Some contestants on The Ultimate Fighter choose to fight for fame, or pride, or simply for the love of the sport.
Veterans Vik Grujic and Luke Harris fight for their families.
The two men competed in a quarterfinal matchup on episode eight of TUF Nations and the ending was one fans will talk about for a long time.
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Harris (10-2-1) is a judo black belt and a regarded grappler who’s had success in notable Canadian promotions King of the Cage, Aggression MMA and the Maximum Fighting Championship.
Grujic (6-2) is known for his aggressive striking and willingness to exchange despite only having one TKO win on his record.
THE FIGHT
So far throughout the season, there have been a handful of decisions and couple submissions, so Harris vs Grujic was a wakeup call to the entire cast that it’s not all fun and games in the Octagon.
The fight didn’t last long, as Grujic wobbled Harris early with a left hook before slamming him to the ground. Grujic landed in side control and began raining down vicious elbows on a dazed Harris, which cut him open and forced the referee to step in.
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“I know I can do better. I just got caught. It’s unfortunate,” a disappointed Harris said after the loss. “I didn’t get to show my ability level or my skill level but that’s the way it goes, you know? A fight’s a fight. It just wasn’t my night.”
It was the just the second time Harris has been defeated since 2007 — even though the loss won’t appear on his record because TUF bouts are classified as amateur contests.
“I went through a point where I didn’t lose for five or six years and then I lost a fight. It’s very upsetting. It’s almost like you can do more. You always feel like let down your team, you let down your coaches and everything,” Harris explained.
“I’m not sure what’s going to happen with my MMA career. This was the most important fight of my career. The last seven years have been working towards this and it’s very disappointing to take this loss at this time. This was mine to win, mine to lose and it didn’t end up the way I wanted it to end.”
Grujic joins fellow middleweight Tyler Manawaroa and welterweight Richard Walsh as the only members of Team Australia to advance to the semifinals.
“The fight itself I’m just unbelievably happy with. I don’t like to see people hurt, but being a fighter it’s something that I do well and it’s something in my nature,” Grujic said. “I feel so blessed. To look down and see ‘UFC’ written on my gloves and to know that people that are watching me after having a victory like that, my emotions are so strong at the moment it’s hard for me to centre on anything in particular.”
Harris was favoured to win the bout, but everyone in the house knew Grujic had the ability to do damage with his strikes.
“We wanted Vik to control the distance, control the pace, which I think he did for most of the fight,” Team Australia coach Kyle Noke said. “I knew Vik would be better on the feet than Luke and that showed in the fight.”
UFC star Cung Le, who was a guest coach for Team Canada during the episode, was impressed by Grujic’s performance.
“As soon as he hit him with the jab and the short hook, Luke was a little bit wobbly,” Le said. “People always talk about a puncher’s chance. He’s got a puncher’s chance and he’s fearless. He goes in there and swings for the fences and if he clips you, bad things happen.”
Harris got off to a slow start and Team Canada coach Patrick Cote believed that cost his fighter.
“We were expecting Vik to come swinging. I didn’t feel that Luke had the same energy that Vik had in the fight,” Cote said. “Vik was ready to go, ready to bang. Luke was pretty flat and he got caught.”
Outside the Octagon
Jon Jones inspires the troops
UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones stopped by the TUF gym to help teach Team Australia some new techniques and hang out with the fighters at the TUF house. Jones is a training partner of Noke at Greg Jackson’s gym.
Cung Le visits
While Jones helped the Australians, Le was brought in to show Team Canada some advanced striking techniques. Cote was the one who invited Le to be on the show even though the two are former opponents; they fought at UFC 148 with Le winning a decision.
Westcott a question mark
Canadian middleweight Sheldon Westcott injured his neck while grappling with Cote in a training session and his future on the show is in doubt.
On the next episode
Fans can tune in March 13 for a special edition of TUF Nations where the first eight episodes, plus several never-before broadcast scenes, are reflected on by the coaches and fighters.
