RECAP! ‘The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber’ Ep. 5

On last week’s episode of ‘The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber’ we saw McGregor’s team earn its first victory and take control of the fight picks. With that pick, McGregor picked Europe’s Saul Rogers to take on USA’s Billy Quarantillo.

At the start of the fifth episode we see McGregor and his team talking about the matchup. They seem to think that it’s a pretty easy fight for Rogers.

Faber and his team expect Rogers to come straight in and plan to use a lot of angles.

In the house, Rodgers and the Europeans comment on how nervous they think Billy is acting and how he already looks broken.

McGregor worked with Rodgers and expects him to get a takedown in the fight, so they work on keeping Billy down.

During Team USA’s training, they work on takedown defense and his ability to get back up and to his feet. It’s pretty clear everyone expects Rogers to go for the takedown early and often.

Both teams, coaches included, go out and enjoy a dinner and drinks. McGregor orders everything on the menu, literally, and his team talks about how great it is being able to train with him and learn from him.

At weigh-ins Conor is a no show, so his teammate and Team European coach dresses up like him and takes his place. Faber makes fun of him, telling him he’s the third best dressed guy there. Both fighters made weight and squared off. Dana White comments on the fight, saying that Billy is young, but looked good in his fight to get into the house and Rogers trains with a lot of tough guys in England, so you know he’s going to bring it.

Chris of the USA team is having a hard time in the house. He’s tired of being there and just wants to get back to his home and training partners. Sounds like he’s getting a little antsy, possibly a case of cabin fever.

The Fight:

Both fighters come out swinging. Rodgers throws a big head kick that looked to be blocked, but was still effective. Billy seemed to try and land combos, while Rodgers came in with a little more power on his punches. He connected with a nice combo. Then in a strange move Billy shot in for a takedown. Faber and the USA coaches were confused and asking each other what he was doing. The game-plan was to keep Rodgers from taking him down and he ended up initiating the grappling. Rodgers defended and took control, taking Billy down and landing big ground and pound. Billy spent the rest of the round on his back, expect for the last five seconds when he was finally able to get up.

The second round was all Rodgers. He got Billy down early and kept him there for basically the entire round. Billy looked to threaten with submissions a few times, but was never successful or even that close. Rodgers dominated him. Billy got to his feet twice, with Rodgers still holding onto him, but got thrown down both times. Rodgers was just the better man.

RESULT: Saul Rodgers wins via unanimous decision (20-16, 20-17, 20-17)

Mehdi  vs. Julian  set for next week’s episode.