The Ultimate Fighter
Episode 7 Recap | The Ultimate Fighter Season 31
Catch Up On Everything That Happened On The Seventh Episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs Team Chandler.
PREVIOUSLY ON THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER
After Team McGregor suffered the most crushing loss of the competition, tensions boiled over inside the Octagon, as coaches Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler got forehead-to-forehead and a shoving match ensued between the two.
Now, only two fights remain, with Landon Quinones stepping in against Jason Knight in a quest to get Team McGregor its first win.
It’s time to find out if it will happen.
RECAP PREVIOUS EPISODES OF TUF: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6
This is The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs. Team Chandler!
After TUF | Episode 7: The Ultimate Fighter Season 31
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After TUF | Episode 7: The Ultimate Fighter Season 31
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TUF HOUSE
Members of Team McGregor explain what went down at the UFC APEX for those that weren’t in attendance. The next morning, Roosevelt Roberts, Jason Knight, and others hang out in the kitchen, talking about McGregor.
RECAP EVERYTHING HAPPENING ON TUF
UFC APEX
McGregor rolls into the facility in a shiny Lamborghini, getting out and leaving the car at the back door, running, for someone to come and valet park. He heads into the training area getting loose, talking about his adrenaline being up, and gears up for a training session with the team.
He works with Quinones, who calls working with the former two-weight champ “a blessing” in a confessional interview, before the footage shows McGregor dropping him with a perfectly placed liver kick. Quinones frames it as a learning experience.
TUF HOUSE
Several members of Team Chandler congregate in the kitchen, talking about how they might run the table in the competition, with Knight saying it’s certainly possible as the prospects “have fear in their hearts” now that they’re down 0-6.
Cody Gibson says the remaining matchups are favorable for Team Chandler, as it’s Knight and Hunter Azure left, and both have to be considered solid favorites in their respective matchups. Knight notes that it would likely be the first time there has ever been a clean sweep on The Ultimate Fighter, and Gibson says he doesn’t know if it’s happened.
For the record, it has not.
Evening rolls in and Knight continues chatting with his teammates, explaining he spent nine months in prison, getting sent away a couple years after having committed the crime, which caused him to miss several firsts in his daughter’s life.
This is the first time he’s missed anything since he got out, passing on advice about how to get out and stay out, calling it “one of the worst experiences of my life, but by far one of the best things that has ever happened to me” before his home video rolls.
The 30-year-old from Lucedale, MS, calls himself “redneck as they come,” as he’s shown mudding, fishing, and hunting, as well as spending time with his kids and working construction. He explains he got the call to compete in the UFC two weeks after his son was born, earning four wins (in nine starts) as well as four post-fight bonuses, as highlights from his victories over Chas Skelly and Alex Caceres run.
Knight acknowledges he was living it up, partying every weekend, and a four-fight slide got him bounced from the promotion.
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“Now it’s time to get back on the right track,” he says. “This is one of the greatest opportunities I’ve had in a long time and it’s time to make the best of it.
“I didn’t make the best of it the last time I was here, and this time I will.”
Get To Know Lightweight Landon Quinones | The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs Team Chandler
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Get To Know Lightweight Landon Quinones | The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs Team Chandler
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JASON KNIGHT FIGHT PREP
Chandler talks about the shoving match with McGregor and how they both want to beat the hell out of each other, but that his focus is on the fighters, not his own situation.
He and Knight talk through the game plan for the fight with Quinones, with the former lightweight title challenger calling him the most dangerous guy in the competition. He calls this the perfect fight for him, acknowledging that he trains with Quinones back in Florida, but adds that Knight is going to surprise some people.
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Knight drills with teammates and hits mitts with Jason Strout, Sean Soriano, suggesting a first-round finish when he and Quinones get in the cage.
Chandler adds that he wants the clean sweep, and while he’s showing the team how to control opponents on the fence, an audible curse stops practice, as Knight has suffered a bad cut over his right eye as the result of a clash of heads with a teammate.
It’s outside of the eye, but it’s an inch long. He and Timur Valiev were working together and their heads came together, with Knight getting the worst of it. He visits with Dr. Jeffrey Davidson, who looks at the wound and works on it. Chandler calls him a gamer, suggesting he has no concerns about the cut bothering him.
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He tells Knight to go to the house and show off the cut, with hopes that it gives Quinones a sense of relief that they won’t have to fight before telling him the fight is still on.
Get To Know Lightweight Jason Knight | The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs Team Chandler
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Get To Know Lightweight Jason Knight | The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs Team Chandler
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THE NEXT DAY
Dana White explains that Knight is fortunate his cut won’t keep him from the fight, but that another Team Chandler fighter, Cody Gibson, was having some knee pain following his fight with Mando Gutierrez.
Gibson kept training after the win, believing he’d simply suffered a bruised knee, but with it still bothering him, White & Co. directed him to get it looked at, with Dr. Davidson going over the results with Gibson and Chandler.
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Dr. Davidson explains it’s a Grade 2 MCL sprain — which means tear — which surprises Gibson. He recommends Gibson give it eight weeks of rest, which should allow it to heal without surgery, acknowledging that continuing to compete could result in the injury getting worse, or cause damage to additional ligaments.
