Team Sonnen’s Kelvin Gastelum became the youngest fighter in TUF history to win a fight on the reality show after submitting Team Jones’ Bubba McDaniel with a second-round guillotine choke on episode five of The Ultimate Fighter 17.
Gastelum, at just 21 years of age, was an underdog against the veteran McDaniel, who is a regular training partner of his coach Jon Jones.
Early in the fight, the shorter Gastelum began by moving forward and landed two quick takedowns. As Gastelum was considering a guillotine choke attempt, McDaniel reversed the position and began locking in a rear-naked choke with both hooks in. Gastelum got back to his feet and swept McDaniel to his back again. However, McDaniel quickly locked in an armbar and used it to advance his position and gain full mount. The two then continued to scramble with Gastelum finishing the back-and-forth round in top position.
In the second round, Gastelum took the fight to the ground early just like in the first frame and attempted two guillotine chokes to no avail. After another scramble Bubba briefly took Gastelum’s back but the youngster escaped and ended up taking McDaniel’s back, locking in a rear-naked choke, forcing a tap.
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Prior to the fight, Chael Sonnen had UFC women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey speak to Gastelum over the phone to wish him luck since Gastelum let it be known he was a fan of hers.
After his win Rousey called back to congratulate Gastelum and told him she would come out one day to train with Team Sonnen.
Also earlier in the episode, Sonnen brought in Academy Award-nominated actor Mickey Rourke to share his experiences from his days as a boxer.
Rourke gave the fighters a motivational speech and some advice: “You gotta say, ‘how can I be better today than I was yesterday?’”
Gastelum joined Team Sonnen’s Luke Barnatt and Uriah Hall, plus Team Jones’ Collin Hart in the quarterfinals and with the win Sonnen regained control of fight selection.
On the next episode, Team Sonnen’s Tor Troeng takes on Team Jones’ Josh Samman, plus Uriah Hall gets too intense during training for Team Sonnen’s liking.