Conor McGregor’s team suffered another tough week on the new season of The Ultimate Fighter, as one of the Irishman’s mentees was declared unfit to compete and another was stopped in Round 1.
McGregor and Michael Chandler, who are due to fight each other later this year, are coaching opposing teams of athletes on the new season of the UFC television show. In Episode 1, McGregor’s team member Nate Jennerman was knocked out inside eight seconds, and there was more misfortune for the Irishman’s group in Episode 2.
In the episode, which aired on Tuesday (6 June), Trevor Wells developed a cold sore and was deemed medically unfit to face Timur Valiev, before Mando Gutierrez was beaten by Cody Gibson in Round 1.
Gutierrez was dropped with a clean knee to the chin, before Gibson applied ground and pound to secure a TKO win. McGregor, wearing a cowboy hat given to him by Gutierrez, was visibly frustrated at ringside. “Ah, unlucky, Mando,” the former dual-weight UFC champion said.
In a post-fight exchange in the team’s locker room, McGregor, 34, told Gutierrez: “Right here with you, Mando. Here with you, my man. Back to the gym now.” Gutierrez replied, “I just wanted to give my heart,” to which McGregor said: “That’s what you did, man! That’s what you f***ing did, my man!”
Gutierrez responded, “Coach, I’m way better than that,” to which McGregor replied, “I know that.”
“It was a tough fight, that was,” McGregor later said in an interview. “The flying knee was a good shot. Mando’s a great little fighter. I would’ve liked him to stand his ground more; he was on the float a little bit too much for my liking. We were working on cutting the Octagon in [training].”
A tearful Gutierrez, sporting a severely swollen eye, added: “You know, I fought my heart out, and it wasn’t enough. I love this game, sometimes it just don’t love me back. I’ll be back, it is what it is.”
All you need to know about season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter can be found at the highlighted link here, and you can read our review of the new documentary McGregor Forever here.
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