WHILE THE FIRST episode of the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter aired in the US on Wednesday, Irish and British viewers got the chance to watch in on BT Sports 2 last night (10pm).
It was announced last month that two Irish fighters hoping to make it to the top would be taking part this year and while Chris Fields faced Josh Stansbury for a place in the house, SBG team-mate Cathal Pendred got a bye in what was a TUF first in 19 seasons.
Competing at middleweight, Pendred has been tipped to go far in the programme but will have to wait until next week to show UFC president Dana White what he can do after his opponent withdrew at the last minute.
In the light heavyweight division, Fields took on ‘mammy’s boy’ Stansbury with Pendred and Conor McGregor cheering him on.
The American had the upper hand in the bout but blew out his knee during an attempted trip takedown, leading to inevitable talk of “the luck of the Irish” as Fields progressed due to the injury.
When all 15 fights were wrapped up, coaches Frankie Edgar and BJ Penn had to choose who they wanted on their eight-man teams. Having won the coin-toss, Edgar opted to pick first while both Fields and Pendred ended up on Team Penn.
He really needs to worth on that pronunciation of “Cathal”…
Next week, Pendred is first in action against Hector Urbina and, as you can see in the trailer below, he is clearly itching to get started. We can’t wait either.