“The Ultimate Fighter 31” is ongoing with coaches Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler attracting more eyeballs back to the series.
This season, which features eight lightweights and eight bantamweights, airs Tuesdays on ESPN. McGregor’s team features eight fighters who have not competed in the UFC against Chandler’s team of eight UFC alumni.
Among those UFC alums is Kurt Holobaugh, the lone fighter who had two previous stints with the promotion. Holobaugh went 0-4 over those stretches, but history shows a tough strength of schedule: Steven Siler, Raoni Barcelos, Shane Burgos, and Thiago Moises.
Now at lightweight rather than featherweight, Holobaugh devastated two opponents to get a third look from the UFC.
Each week here at MMA Junkie, Holobaugh will peel back the curtain and provide an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look and give insight into what may not have made the cut onto the episode.
Check out what Holobaugh had to say about Episode 9 below.
Surprise!
“Right when we come into the house, they had the matchups on the board. I’m happy. Jason and I campaigned to fight each other. We knew it was the fight to make for us. When I saw I had Jason, I was happy. But then, the questions started to rise about the other team. Are they going to make us switch teams? It was a question that probably went on for a few days. Nobody could answer that question.”
Why the pushback on switching teams?
“It all goes back to how close we really got. If we didn’t get close and we didn’t really care, some guys would’ve been (OK with it). You’ve seen on other shows where guys are fighting their own teammates and they don’t want to train with them. They’d rather go to the other team. Maybe in the case, they would’ve had coaches on the other side that they really respected. I think in our case, we all grew a good bond with Chandler and all the coaches we had. None of us wanted to make that crossover. We said, ‘Screw it, man.’ We wouldn’t get in each other’s way if we weren’t comfortable doing certain kind of drills. But we just wanted to keep the same coaches.”
A meeting with Dana White not shown
“Dana brought us all into his office and he said, ‘All right, there are four of you guys fighting each other. Who wants to go to the other team?’ We all looked at each other and said, ‘Look, we’re going to train side-by-side until the day we have to fight. We’re not going to the other team.’ Dana said, ‘All right. Cool. Do what you want to do.'”
Not a surprise! Katona switching teams
“We 100 percent knew that was going to happen. And why wouldn’t it? He was fighting Timur, our teammate. He had the chance to go back to his original coaches, the place where he wanted to be the entire time. That definitely worked out perfectly for Brad.”
Did training change with five semifinalists in the same room?
“Nope. We all trained together at the same time just like normal. I can’t really remember doing any sort of training with Jason, though we may have done partner drills. I’m sure Chandler and some of the coaches didn’t want to even attempt it, like, ‘These guys. Let’s not put it on them to actually do any sort of drills against (their opponents).”
How were McGregor's visit and the Irish stew?
“It was always cool when people came over to the house, because you kind of get bored sometimes. I want to say there fights and Power Slap on that night. Conor came by and he was actually super cool on this night, man. I actually grabbed a couple bottles of Proper Twelve and asked him to sign them for me. He had no problem and he signed them up. We talked a little bit about my fight with Lee and he was telling me how much heart I had and how much a veteran I was. That was actually a pretty cool night with Conor.”
“… The next day, I tried a little bit of (the stew), but as Jason said, you could definitely taste that Irish stout in it. … He definitely used a little bit too much I think. It wasn’t bad. If I was starving, I’d eat it.”
Roberts' near weight-miss
“Row, he’d be really light one day and then the next day, he’d have an extra four or five pounds on him. I even told him, man. I was sitting there and said, ‘Hey, look bro, how about you eat a little bit of yogurt and a couple strawberries. That’s it. You’ve got to make weight tomorrow.’ He says all right, and then goes and gets ‘a little bit.’ When he comes back, I look at ‘the little bit,’ and he’s got half a plate. I’m like, ‘You need to put some of that back, man.’ I was trying to help him out, but his weight was sticking to him. I knew, at least, he was going to have a little challenge cutting that weight. It was definitely challenging. That’s why he shaved his hair.
Fight reaction: Austin Hubbard def. Roosevelt Roberts via split decision
“I was expecting a close fight. They’re pretty even. I knew that watching them train. They both gave each other an equal amount of trouble. It was not a surprise it was like a 50-50 fight. … Austin obviously won the second round and they gave Row the third round, so it was a really close fight. It ultimately came down to that first round and I just felt like Austin went forward a little bit more and was just a little bit more active, which is why two of three judges gave the fight to Austin.”
Why there was hesitancy in the fight
“I definitely think it was that we respect each other so much. We’ve been in the same training room with each other for weeks now. There was a lot of respect from both guys. Both guys respect each other so much. Sometimes, when you get that much respect between two guys and it’s not like they already have a contract in the UFC, these guys are being careful. They’re trying to pick their shots and being precise.”
