The oldest fighter in the competition, Igor Araujo, won a majority decision over the youngest, Nic Herron-Webb, on The Ultimate Fighter® Fridays episode five – “Unleash The Beast” – that aired on FX on Friday evening.
The victory – the second in a row for coach Shane Carwin’s team over coach Roy Nelson’s – gives them a 3-1 edge after four preliminary bouts.
The 6ft 3inch Araujo, aged 31, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is 22-6 in his mixed martial arts career; the 5ft 10inch Herron-Webb, 22, of Anchorage, Alaska, is 11-3.
Araujo, a father of two young children, lives in Switzerland six months of the year and has taught Brazilian jiu-jitsu at a school in Geneva since 2006. The French-speaking Araujo trains with TUF™ 14 winner, Diego Brandao, at Jackson’s MMA in Albuquerque. Brandao is in action at UFC 153 tomorrow night.
Araujo said: “I felt really happy because I won my fight on my son’s birthday. It was really strange fighting in the TUF gym, with Dana White watching, I felt so much pressure. I should have finished Nic, but I didn’t and I didn’t get the $5,000 bonus because of it. I respect Nic, he is a nice guy, he is young and a tough fighter, but in this situation being away from my family was my biggest opponent at that time.”
Herron-Webb , nicknamed “NAP-Time” as much for his fondness for snoozing as for his hard-hitting fighting style, said: “I was pretty disappointed after my fight. I felt like I got robbed of the chance to go to a third round. I wish I would have been more aggressive and fought harder. After my fight it felt like the team moral dropped because all of the guys on my team thought it was my fight to win and take back control for our team, so it sucked.”
Tickets for The Ultimate Fighter® Finale on Dec. 15 at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas are on sale and priced at $304, $254, $179, $154, $104 and $79. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit the Hard Rock Box Office, all Ticketmaster locations, www.ticketmaster.com, www.thejointlasvegas.com or charge-by-phone at 800.745.3000.
Results after episode five:
Team Carwin (3-1)
Sam Alvey (0-1, lost to Joey Rivera by decision in episode 3)
Bristol Marunde (1-1, defeated Julian Lane by unanimous decision in episode 4)
Mike Ricci
Neil Magny (1-0, defeated Cameron Diffley by decision in episode 2)
James Chaney
Eddy Ellis
Igor Araujo (1-0, defeated Nic Herron-Webb by majority decision in episode 5)
Matt Secor
Team Nelson (1-3)
Dom Waters
Michael Hill
Cameron Diffley (0-1, lost to Neil Magny by decision in episode 2)
Colton Smith
Jon Manley
Nic Herron-Webb (0-1, lost to Igor Araujo by majority decision in episode 5)
Joey Rivera (1-0, defeated Sam Alvey by decision in episode 3)
Julian Lane (0-1, lost to Bristol Marunde by decision in episode 4)
