Alexa Grasso, currently, can boast about surpassing Valentina Shevchenko.
After eight quarterfinal fights (four at featherweight, four at middleweight), Grasso leads 5-3 against Shevchenko in the coaching competition. In the latest episode of The Ultimate Fighter 32, Team Grasso’s No. 2 middleweight pick Paddy McCorry (4-1) secured her victory with a first-round submission of Team Bullet’s No. 2 Mark Hulme (12-3).
In a match between an Irish striker and a South African wrestler, it was McCorry’s grappling skills that surprisingly made the difference. Hulme started strong by catching a kick from McCorry and immediately taking him down, but McCorry showed resilience to keep Hulme away and get the fight back standing.
As Hulme persisted in attempting a decisive takedown, he ended up falling victim to McCorry. McCorry quickly applied a guillotine choke that Hulme couldn’t escape from. After a short struggle, Hulme tapped out.
McCorry becomes the third middleweight from Grasso’s team to reach the tournament semifinals, alongside Finland’s Omran Chaaban and Switzerland’s Robert Valentin. Ryan Loder (USA) was the only middleweight from Team Bullet to win his opening-round fight.
In the featherweight division, both teams advanced two fighters: Team Grasso’s Kaan Ofli (Australia) and Mairon Santos (Brazil), as well as Team Bullet’s Zygimantas Ramaska (Lithuania) and Roedie Roets (South Africa).
Following consultations between the coaches and UFC CEO Dana White, the semifinal matchups were determined:
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 faces off against Team Bullet’s Loder for a chance 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, a flyweight championship trilogy fight between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko is expected to take place on a yet-to-be-announced date.
The finalists from the TUF 32 middleweight and featherweight tournaments will compete for a six-figure UFC contract at the live finale of the show, with a date for the event also pending announcement.
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
