TUF 31 Ep.2 Recap: Bantamweight Clash Gets Postponed; Conor McGregor Visits TUF House; Another Impressive KO Finish for Team Chandler

UFC’s ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ is back with another episode exclusively on ESPN. The TV show seems to have found a new life due to the inclusion of Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler after a couple of stale seasons. Here are the biggest highlights from the second episode of the 31st season of TUF.

The first episode had already given a glimpse of what fans can expect from the show going forward. The show started off with McGregor picking the young prospects while Chandler opted to go with the seasoned veterans. ‘Notorious’s team, unfortunately, suffered a defeat after a KO from Roosevelt Roberts on Nate Jennerman. Let’s see what took place in the recent episode.

The Bantamweight fight between Timur Valiev and Trevor Wells gets postponed

The second episode of TUF 31 started off with the postponement of the fight between Russian veteran Timur Valiev and California native Trevor Wells. It halted the winning momentum of Michael Chandler’s team from last week. The postponement came in the wake of Wells getting deemed medically unfit to participate in the fight due to a cold sore.

Valiev was seeming disappointed to hear the news. The requirement to make weight again for his postponed fight left him perplexed and confused. The process of making weight is always a difficult one.

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When everything seemed negative, the UFC president stepped in to make things a little easier for the competitors. He proposed a catchweight fight between Valiev and Wells, something which he isn’t a fan of. However, Dana White wanted to spare both fighters the grueling process of losing weight.

Conor McGregor stops by the TUF house

The former UFC double champion dropped by the TUF house along with his assistant coaches to catch up with his team. In addition to the visit, McGregor also bought booze with him for his teammates – including whiskey and stouts. Moreover, as a part of a bonding exercise, Conor McGregor and the fighters received haircuts from their team member Mando Gutierrez.

Gutierrez was scheduled to fight Cody Gibson after Valiev vs Wells was postponed. McGregor’s main motive behind dropping by the TUF house was to have a word with his teammates. Moreover, Gutierrez, who had offered to give a haircut to every member of his team, decided to give it a try on Conor McGregor. ‘Notorious’ fidgeted on the chair as the bantamweight prospect successfully gave him a trim.

Team Chandler register another KO victory

After the first bantamweight clash was postponed, everybody shifted their focus to Mando Gutierrez’s fight against Cody Gibson. The latter had his last fight in UFC at UFC Fight Night 61, which he lost to Douglas Silva de Andrade. However, he was determined to make an impact by returning to the promotion after eight years, and Gibson was successful in doing so.

Gutierrez failed to make an impression on Conor McGregor and failed to implement the game plan they had decided earlier. Cody Gibson showed his prowess inside the Octagon after just a few minutes of the opening round. He landed a well-calculated flying knee that put Mando Gutierrez on the backfoot as the referee called the fight to a halt. Guitierrez’s face was busted open by the knee strike as Team Chandler registered yet another knockout win. They are now 2-0 up in the competition.

What did you make of the second episode of TUF 31? Drop your comments below.

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