.
Roberts def. Jennerman by knockout
After the fight, it’s all high fives and butt slaps in the locker room for Team Chandler. Jennerman has a breakdown and weeps for the wife and children he left behind. His teammates assure him there is another month of training and learning still ahead of him and anything can happen.
Here’s where we stand after Episode 1:
Team McGregor:
135 lbs.: Mando Gutierrez (No. 1)
135 lbs.: Trevor Wells (No. 2)
135 lbs.: Carlos Vera (No. 3)
135 lbs.: Rico DiSciullo (No. 4)
155 lbs.: Lee Hammond (No. 1)155 lbs.: Nate Jennerman (No. 2)
155 lbs.: Aaron McKenzie (No. 3)
155 lbs.: Landon Quinones Stewart (No. 4)
Team Chandler:
135 lbs.: Hunter Azure (No. 1)
135 lbs.: Brad Katona (No. 2)
135 lbs.: Timur Valiev (No. 3)
135 lbs.: Cody Gibson (No. 4)
155 lbs.: Jason Knight (No. 1)
155 lbs.: Austin Hubbard (No. 2)
155 lbs.: Roosevelt Roberts (No. 3)
155 lbs.: Kurt Holobaugh (No. 4)
Here are the remaining elimination fights:
135 lbs.: Trevor Wells (No. 2) vs. Timur Valiev (No. 3)
155 lbs.: Austin Hubbard (No. 2) vs. Aaron McKenzie (No. 3)
135 lbs.: Mando Gutierrez (No. 1) vs. Cody Gibson (No. 4)
135 lbs.: Brad Katona (No. 2) vs. Carlos Vera (No. 3)
155 lbs.: Lee Hammond (No. 1) vs. Kurt Holobaugh (No. 4)
155 lbs.: Jason Knight (No. 1) vs. Landon Quinones Stewart (No. 4)
135 lbs.: Rico DiSciullo (No. 4) vs. Hunter Azure (No. 1)
See you in seven days for Trevor Wells vs. Timur Valiev and the rest of Episode 2!