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The Ultimate Fighter Season 32 - Episode 1 Review
June 5, 2024
The Ultimate Fighter returned last night for its 32nd season. It arrived without much promotion, as it has taken a backseat to Dana White’s Contender Series when trying to find prospects. The show has definitely lost some of its magic from the early days, but I still find it to be entertaining.
The season will feature Featherweights and Middleweights, who will be coached by Valentina Shevchenko and Alexa Grasso. Valentina and Alexa have fought twice already, with Alexa winning both fights. However, the last fight was close enough to make the UFC want to do it again - with the September show at the Sphere being a possible target. It should be another good one between these two…and then the division can move on.
With 16 fighters from 14 different countries, this is being billed as the “most international” season of the series. I like this strategy a lot, as it not only exposes viewers to fighters from around the world, but it also gives those countries someone to get behind if they have access to the show.
The show was on both ESPN and ESPN+, but ESPN+ didn’t offer to start at the beginning while it was live. Therefore, I decided to wait until it was over to watch it on my iPad. To my surprise, there wasn’t a single ad/commercial and it kept the cursing in. If there is the dual option going forward, I may continue to choose ESPN+ every time.
The actual first episode itself was fun. It got right down to business. There was a quick training session that Valentina and Alexa watched and then they picked their teams. Within 12 minutes of TV time, the teams were picked and the first fight was set.
The first fight was a Featherweight matchup between Roedie Roets of South Africa (Team Shevchenko) and Guillermo (Memo) Torres of Mexico (Team Grasso). Both men were picked first by their coach, which doesn’t happen often with these seasons. Many coaches will pit their top fighter against someone they think can be beaten. I liked that strategy by Valentina, who got to pick the fight since Alexa picked a fighter first. It showed that she had faith in her pick and was looking to battle - not evade.
Once the fight was set, the fighters’ backstories were featured. As both a fight fan and a reality TV show fan, this is usually my favorite part. Do I look forward to the fights? Absolutely. However, I love seeing who the fighters are and what they are fighting for behind the scenes. It makes me feel more connected to the actual fight that takes place on the episode.
Roedie was featured first. He’s a farm boy who chose wrestling over rugby. With his father as his coach, he had Olympic possibilities. However, he gave that up, for now, to pursue The Ultimate Fighter. He’s choosing to gamble on himself.
Memo Torres, in his feature, explains how he is also a wrestler and made it to the Olympics. There is a cool moment in his training where Alexa is coaching him in Spanish, which she won’t get to do very often during the season. Both fighters seemed super comfortable in that moment. Memo has left his family behind in Mexico and is pursuing his dreams in America. He wants to provide for those back home.
We get to the fight and see the true size difference. Roedie is not only 10 years younger, but has a height and reach advantage. As a wrestler, that is huge. The fight is solid and ends up going to a third, deciding round. The first round is a clear round for Roedie, with the second round being a little closer, but with the edge going to Memo. In the third round, it’s close, but Roedie had more control and more significant strikes.
The episode ends with Valentina getting to pick the fight again and she goes with a Middleweight matchup between Shamidkan Magomedov and Omran Chaaban.
This was a good start to the season. The episode flew by.
Did you watch Episode 1? If so, what did you think? Are you enjoying the new seasons or do you long for the old seasons? Is The Ultimate Fighter even needed with Dana White’s Contender Series? Let me know what you think at matt.tenhoeve@gmail.com. I’ll be back next week with a look at Episode 2. See you then!
