Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to FOX Sports 1 last night (Weds., Sept. 28, 2016) for The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 24 combat sports reality show, coached by top flyweight contenders and bitter rivals Joseph Benavidez and Henry Cejudo.
If you missed last week's episode click here.
Right off the bat we get a closer look at the elimination match up between Ronaldo Candido and Jamie Alvarez. First up is Candido, who is the Shooto South American Flyweight Champion but more importantly, the jiujitsu coach for UFC interim featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo and strawweight No. 1 contender Claudia Gadelha.
His grappling skills are legit and he has the medals to prove it.
Unfortunately he lives in dump and has no money, which is not atypical for up-and-coming fighters, most of whom do not have a pot to piss in. We get a weepy tale about his dad and it's appropriately sad, so now I am cheering for Candido to win because I'm a sap.
On the other side of the gym we zero in on Alvarez.
He labels himself a "freestyle fighter" out of American Top Team (ATT) who tries to fight outside the box as reigning 125-pound champion of Absolute Fighting Championship (AFC). In addition to his free-form style, he packs a wallop and competes with a boatload of confidence.
Coach Cejudo finds him difficult to coach because Alvarez seems to know it all.
Allllll.
UFC President Dana White shows up to give the house permission to watch the UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) event back in July. Both Candido and Alvarez are vested in this card because the former backs "Junior" (who beat Frankie Edgar) while the latter trains with Amanda Nunes, who captured the crown from Miesha Tate.
Oh hey it's UFC heavyweight Travis Browne stopping by to peddle Harley Davidson motorcycles!
We get the usual pre-fight training montages as well as the weigh ins. It's the classic striker vs. grappler match up so there is not much to dissect here. Alvarez will try to keep it standing while Candido wants to drag the fight to the ground and work for the submission.
Let's see whose gameplan prevails.
Jamie Alvarez (Team Cejudo) vs. Ronaldo Candido (Team Benavidez):
Round 1: Quick touch of gloves and Candido fires off a body kick. Alvarez answers. Alvarez lands a stunning body kick and drops him with a huge right hand. Candido on queer street. Alvarez dives in for the finish and gets close but Candido rolls and secures a heel hook. Alvarez powers out and gets to the fence but Candido has his back. Alvarez fighting the hooks and stands up. Candido trying to sink in the arm and he's got it. Wow, great action is such a short time.
Final result: Candido def. Alvarez by submission (rear-naked choke)
Here's where we stand after episode five:
Bracket A
#1 Alexandre Pantoja vs.
#16 Brandon Moreno#8 Terrence Mitchellvs. #9 Kai Kara-France
#5 Hiromasa Ogikubo vs.#12 Nkazimulo Zulu#4 Damacio Pagevs. #13 Adam AntolinBracket B
#2 Yoni Sherbatovvs. #15 Eric Shelton
#7 Ronaldo Candido vs.#10 Jamie Alvarez
#6 Matt Schnel vs. #11 Matt Rizzo
#3 Tim Elliot vs. #14 Charlie Alaniz
Team Cejudo and Team Benavidez tied 3-3.
Stay tuned next week as No. 11-seed Matt Rizzo (Team Benavidez) battles No. 6-seed Matt Schnel (Team Cejudo).
See you in seven!