The third episode of The Ultimate Fighter Season 31 aired tonight and pitted veteran Austin Hubbard against prospect Aaron McKenzie. For the first time this season, we got to see a fight play out for an entire two rounds. Because of that and the time constraints that are involved in the show, the episode seemed to play out like a typical TUF episode has in the past.
We got a glimpse into each guy’s personal life, we got to see each guy training with their respective teams, we got a few nuggets from the house and other events, and then we got a fight.Aaron is a really good guy from Oklahoma City. He has a blue collar work ethic, is respectful, a little goofy, and an all around good man. When we were in the house, Aaron would always walk around to a group of guys playing cards or shooting pool and say, “What’s up turkeys.” The first time he did it I stopped and thought to myself, “Did he just call us turkeys?” I don’t know why I thought that was so funny at the time but I did, and I think that story demonstrates Aarons personality quite a bit. He’s a bit odd, but I enjoyed talking to him a lot and swapping fight stories or life stories with him.
Austin Hubbard is the kind of guy who no one has a bad thing to say about. He’s extremely well mannered, courteous, humble, and is just generally a really good person. The episode dived into his personal story a little bit, but I felt like it didn’t do a good enough job developing his story. He had moved out to Colorado to train full time when he was in the UFC, but since being cut he’s had to move back to Illinois, start working for his father in law, and only travel to Colorado when he had a training camp for a fight. His story, like so many fighters in this sport, highlights an important characteristic of what most professional mma fighters go through on a regular basis. For the vast majority of fighters, we pour our hearts and souls into developing this craft. We spend a decade in the gym for countless hours a day trying to master each aspect of this game. We put our bodies through a tremendous regiment of work to prepare ourselves for the battles that fans all around the world get to enjoy. We put everything on the line when the cage door shuts and we go into combat. We do all of this knowing that for most fighters, they will never get rich being a fighter. They might make some decent money at certain points in their career, but, when you add it all up and count all of the eggs in each of the baskets, fighters give a lot more than they receive in this sport. We all dream of the financial security. We all think about what is on the horizon and the possibilities of the money we could make if xy and z all occur. But for most fighters' careers, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow never does appear. I hope it does for Austin one day, but he’s clearly been going through a lot as far as the financial ups and downs this sport so often presents to its competitors. In addition to this, the episode also divulges, although briefly, the loss of Austin’s brother this last year. The episode doesn’t shine the light on that part of the story for too long, and, out of respect for Austin and his privacy, I don’t think I will either. But it has been a traumatic time in his life to say the least.
One of the few parts of the episode outside of the impending fight that occurred was the one thing we got to look forward to while living in the house each week, fight night. Despite our lack of access to the outside world, the one thing production did allow us to do was watch the fights on Saturdays. Crew members would wheel in a TV, set it up, and we would all get to enjoy the show together. It was probably one of the highlights of our schedule for all those weeks on the show. In this episode, and on this particular fight night, Team Chandler was busy at a training session or photo shoot so it was only the prospects watching the fights. But for much of the show, the entire cast would get to watch them together for a much needed escape from the reality of our world.
The fight itself was a gritty one. Each guy found success in the first round with strikes as well as with clinch work and control. An uppercut from hell, followed by a vicious knee, sent Aaron tumbling to the mat and gave Austin the clear advantage going into round 2. Probably the most impressive thing about Austin’s overall performance was his ability to drop massive elbows on Aaron when he was able to control him from top. The damage that he was able to do was hard to watch live and the evidence of Aaron’s face afterwards should explain why. It was a great overall performance from Austin and Aaron had nothing to be ashamed of either. He fought hard. He fought well. But Austin proved to be the superior fighter that night and walked away with a clear decision and a 3-0 start to the season for Team Chandler.
Next week, we finally get to see the Timure and Trevor Wells fight take place. Will Connor and his prospects finally get the elusive win they’ve been searching for? Will the prospects ride on the wings of the Dagestani and shoot to a 4-0 start? Only time will tell, but I hope you’ll stick around to watch it all unfold. Until next time,
Cody “The Renegade” Gibson
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