The Ultimate Fighter 32: Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko Episode 8 results
Alexa Grasso, for now, has bragging rights over Valentina Shevchenko.
After eight quarterfinal fights (four at featherweight, four at middleweight), Grasso holds a 5-3 edge over Shevchenko in the coaching competition. Team Grasso’s No. 2 middleweight pick Paddy McCorry (4-1) sealed the deal for her in the latest episode of The Ultimate Fighter 32 with a first-round submission of Team Bullet’s No. 2 Mark Hulme (12-3).
In a bout between an Irish striker and a South African wrestler, it was McCorry’s grappling skills that surprisingly proved to be the difference. Hulme got out to a fast start, catching a McCorry kick and immediately taking him down, but McCorry fought hard to keep Hulme off of his back and get the fight back to the feet.
Hulme refused to detach from McCorry, determined to score a decisive takedown. When he finally did, it ended up being his undoing. McCorry immediately attacked with a guillotine choke that Hulme could not free his head and neck from. After a brief struggle, Hulme was forced to tap.
McCorry is the third of Grasso’s middleweights to make it to the tournament semifinals, joining Finland’s Omran Chaaban and Switzerland’s Robert Valentin. Ryan Loder (USA) was the lone Team Bullet middleweight to win his opening-round fight.
On the featherweight side of the tournament, each team advanced two fighters: Team Grasso’s Kaan Ofli (Australia) and Mairon Santos (Brazil) and Team Bullet’s Zygimantas Ramaska (Lithuania) and Roedie Roets (South Africa).
After a consultation between the coaches and UFC CEO Dana White, the following semifinal matchups were set:
Middleweight
Omran Chaaban vs. Ryan Loder
Paddy McCorry vs. Robert Valentin
Featherweight
Kaan Ofli vs. Roedie Roets
Zygimantas Ramaska vs. Mairon Santos
Next week, Team Grasso’s Chaaban takes on Team Bullet’s Loder to earn a shot in the TUF 32 middleweight final.
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 expected to face off in a flyweight championship trilogy bout at a date still to be determined.
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 also yet to be announced.
Here are the TUF 32 rosters divided by team:
Team Grasso
Featherweights
Guillermo Torres (Mexico) (7-1)
Kaan Ofli (Australia) (10-2-1)
Bekhzod Usmonov (Tajikistan) (11-4)
Mairon Santos (Brazil) (13-1)
Middleweights
Robert Valentin (Switzerland) (10-3)
Paddy McCorry (Ireland) (4-1)
Omran Chaaban (Finland) (6-1)
Tom Theocharis (Canada) (9-5)
Team Shevchenko
Featherweights
Roedie Roets (South Africa) (7-1)
Zygimantas Ramaska (Lithuania) (9-2)
Nathan Fletcher (England) (8-1)
Edwin Cooper Jr. (USA) (6-1)
Middleweights
Shamidkhan Magomedov (Russia) (7-1)
Mark Hulme (South Africa) (12-3)
Ryan Loder (USA) (6-1)
Giannis Bachar (Greece) (9-2)
Here are the quarterfinal results:
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)
Advanced to semifinals: Roets, Valentin, Ofli, Chaaban, Ramaska, Loder, Santos, McCorry
Eliminated: Torres, Bachar, Fletcher, Magomedov, Usmonov, Theocharis, Cooper Jr., Hulme
