The episode starts with the status of Roland Delorme’s foot. It is still visibly swollen, and after being on the show for five weeks, Delorme is understandably concerned about the possibility of not being able to fight.
The legendary Rafael Cordeiro of Chute Boxe fame appears at the Team Mayhem training session. He works with the team on their striking skills, concentrating on angles and movement.
Team Miller isn’t the only team with a guest coach. Coach Bisping shows up with UFC legend Tito Ortiz. Bisping lets Tito take over the training session, and he wastes little time going over some of his patented ground-and-pound techniques with the team.
At the house, Team Bisping is still talking about TJ’s strategy to advance in the competition, calling him a “Draft Dodger”. Teammates Diego and Akira unveil their plan to punish TJ in sparring the next day.
True to their word, both guys put a little extra physicality in the sparring session, with Diego holding on to submissions past the tap. In the cage Akira continued to push the limits of sparring, punching at nearly full power. TJ responds with a big double leg take down on Akira, and then continued to escalate his aggression with Marcus. The two continued their war of words until they had to be separated during the session.
Coach Bisping learns of Akira’s plan and decides to address the issue at a team level, deciding that a night off is in order to settle things down.
Back at the training center, Delorme shows up from a doctor visit and lets everybody know that he’s cleared to fight. He checks on his weight, and immediately gets to work in the cage trying to make up for time lost due to the injured foot.
For team Bisping, TJ Dillashaw continues to prepare for his fight, and his coaches believe that he is one of the best guys this season.
“TJ is probably the most complete mixed martial artist on the show in my opinion,” Bisping said. “He’s got great take downs– he’s the whole package you know?”
Outside in the parking lot, the sounds of construction equipment can be heard, and Coach “Mayhem” has a surprise for Tiki Ghosn. The team hears the ruckus outside and investigates, finding construction barriers surrounding Ghosn’s Escalade.
After the prank, both fighters make weight, and with that it’s time for the bantamweight bout to determine the last semifinalist.
Team Miller’s Roland Delorme vs. Team Bisping’s TJ Dillashaw
Round 1 – Both guys kick to start, then Roland comes forward with a combo but gets taken down. He’s back up quickly. He kicks again, and TJ grabs his leg. The take down comes and now TJ is on top. Roland is active from his back early. TJ lands a couple of punches form the top then tries to pass and does. He’s now in side control and Roland is trying to effectively use the cage go get off of his back. He rolls and gets to his feet. Very nice! Roland leans in for a right hand and gets countered with a big uppercut from TJ. TJ gets another take down and this time takes the back of Roland. He’s looking for the rear naked, but Roland rolls to his back. TJ postures and lands three big punches. Short elbows now. He’s grinding on Roland from the top. TJ stands in the guard and delivers some big punches. Roland scrambles and gets to his feet but is quickly dumped back to the mat with a leg sweep. TJ is dominating the action so far with his wrestling. TJ has a front head lock and is looking for a choke but Roland has one arm in. He survives and gets back to his feet again. Roland lands a very nice left hand-kick combo. TJ closes and lands in the clinch. Roland works for a late take down but ends up on the bottom. Round 1 goes to TJ.
Round 2 – TJ comes forward swinging and lands a huge right hand that floors Roland. He attacks and lands a flurry but Roland is still in there somehow. It’s unbelievable that Roland survived that, it looked like he was completely out. He survives somehow but is now eating big elbows from TJ. More elbows. I can’t believe he is still in this fight. He works to retain his guard and control the wrists of TJ. TJ breaks free and batters Roland from the top. TJ lands more crushing elbows and right hands. Roland kicks TJ off but can’t get to his feet. TJ rolls him over and applies the rear naked, and gets the stoppage.
The win gives Team Bisping their third of the season compared to Team Miller’s five. Dana takes the fighters in one-by-one to discuss the semifinal match-ups. Two of “Mayhem’s” fighters have to face each other, and Beford wants to be the guy to fight a teammate, and wants Dodson.
After some discussion, this is what the semifinals look like:
Bantamweight
Team Bisping’s TJ Dillashaw vs. Team Miller’s Dustin Pague
Team Miller’s John Dodson vs. Team Miller’s Johnny Bedford
Featherweight
Team Bisping’s Akira Corassani vs. Team Miller’s Dennis Bermudez
Team Miller’s Bryan Caraway vs. Team Bisping’s Diego Brandao
We’ll see you next week guys. Also, be sure to check out Team Miller featherweight Steven Siler’s blog for this week, Steven Siler’s TUF 14 blog – episode 7, as he shares his inside perspective on everything that went down.