Gibson and Chandler walk together, talking about the situation, with Chandler telling his charge he won’t make the decision for him, obviously, and that Gibson will have to decide for himself what he’s going to do.
Gibson says he knows what his decision is — “I’m fighting! You tell me I tore my ACL, I’m fighting!”
LANDON QUINONES FIGHT PREP
McGregor works with the lightweight, working on rear-hand uppercuts, singing his praises while calling Knight “a good, tough, religious fighter” while forecasting a war.
Quinones talks through the game plan with Owen Roddy, with the idea being to stay technical and stop Knight from coming forward aggressively. The plan is to work the body, work the legs, and be the more technical fighter throughout. The young Team McGregor man believes he has the advantage everywhere, rattling off a list of things he does well, suggesting he can be a threat in every position.
“Christmas came early because I’m gonna light that boy up like a tree, dawg,” he says, cleaning up his gear after practice.
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TUF HOUSE
Quinones explains to his teammates that he never knew his father, and that his mom has mental health issues, including having had to prevent her from suicide on different occasions. He says in a confessional interview that he was reckless as a kid, but identified with Nick Diaz when a friend showed him UFC clips, finding similarities between his temperament and that of Stockton’s favorite son.
His home video starts with him laying on the beach in Boca Raton, FL. The 27-year-old explains he was an angry kid, and he got addicted to competing after securing this first victory while still in high school. He visits with his mother, acknowledging they have a challenging relationship.
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Quinones trains at Wolf Pack MMA under Coach Roger Krahl, having worked with myriad UFC competitors, but not Chandler. He’s 7-1-1 as a professional, winning and successfully defending the Titan FC lightweight title in his last two fights prior to entering the house.
“All I’ve ever needed in my life is an opportunity,” he says. “I have full confidence I’m gonna win this show, and you don’t always have an opportunity like this.
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“What a story it would be to come from where I come from and come out on top, man. It’s a blessing, and I’m just so excited to be here.”
TUF HOUSE
Knight and Quinones hang out in the hot tub, talking about their weigh-cutting approach, which Quinones frames as mind games.
Get To Know Team McGregor Lightweight Landon Quinones
LIGHTWEIGHT WEIGH-IN
The veteran is the first one on the scale, coming in at 155.5 pounds, “with the socks and the chain,” he adds. Quinones follows him onto the scale, coming in at the same number.
Fighters from each team forecast wins for their teammates, while White predicts a barnburner from these two, calling Knight “one of my favorites to win the whole thing.”
Get To Know Team Chandler Lightweight Jason Knight
FIGHT DAY
Knight rolls in with his gear in a garbage bag, calling this a man against a boy as he gets wrapped, gets loose, and gets ready to make the walk.
Quinones says he’s better than Knight everywhere and predicts he’ll “shock people” with what he’s able to do before getting into the dressing room and get loose.
The lightweights make the walk and take up their places in the Octagon, so now there is only one thing left to do…fight.
Jason Knight Talks Win Over Quinones | The Ultimate Fighter Season 31
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Jason Knight Talks Win Over Quinones | The Ultimate Fighter Season 31
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JASON KNIGHT VS LANDON QUINONES
The two men trade shots right away and Quinones changes levels, elevating Knight and putting him on the canvas. But Knight instantly starts shifting his hips, looking for openings, and locks onto a triangle choke.
Quinones has no choice but to tap.
This one is done early, and Team Chandler remains undefeated.
Official Result: Jason Knight def. Landon Quinones by submission (triangle choke) in Round 1
Chandler recaps the fight and notes that Team McGregor is on the ropes, while White says it went as he anticipated, suggesting Knight’s experience was the difference in the fight.
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McGregor calls Quinones better than he showed, and suggests the fight game is a cruel mistress.
Team Chandler is now 7-0 and Knight is jacked up!
Michael Chandler Reacts To Jason Knight's Win | The Ultimate Fighter Season 31
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Michael Chandler Reacts To Jason Knight's Win | The Ultimate Fighter Season 31
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Knight shouts “One More!” as he walks out of the cage, and McGregor asks him, “One more what?”
“One more win until we’re 8-0.”
“No way.”
Knight makes sure to tell McGregor it’s no disrespect — “Just happy” — and you can see how much the losses are weighing on the Irishman. He celebrates with the team, and McGregor asks White, “What happens if it’s a clean sweep?” while standing in the cage, still processing the results and totality of what has been happening.
“We see if anyone wants to go over to the other team,” answers Gary DeFranco, the show’s executive producer, noting that it’s never happened before.
Even White talks about how this is visibly weighing on McGregor.
Conor McGregor Reacts To Landon Quinones Loss | The Ultimate Fighter Season 31
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Conor McGregor Reacts To Landon Quinones Loss | The Ultimate Fighter Season 31
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“If his team loses the next fight, we might have to change things up for the semifinals. We’re just gonna have to wait and see how this plays out,” he says.
Quinones laments the defeat, while McGregor tries to console him, suggesting something has got to happen to shake things up with the season.
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The only fight that remains is Team Chandler’s No. 1 bantamweight taking on Team McGregor’s Rico DiSciullo.
Will the veterans run the table or can the New England native DiSciullo get his squad a victory?
