“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 10 below.
No hard feelings against Brad Katona
“I don’t see how you can (fault him). If that was my coaches on the other side, that I’ve been training with for the past couple of years, and I had the chance to go there because I was fighting a teammate or a guy, I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t make that switch. It actually worked out perfectly for Brad Katona that he was able to do that. I was actually standing right there. You can see me come into the corner when Brad is talking to Chandler and all the other coaches, letting them know he appreciates everything they’d done for him. I don’t think can hold it against him. Anybody would’ve done that if they were in Brad’s shoes.”
An increased feeling of stakes during semifinals?
“Being in the house the whole time, you’re steady working toward something. The guys who lost in the quarterfinal fight are essentially out of the competition. They don’t have anything to look forward to vs. we did, right? We’re in the semifinals. We’re still training for a fight, so we had a little bit of pressure on our shoulders. We all knew we had tough fights. For us, we’re fighting to make it. … I didn’t let the pressure get to me but you can feel a little bit there.”
Fight reaction: Brad Katona def. Timur Valiev via split decision
“Both guys were kind of an equal level. Both of them had great runs in the UFC. Of course, Brad won an earlier season of ‘TUF.’ Timur Valiev was the way he was in the UFC, winning fights. Both of those guys probably got cut or released from the contract a little early. It was definitely a damn good fight.
“… I didn’t get to see that fight live, so this week was the first time I’ve got to see this fight. … It was a fun and entertaining fight. Both guys I think really wanted to go in there and really showed how bad they wanted to win that fight.”
Good decision?
“I don’t know if I’m being biased or not. I’m trying not to be biased but I felt like I gave Timur all three rounds. Everybody knew that Brad had the skills. He already won the show before, so he’s actually won what everybody is there to win. … It didn’t really shock me at all, the performance he put on. We know Brad is good. A lot of guys may not like Brad but that doesn’t say anything about the skill.”
Did fighters have much interaction with Dana White outside what viewers saw?
“Not really, especially not fight night. I don’t think I talked to him one time on fight night, except maybe saying something through the cage. We talked to him a little bit when we did the fighter picks at the beginning of the show and maybe a little bit on the coaches’ challenge you’re going to see coming up on next week’s episode and also at the end of the show. Right before we were going home, Dana talked to everybody and hyped us up about being the UFC and fighting and all this and that. That was it.”
Excited for the world to see your semifinal vs. Jason Knight next week?
“Styles make matchups, right? I probably didn’t have the best matchup for my style in Lee Hammond. He’s big and strong and a good grappler. He wanted to put me down. Of course, I like to standup most of the time. That’s what I’m going to get with Jason Knight. As you hear at the end of this episode, Dana is already calling me and Jason the fight of the season. If he’s calling us the fight of the season over Timur and Brad, you know that fight has got to be exciting.”
