History was made on episode 12 of The Ultimate Fighter 18, but it was made for all the wrong reasons.
For the first time in TUF history, two fighters were kicked off the show for failing to make weight before a fight.
Team Rousey teammates Davey Grant and Anthony Gutierrez were scheduled to meet in the last men’s semifinal, but Gutierrez missed weight and was disqualified.
Gutierrez, who regularly trains with UFC lightweight James Krause and UFC flyweight Tim Elliott back home, had been razzed all season for his relatively unhealthy diet and felt like he was getting too much heat for eating junk food in the house. Turns out his fellow competitors were onto something.
The bantamweight limit is 135 pounds, with a one-pound allowance for non-title fights, but Gutierrez stepped on the scale at more than 140 pounds. He was unable to shed the additional weight and gave up.
Ironically, Gutierrez earned his spot in the semifinals by default after Team Tate’s Cody Bollinger missed weight and was kicked off the show.
UFC president Dana White was not amused.
Neither was Grant.
“This is my dream, and then I don’t even get to fight?” Grant said. “I wanted to earn my place in the final.”
Grant will face Chris Holdsworth at the TUF 18 Finale on Nov. 30 in Las Vegas with a six-figure UFC contract on the line.
UFC featherweight and Team Rousey assistant coach Manny Gamburyan ripped into Gutierrez for being irresponsible and unprofessional.
“You might be in the UFC one day, but right now you don’t deserve to be in the UFC,” said Gamburyan, who was a contestant on TUF 5 when Gabe Ruediger famously missed weight.
Outside the Octagon
Coaches clash
Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate competed in the traditional coaches challenge and the UFC women’s bantamweight champion, Rousey, edged the former Strikeforce champ, Tate, in a rock-climbing competition.
“[Expletive] you [expletive],” Ronda yelled in victory while flipping Tate the bird yet again.
Rousey and Tate fight in the co-main of UFC 168 on Dec. 28.
“I just like Miesha being in the habit of getting beaten by me, so it was cool,” Rousey added.
On the next episode
Team Rousey’s Jessica Rakoczy, of Hamilton, Ont., and Team Tate’s Raquel Pennington must overcome injuries before competing for a spot in the finale opposite Julianna Pena.
