This week on The Ultimate Fighter 33, Daniel Cormier`s team suffered a defeat, leading to an open display of frustration from the coach himself.
The episode featured the third welterweight quarterfinal bout, pitting Alex Sanchez from Team Cormier (Mexico) against Matt Dixon of Team Sonnen (U.S.). Dixon secured the victory via first-round knockout, applying relentless pressure on Sanchez from the outset.
Dixon kept Sanchez on the defensive, a situation that visibly agitated Cormier. The former two-division UFC champion repeatedly shouted instructions for Sanchez to push forward and attack, but Sanchez struggled to find his offensive rhythm. He spent most of the fight attempting counters and circling away until he stepped directly into a left hand from Dixon that dropped him to the canvas. Dixon followed up with ground-and-pound to finish the fight.
Following the bout, a clearly frustrated Cormier sharply criticized Sanchez.
“Listen to me, Alex, you have to go first,” Cormier exclaimed. “Your style doesn`t work if you`re backing up. Don`t [expletive] back up. Don`t back up! If you`re a fighter, you don`t [expletive] back up. You go and you fight a [expletive]. Don`t back up! You can`t run. You chose to do this, you have to [expletive] fight, do you hear me? If we`re telling you something, listen.”
Dixon`s win narrowed the overall team score, with Team Cormier now leading 4-2. Dixon is the first welterweight from Team Sonnen to advance to the semifinals, joining Team Cormier`s Daniil Donchenko and Jeff Creighton.
The next episode will showcase the final flyweight quarterfinal, featuring Roybert Echeverria (Venezuela) from Team Sonnen squaring off against Tumelo Manyamala (South Africa) from Team Cormier.
This week`s episode also featured notable guest coaches. Daniel Cormier brought in former TUF competitors who later became UFC champions, Rose Namajunas and Raquel Pennington, while Chael Sonnen enlisted the help of 20-year MMA veteran Ed Herman to offer guidance to his fighters.
Unlike many previous seasons of TUF, coaches Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen are both long-retired and will not compete against each other at the conclusion of the season.
Finalists from both the welterweight and flyweight tournaments on TUF 33 will compete for a six-figure UFC contract in live finale bouts. A date for these fights has yet to be announced.
Here are the TUF 33 rosters by team:
Team Cormier
- Flyweights
- Welterweights
Team Sonnen
- Flyweights
- Welterweights
Here are the quarterfinal results reported so far:
- Joseph Morales def. Eduardo Henrique via first-round submission (rear-naked choke)
- Daniil Donchenko def. Richard Martins via decision
- Imanol Rodriguez def. Arshiyan Memon via first-round TKO (strikes)
- Jeff Creighton def. Andreeas Binder via decision
- Alibi Idiris def. Furkatbek Yokubov via decision
- Matt Dixon def. Alex Sanchez via first-round TKO (strikes)
Advancing to semifinals: Morales, Donchenko, Rodriguez, Creighton, Idiris, Dixon
Eliminated: Henrique, Martins, Memon, Binder, Yokubov, Sanchez
