The 8th episode of The Ultimate Fighter Season 31 aired tonight and concluded the quarter finals of the tournament. Team Chandler veteran Hunter Azure fought Team McGregor prospect Rico Disciullo in a fight that had a lot riding on it for the entire season.
If Hunter got the win, it would have been a clean sweep for the veteran team in red and we weren’t really sure what was going to happen if an entire team was eliminated from the competition. In the first round of the fight, it looked like the clean sweep was very likely going to happen. Hunter was able to put Rico on his back and beat him up for most of the round. Rico was able to land some slashing elbows from along the fence while defending takedowns that made this scrap a bloody affair but the round was still dominated by Hunter. As the first round came to an end, Rico wobbled to his feet and was still talking and motivated heading into the second round. After some success at defending takedowns and landing some good shots in the second round, Rico landed a short right hand to the temple and followed up the knockdown with two hammer fists that sealed the deal and gave the prospects their first and only win of the quarter finals. It was hard to watch Hunter go down like that for me. He was my roommate and probably the person on the show I connected with the most throughout the season. This game is cruel at times but I know Hunter will bounce back from this setback because he’s a hell of a fighter and determined to be successful.The episode dived into Hunter and Rico’s backstories. Hunter is a native of Montana where he grew up on an Indian reservation and was a standout high school and college wrestler. He moved to the Phoenix area after college and has been pursuing mixed martial arts ever since. He has a wife and two young boys. Hunter and I bonded a lot throughout the show. We were both fathers, came from a wrestling background, and shared similar values. He was a fairly reserved guy in the house. He reminded me a lot of my older brother Keith. Quiet and unsuspecting but funny and down to earth once you get to know them. Rico was a Boston boy through and through. He had a thick accent and talked about growing up playing Lacrosse and other experiences that us California kids don’t have over here. The East coast is a different world with its own vibe and it was cool to get to know some people from different parts of the country and world.
The general consensus amongst the veterans was that Hunter's matchup against Rico was one of the biggest mismatches of the season. When watching Rico’s film, a lot of us were able to pick up on fundamental mistakes he makes when exiting the pocket as well as a lack of wrestling defense or submission threats. I still believe if Hunter and Rico fought ten times Hunter would have won nine of them. But that’s not what matters. What matters is performing when the lights are shining bright and Rico showed that he has the spirit of a warrior and battled back and did what he needed to do to get the job done.
After the right hand that brought us all to our feet, the episode shows McGregor screaming and running around the UFC Apex. I thought it was interesting that the cameras cut out what he did next. I was standing on the platform, still probably in shock from what I just saw, when suddenly he appeared to my left, scaled the side of the stage we were standing on, and slapped me across the face before running away. Security kept me from pursuing him and a verbal confrontation between us ensued. The episode also didn’t show an altercation between UFC fighter and Rico teammate Charles Rosa and Roosevelt Roberts. I’m not even entirely sure how Rosa got himself into the Apex, but he was pumped up for his friend and said some things that didn’t sit well with Row and those two almost came to blows as well. UFC security was trying to separate people between all this madness and chaos was certainly in the air. From the comeback knockout, the slap, the altercation between Rosa and Row, and the back and forth that continued in the cage after the winner was announced, it was an emotional moment for the entire cast to say the least.
The episode ended with coaches and fighters talking to Dana about semi final matchups and what each party wanted. My mentality was always to be the best fighter in the house. In my mind, I was either the best guy on the show or I wasn’t, so it didn’t really matter to me who I got matched up with throughout the season. When asked by Dana, the only thought I had and why I preferred a fight against Rico was because he was the only bantamweight left in the contest who didn’t know about the severity of my knee injury. Even though I didn’t reveal the actual diagnosis to Timur or Brad, they were at our training sessions every day and clearly saw that I wasn’t able to do any grappling or kicking and was pretty limited in what the PT allowed me to do. I was strategic on when and where I iced my knee at the house and made sure that any recovery efforts I was making during our downtime were in private or when the prospect team was out of the house. I even went as far as to schedule my physical therapy appointments early in the morning so that I would be out of the house before the rest of the guys woke up.
It looks like next week we will see how things shook out with match ups and get our first semi finals fight. I hope you’ve all been enjoying the show. Until next time,
Cody “The Renegade” Gibson
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