The Ultimate Fighter Season 25 has gotten to five episodes now, and things are looking grim for Coach Cody Garbrandt. In an attempt to right the ship, he paired American Top Team members and Hayder Hassan and Dhiego Lima against each other. It wasn’t an eventful episode, with no significant time being spent getting to know the combatants outside of their video packages. So, without further ado, let’s get down to it.
The Big Three
#1) Balloons in where?! – It was not the craziest thing somebody has done in an effort to improve performance – that title belongs to Gabe Reudiger’s colonics – but it was up there. Coach Garbrandt brought in a practitioner to inflate balloons in the nostrils of his team, including assistant coach Urijah Faber. It looked unpleasant, and I would need convincing that it has any real effect beyond placebo before I considered it.
#2) Urijah Diaz – Watching Urijah Faber attempt to mimic the style of the Diaz brothers while working with Hayder Hassan made me chuckle. I don’t know why, but it did.
#3) From the Mouths of Non-Hardcores – My wife, Melly, came into the room as the fight announcement for the next episode was being made and asked who won the fight. When I told her that it was another win for Team Killashaw, she laughed and shook her head. It’s not a good look for Team No Love when their plight inspires the chortles of the casual fan.
The Stock Report
Stock Up – Dhiego Lima. Dhiego won his fight with Hayder Hassan fairly handily. There was a couple of minutes of trouble in the middle of round two, but Lima recovered well and nearly finished the fight as the bell sounded to stop the stanza.
The Fight
This fight wasn’t the most entertaining, but it definitely reminded viewers of the threat Dhiego Lima poses on the ground. The bulk of round one was spent on the ground, with Lima on Hayder Hassan’s back for around half the round. The second round saw more stand-up, with Hassan managing to stun Lima and take control on the feet for about two minutes mid-round. It wasn’t enough though, as Lima was able to finish the fight on the ground en route to a unanimous decision victory.
Next week will see Julian Lane finally get to bang, bro, as he steps in against Ramsey Nijem. There is also the promise of some intense Duane “Bang” Ludwig versus Team Alpha Male action. Keep it locked to MMASucka.com for more TUFtermath coverage and other MMA news!
Urijah imitating the Diaz brothers was definitely chuckle-worthy material. Watching the expression on Cody’s face when yet another of his fighters is vanquished is getting increasingly hard to watch though.