Robert Valentin and Paddy McCorry were both members of Team Grasso but they put their friendship aside, trading heavy strikes in their semifinal matchup on the penultimate episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Grasso vs. Team Shevchenko.
Valentin ended up pulling off a first-round submission win and will face Team Shevchenko’s standout wrestler Ryan Loder in the middleweight finals.
McCorry cracked Valentin with several hard counter punches several minutes into the fight that had Valentin looking to clinch. Valentin was able to get a hold of his opponent, throw McCorry to the ground and then craftily use his legs to secure a shoulder lock that forced a verbal tap.
Alexa Grasso called it “an amazing fight,” and Dana White called the finish a “very impressive submission.”
Also on the episode, it was revealed featherweight Nathan Fletcher of Team Shevchenko, who was eliminated when he lost a decision to Team Grasso finalist Kaan Olfi in the opening round, had been dealing with a significant leg injury.
The English 145-pounder gave a good account of himself in the quarterfinals despite the loss. But after undergoing X-rays, it turns out he sustained a fractured fibula early in that bout and had been training on a broken leg ever since his fight.
As Team Shevchenko featherweight Zygimantas Ramaska awaited medical clearance for his semifinal matchup, he continued training with a small facial fracture.
Ramaska’s Team Shevchenko teammate Edwin Cooper and Team Grasso’s Guillermo Torres were notified they could potentially be called upon as a backup option for Mairon Santos in the second semifinal matchup.
On next week’s finale, Santos will find out who he faces and then the winner of the yet-to-be-determined last matchup of the season will face Kaan Olfi in the featherweight tournament final.
The UFC has not yet officially confirmed when or where the tournament's final matchups will take place.
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