Alexa Grasso lost a head-to-head matchup with Valentina Shevchenko, but her team came out on top on this week’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter 32.
Shevchenko handily beat Grasso in this season’s Coaches Challenge, this time comprised of a basketball shooting contest, only to see her lone featherweight semifinalist fall in disappointing fashion. Team Grasso’s Kaan Ofli (10-2-1) barely needed a minute to secure a guillotine choke on Team Bullet’s Roedie Roets (7-1) and advance to the TUF 32 finals.
Australia’s Ofli was well-prepared for Roets’ wrestling, which was on full display just seconds in as Roets immediately tackled Ofli to the mat. Ofli scrambled to his feet, only to be taken down again, but he was quick to notice Roets in a vulnerable position. he wrapped the South African fighter in a tight guillotine to earn the tap-out victory in Round 1.
Ofli now awaits the winner of the other featherweight semifinal between his teammate Mairon Santos and Team Bullet’s Zygimantas Ramaska.
In the Coaches Challenge, Grasso and Shevchenko were challenged to see who could score more in a basketball competition, with the rivals shooting at the same time and earning points from different spots on the court based on distance. On hand to oversee the contest was Las Vegas Aces star Kelsey Plum.
The coaches were competing for a $10,000 prize, plus $2,000 for each of their eight fighters.
The contest got ugly fast as it became clear that neither fighter had much familiarity with shooting a basketball, though Shevchenko and her team eventually realized her best strategy was to simply pile up points from the shortest-distance shot. By the time Grasso attempted to score from the spots that were worth more, Shevchenko was already building an insurmountable lead. The former champion even capped her win off with a long shot to nearly double up Grasso 33-17 after four short quarters of action.
In other drama, semifinalist Ramaska is concerned that he won’t be able to compete due to a facial fracture from his first fight. After seeing two doctors, he was told there’s a strong chance that he can fight, but viewers won’t know for sure until fight night rolls around.
Next week, Team Grasso teammates Paddy McCorry and Robert Valentin face off for a spot in the middleweight finals.
The Ultimate Fighter 32 airs live every Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Following the season finale, Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko are set to face off in a flyweight championship trilogy bout at UFC 306 on Sept. 14 at Sphere in Las Vegas.
The finalists of the TUF 32 middleweight and featherweight tournaments will also compete for a six-figure UFC contract at the show’s live finale. A date for that event is yet to be announced.
Here are the TUF 32 rosters divided by team:
Team Grasso
Team Shevchenko
Featherweights
Middleweights
See the semifinal results below:
Middleweight
Ryan Loder def. Omran Chaaban via decision
Paddy McCorry vs. Robert Valentin
Featherweight
Kaan Ofli def. Roedie Roets via submission (guillotine choke) (R1)
Zygimantas Ramaska vs. Mairon Santos
See quarterfinal results below:
Roedie Roets def. Guillermo Torres via decision
Robert Valentin def. Giannis Bachar via KO (strikes) (R1)
Kaan Ofli def. Nathan Fletcher via decision
Omran Chaaban def. Shamidkhan Magomedov via technical submission (anaconda choke) (R2)
Zygimantas Ramaska def. Bekhzod Usmonov
Ryan Loder def. Tom Theocharis via submission (arm-triangle choke)
Mairon Santos def. Edwin Cooper Jr. via split decision
Paddy McCorry def. Mark Hulme via submission (guillotine choke) (R1)
