Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 26 results, recap for ‘Alvarez vs Gaethje’ (Ep. 7)

Episode seven gets underway at the TUF house with a surprise visit from promotion president Dana White. Several the newbies are starstruck because he can be the difference between a six-figure contract and ... nothing.

He shows off his BMW M7 which is customized to the point where only 12 exist in the entire world. You can afford those sorts of things when you made $350 million from selling the world’s largest combat sports entity.

White goes on to tout the benefits of fighting for UFC and the “millions of dollars” to be made. He also admits he was wrong about women’s MMA, and creating a flyweight division, and about 100 other things.

Go figure.

We head over to the TUF gym to start previewing the upcoming elimination fight between No. 10-seeded Rachael Ostovich and No. 7-seeded Melinda Fabian.

Fabian (4-3-1) is 30 years old and fighting out of Budapest, Hungary. She asks Coach Alvarez to follow a special training regimen — devised by her — because her hamstring is injured and she doesn’t want to risk hurting it before the fight. Alvarez tells the camera Fabian “went rogue.”

Fabian, who hopes to become the first Hungarian to compete in UFC, is a striker by trade so her gameplan against Ostovich is to “jab a lot.” She married her striking coach and talks about nationalism and what it means for athletes living in Budapest. White calls her “long and lean” for a flyweight.

Ostovich (3-3) is a 26-year-old wrestler who knows her advantage is on the ground but is afraid she will get sucked into a stand-up war because her “T-Rex arms” do possess power. In case you forgot, she also moonlights as Wonder Woman. She tells a very touching story about her daughter being born with Omphalocele, which means her organs were on the outside of her body.

As a Hawaiian, Ostovich is big on family and culture and hopes to win the flyweight title for her homeland. After trying on some underwear at the TUF house, she wears the sexiest weigh-in outfit I’ve ever seen and ... yeah, wow. Coach Gaethje nearly falls out of his chair trying to catch a glimpse of that Big Island booty.

Both fighters make weight without incident.

125 lbs.: No. 7 Melinda Fabian (4-3-1) vs. No. 10 Rachael Ostovich (3-3)

Round 1: Touch of gloves and Fabian paws the jab, trying to find her range. Ostovich with a low kick. Then a huge right that lands on the eye and Fabian’s face immediately swells. Then another. Fabian gets instructions from coach Alvarez to “watch her distance.” Ostovich lands another hard right. Then a low kick. Acton slows as both fighters juke and jive. Two minutes left and no shots from Ostovich, but she appears to be landing more punches, so why mess with a good thing, I guess. Just as I type that, she drives for a single and gets it and Fabian goes to the floor. The Hungarian gives up her back in a scramble and Ostovich is all over her. Fabian gets flattened out and starts eating massive blows from the top. 45 seconds left and this is bad. Ostovich transitions to the rear-naked choke and the tap is soon to follow. Impressive.

Final result: Ostovich def. Fabian by submission

Here’s were we stand after episode seven:

By fight:

No. 1 Roxanne Modafferi (21-13) def. No. 16 Shana Dobson (2-1)
No. 2 Barb Honchak (10-2) def. No. 15 Gillian Robertson (3-2)
No. 14 Nicco Montano (3-2) def. No. 3 Lauren Murphy (9-3)
No. 4 DeAnna Bennett (8-3) def. No. 13 Karine Gevorgyan (3-2)
No. 12 Sijara Eubanks (2-2) def. No. 5 Maia Stevenson (6-4)
No. 6 Montana Stewart (7-4) def. No. 11 Ariel Beck (4-4)
No. 10 Rachael Ostovich (3-3) def. No. 7 Melinda Fabian (4-3-1)
No. 8 Emily Whitmire (2-1) vs. No. 9 Christina Marks (8-8)

By team:

Coach Alvarez:

Barb Honchak (10-2)
Shana Dobson (2-1)
Christina Marks (8-8)
Melinda Fabian (4-3-1)
Sijara Eubanks (2-2)
Ariel Beck (4-4)
DeAnna Bennett (8-3)
Lauren Murphy (9-3)

Coach Gaethje:

Roxanne Modafferi (21-13)
Gillian Robertson (3-2)
Emily Whitmire (2-1)
Rachael Ostovich (3-3)
Maia Stevenson (6-4)
Montana Stewart (7-4)
Karine Gevorgyan (3-2)
Nicco Montano (3-2)

Team Gaethje leads 4-3.

After the fight, Ostovich tries to give Fabian a hug and gets denied. Fabian is grilling Coach Alvarez, wanting to know what she did wrong, almost as if she couldn’t accept her defeat. It was kinda sad to watch.

Ostovich is all smiles, as expected.

Stay tuned next week as No. 8 Emily Whitmire (2-1) from Team Gaethje takes on No. 9 Christina Marks (8-8), from Team Alvarez, in the season’s final elimination fight. In addition, tensions boil over between Coach Alvarez and Lauren Murphy. All that, plus the coach’s challenge!

See you in seven!