TUF 31 Ep.9 Recap: Fighters Change Teams; Michael Chandler’s Teammate Gets a Haircut to Make Weight; Contestant Snubs Conor McGregor’s Offer and Advances to the Finals

Conor McGregor finally found a reason to celebrate in the last episode of ‘The Ultimate Fighter 31’. He avoided a clean sweep after his teammate Rico DiSciullo defeated Michael Chandler‘s teammate Hunter Azure with a remarkable knockout victory to book his place in the semi-finals. ‘The Notorious’ followed it up with a generous gesture for the bantamweight prospect later on after the fight.

As we enter the time for the semi-finals bout, a lot of twists and turns took place in the most recent episode. Prepare yourself for an emotional ride as we document the events of this episode and see what took place on the 9th episode of TUF 31.

Announcements of matchups and changes in teams

The episode started with Dana White announcing the semi-final bouts for both the bantamweights and the lightweights. Team McGregor’s sole victor Rico DiSciullo will take on Cody Gibson, while Brad Katona will take on Timur Valiev. Additionally, Kurt Holobaugh and Jason Knight will fight each other while Austin Hubbard will take on Roosevelt Roberts.

There was more to come, as it surprised some fighters to learn that the UFC president listed a few fighters to change teams. Brad Katona, Kurt Holobaugh, and Austin Hubbard got switched to Conor McGregor’s team.

READ MORE: Conor McGregor & Michael Chandler Finally Agree on Fight in Dana White’s Office as Rare Turn of Events Decides TUF 31’s Semi-Final

While Katona was happy to have gotten the opportunity to reunite with John Kavanagh, Holobaugh and Hubbard decided to stay on Team Chandler. Another amusing development occurred in the show as a fighter cut his hair to ensure he made weight.

Lightweight fighter gets a haircut to make weight

Austin Hubbard and Roosevelt Roberts stepped up for the weigh-in of the semi-final bout. While the former made weight on his first try, the latter missed it by approximately a quarter-pound. Meanwhile, there were two options for Roberts: either get into the sauna or cut his long hair. He decided to do the latter.

Roberts called for Mando Gutierrez, who’s already shown his hair-cutting skills in an earlier episode. The unofficial barber of the TUF house trimmed Roberts’ hair by cutting his braids one by one. He wasn’t overthinking about it since it will grow back. However, the semi-finalist did not want to waste his TUF opportunity.

Fighter, who refused to team up with Conor McGregor, advanced to the finals

The time for the first lightweight semi-final arrived at the end of the show. The fighter who rejected to join Team McGregor, Austin Hubbard, took on his teammate, Roosevelt Roberts. Both fighters started slow and stood at the range for the most part of the first round. The second round started the same way as the opening round. However, Austin Hubbard scored a takedown, which ensured that the round went to him.

It is important to note that these two have been training with each other since the start of the show. They knew each other very well. Meanwhile, as the third round commenced, both fighters traded strikes, and this time, Roberts scored a takedown. However, it was not enough for him to seal the win, and the judges scored in favor of Hubbard, giving him a split-decision victory.

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