The Ultimate Fighter 29: Episode 1 results and recap
Fight fans will have something extra to look forward to each week as eight bantamweight and middleweight fighters compete on The Return of the Ultimate Fighter: Season 29.
Episode 1 of The Ultimate Fighter premiered last night on ESPN+. Fans can watch a replay of last night’s debut episode as well as each of the upcoming 11 episodes as they drop weekly every Tuesday.
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The Ultimate Fighter 29 Teams
UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and #2 contender Brian Ortega are The Ultimate Fighter coaches for Season 29. At the conclusion of the show, Ortega will challenge Volkanovski for the UFC Featherweight Championship.
Team Volkanovski won the coin toss and elected to pick Mitch Raposo and Ryder Newman first. Team Ortega selected Andre Petroski vs. Aaron Phillips as the first fight.
Team Volkanovski
Bantamweights: Mitch Raposo (5-0), Dustin Lampros (5-0), Ricky Turcios (10-2), Brady Hiestand (5-1)
Middleweights: Ryder Newman (3-1), Gilbert Urbina (6-1), Aaron Phillips (5-2), Bryan Battle (5-1)
Team Ortega
Bantamweights: Dan Argueta (5-0), Liudvik Sholinian (9-1-1), Josh Rettinghouse (16-5), Vincent Murdock (12-4)
Middleweights: Andre Petroski (5-1), Tresean Gore (3-0), Miles Hunsinger (7-0), Kemran Lachinov (10-3)
The Ultimate Fighter 29 Episode 1 Results
Team Ortega chose to pit their first-picked fighter, Andre Petroski, in a favorable matchup against Aaron Phillips in the opening matchup.
It was a slow, patient start from both fighters as Phillips was instructed to set up a counter right-hand punch and hunt for the knockout blow. Petroski was reluctant to engage and tested the reaction of Phillips with various feints. But it was Phillips doing most of the damage on the feet. In particular, a couple of nasty leg kicks were likely enough for him to be on his way to winning the round until a successful single-leg takedown by Petroski.
It was smooth sailing on the mat for Petroski as he moved from side control into full mount before securing and finishing the mounted guillotine choke with less than twenty seconds remaining in the first round.
Andre Petroski def. Aaron Phillips via submission (guillotine choke) – R1, 4:42
Team Ortega has picked Liudvik Sholinian vs. Mitch Raposo from Team Volkanovski as the next bout of the season.