MMA News Roundup: Team Conor McGregor Faces Another Loss at TUF 31, UFC Releases Eight Fighters, TUF 31 Lacks Expected Viewership Despite Conor McGregor’s Return

The last 24 hours have produced a lot of eye-catching headlines in the MMA world. There were many noteworthy incidents that might confuse a lot of fans as to which news should they dive into. It could also lead to them missing out on the biggest happenings in MMA. As such, we have gathered some of the most important news from mixed martial arts in our daily roundup compilation.

We will start off with Conor McGregor and his team suffering yet another loss on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’. Secondly, we will dive into the recent release of eight UFC fighters. Lastly, we will end the round-up with the news of TUF 31 lacking in viewership.

Team McGregor suffers consecutive loss

Conor McGregor didn’t get off to a great start on the 31st season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’. After his team suffered their first loss in the opening episode of the show, the same thing repeated once again in the second episode. McGregor dropped by the TUF house to meet his teammates and shared some valuable words ahead of the next fight involving bantamweight prospect Mando Gutierrez taking on Cody Gibson. However, things didn’t go as planned.

Cody Gibson made his return to the UFC after eight years. He was determined to make an impact in his first TUF fight. However, Gibson surpassed all expectations. As the fight commenced, the MMA veteran took charge of the fight against Gutierrez in the very first round.

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Cody Gibson landed a stiff flying knee that put his opponent down and followed it up with a flurry of strikes before the referee called the match to stop. Gutierrez busted his nose and was all bloodied as Michael Chandler‘s team grabbed yet another victory to go 2-0 up in the competition.

The UFC parted ways with eight fighters

It isn’t new for a promotion like the UFC to release fighters from their roster. Now, according to reports, the promotion has released eight fighters, including a couple of veterans, in recent weeks. The UFC released Ilir Latifi who competed in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. From the featherweight division, UFC released veteran Makwan Amirkhani, who lost five out of his last six fights.

The bantamweight division bid farewell to veteran Trevin Jones after having won only one fight in his entire UFC career. Other bantamweights included Danaa Batgerel, Tony Gravely, and Omar Morales. Welterweight fighter Mounir Lazzez also met the end of his UFC run after three years with the promotion. Finally, a middleweight fighter with a UFC record of one win and three losses, Joseph Holmes, was also shown the door.

TUF 31 lacking in viewership even with McGregor’s addition

Conor McGregor’s appearance on the 22nd season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ made for one of the most entertaining seasons of the show. With his return to the TV series, fans may have assumed that many people must have tuned in to catch a glimpse of the Irish superstar. However, things aren’t looking good for TUF 31. Despite his comeback to the show, the show has failed to garner even half a million viewers, and that happens in the midst of ESPN’s deal with the UFC, which is valued at around $2.1 billion.

The numbers aren’t as good as ‘Notorious’s previous appearance as it produced an average of 294,000 average viewers, compared to TUF 22’s viewership, which produced an average of 622,000 viewers. These are clearly not the kind of numbers Dana White was hoping for after luring in Conor McGregor to put life into a TV show that went stale over the last couple of seasons. However, the show is just two episodes in and it is too early to assume that the show hasn’t really lived up to the hype.

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