After three weeks of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ Season 31, Michael Chandler’s team has won for the third consecutive time against Conor McGregor’s team. Austin Hubbard of Team Chandler secured a place in the lightweight semi-finals with his unanimous decision win over Team McGregor’s Aaron McKenzie. Although Hubbard could not knock out his opponent, his victory was as dominant as his teammates’ Roosevelt Roberts and Cody Gibson, who achieved back-to-back first-round knockouts.
The matchups for this season were determined by seeding, with the coaches ranking their competitors in each division from first to fourth. After the seeding was determined, the matchups were made in a tournament-style bracket.
Before competing in TUF, Hubbard fought in Caged Aggression and was on the UFC roster from 2019 to 2021, with a record of 3-4. He trains with UFC fighters Justin Gaethje, Drew Dober and Neil Magny at Elevation Fight Team in Colorado. After being cut from the UFC roster, Hubbard worked on his issues and prepared for another chance at signing with the UFC with Team Chandler.
Chandler has fully invested in coaching his fighters and they have bought into his approach. He even considers what he wears when with them and the message his attire could send, choosing to wear TUF apparel when working with his team as a reminder that they are all on the same level and working towards the same goal.
Team McGregor continues to struggle in the Octagon, despite connecting well and having no issues with their coaching staff’s approach. It’s still early in the first round of fights, but it’s fair to question if McGregor is the right fighter to coach these prospects. When McGregor last coached on TUF, eight years ago on Season 22, he had similar struggles in the first round of fights before having a run of success through the semifinals.
The situation raises several questions, including how long it will take for a Team McGregor fighter to win a fight, what adjustments the coaching staff will have to make to get in the win column, and how McGregor will react if his team keeps losing.
In the next fight, Timur Valiev, with a record of 18-3, will fight for Team Chandler against Team McGregor’s Mitch Raposo, who has a record of 12-1. Valiev lost to Shore at UFC Fight Night in March 2022 and has a UFC win over Barcelos. He competed in the first PFL season in 2017 and fought in World Series of Fighting from 2014 to 2016, going 1-1 against UFC fighter Chris Gutierrez in WSOF.
Leave a Reply