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The Ultimate Fighter 22 in Review

761 views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  kantowrestler 
#1 ·
It has been a few months since the end of the last season of The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber, but that doesn’t mean it still can’t be talked about.

The season certainly had the usual twists and turns and talking about everything in-depth is a good idea.

The Format

Unlike last season which was based in Florida and was camp based, season 22 returned to the traditional format having two active UFC fighters coach opposite a group of prospects who have to try out and fight to get into the house.

However, it was unique in that it was only the second non-regional version of the show to feature teams a specific area. In this case the show featured an American team coached by Urijah Faber opposite a team of European fighters coached by “Notorious” Conor McGregor.

A change that is unique to this season of the show however is that there were nine first round fights inside the house. This was done by bringing two losers from the preliminary fights back into the house, chosen by the two team coaches. The choices paid off as Team McGregor’s choice in Artem Lobov (McGregor’s training partner) was a finalist for the season.

Another not so uncommon change to the season was that the coaches were never set to face each other at the end of the season. Faber ultimately fought and won against Frankie Saenz at UFC 194 while McGregor fought Jose Aldo in the main event of the same card for the UFC Featherweight Championship and won.

Drama

As is typical in every season there was drama inside the house between all of the occupants.

Also not an uncommon event in each season, there was drama between teammates in the house.

Namely is that there was friction between Team USA’s Chris Gruetzemacher and Julian Erosa.

Gruetzemacher in general had trouble dealing with the TUF house atmosphere.

Twists

Sometimes things happen after the show finishes filming and this season was one of those cases.

The original finale was set to be between the aforementioned Lobov and also from Team Europe, Saul Rogers.

However, after the season is was found that Rogers had lied on his visa application and could not get into the country. Because of that, Rogers was removed from the finale and switched in with Team Faber’s Ryan Hall.

In another ironic twist, Hall would go onto win the finale.

Conclusion

It was a good season overall and with season 23 set to feature women again it should be interesting.
http://mma-freak.com/opinion/the-ultimate-fighter-22-in-review/
 
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