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After losing for the first time on this season of
The Ultimate Fighter, the Blackzilians got back into the win column with Jason Jackson utilizing superior footwork and a solid jab to defeat Marcelo Alfaya. With both teams having the chance to shake up their rosters, odds are we’ll be seeing some new faces on the second half of this season.
American Top Team began the episode with a pep talk from ATT’s Conan Silveira and Dan Lambert. It was the prototypical “do you wanna be a fighter?” speech heard from UFC President Dana White in previous seasons.
Usman fought Masvidal with ‘shattered’ nose at UFC 251, wants rematch to ‘finish him’
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Kamaru Usman put on a fairly dominant performance to successfully defend his title against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 251 last July. “The Nigerian Nightmare” won via unanimous decision, with two judges giving him a 50-45 tally and one judge scoring it 49-46.
Last week, Usman went on record with ESPN to reveal that he took the fight with a busted nose. As he explained to Brett Okamoto, it happened during one of the sparring sessions during camp.
“Two weeks before, shattered,” he said. “A lot of people haven’t dealt with a broken nose. When anything comes close to your face, you’re trying to defend and not get that nose hit. There are a couple of guys here who hit pretty hard. We can blame that one on Carrington Banks and Justin Gaethje.”
Wednesday, April 22, marked the return of the UFC’s
The Ultimate Fighter series. Immediately, one thing was clear: this issn’t your average season of TUF.
Instead of having fighters come in as acting coaches and pick their own teams based upon a group of fighters, two rival gyms compete against each other. In one corner, American Top Team, one of the longest running mainstream gyms that’s had success at the highest levels. Facing off against ATT, is the Blackzilians squad. They’re a younger team in terms of how long they’ve been around, but the camp fields a star-filled roster none the less.
The streak of dominance continued for the Blackzilians in last week’s episode of
The Ultimate Fighter. Kamaru Usman added another victory to his team and himself, handing veteran Steve Carl yet another defeat.
It’s do-or-die time for American Top Team as the Blackzilians are incredibly close to securing victory in the battle of teams. Looking to prevent their demise, ATT chooses to chooses another veteran in Nate Coy for this week’s fight. Squaring off against Coy is Valdir “Baby Monster” Araujo.
Prior to the week’s contest, fighters from both sides took field trips outside the TUF house. The Blackzilians headed to the Versace mansion as a reward for the team’s performance thus far in the competition. Later on, both teams are taken to the Harley Davidson showroom by former TUF contestant and winner, Michael Chiesa.