The second episode of The Ultimate Fighter Live began with coaches Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz choosing their teams from the 16 lightweights that fought their way into the TUF house.
Team Cruz is comprised of: Justin Lawrence, Sam Sicilia, Myles Jury, Mike Rio, James Vick, Vinc Pichel, Chris Tickle, and Jeremy Larsen.
Team Faber looks like this: Al Iaquinta, Cristiano Marcello, Daron Cruickshank, Joe Proctor, Mike Chiesa, John Cofer, Andy Ogle, and Chris Saunders.
Unlike last week’s debut — which was a live 2.5-hour episode that was comprised completely of one-round fights — episode two was not an entirely live broadcast. Approximately the first half of the episode featured highlights from what went on in the week leading up to the episode.
The second half of the episode focused on the live fight itself, which was a two-round bout with a potential sudden-victory round available in the case of a draw.
As with many reality series, the human element plays a big part in the show’s appeal. Early in the episode it was revealed that Team Faber’s Michael Chiesa’s father had passed away. The UFC flew Chiesa out to be with his family so he could attend his father’s funeral, with Chiesa returning to the TUF house later in the week.
In the TUF gym, the fighters got to know their new coaches in their first week training with one another. Both teams seemed happy with their respective coaches.
As for the fight, Team Faber chose Daron Cruickshank to take on James Vick in what was viewed as a favourable matchup for Cruickshank. However, just over two minutes into the first round Vick landed a knee that put Cruickshank to sleep.
Since a Team Cruz fighter won, the UFC bantamweight champion got to choose the next matchup. At the end of the episode, though, Cruz shook things up a bit. He selected his number one pick, Justin Lawrence, to fight, but instead of choosing an opponent, he put Faber on the spot and told him to pick. No one on Team Faber volunteered, so Cruz ended up picking Cristiano Marcello.
Lawrence and Marcello will fight live next Friday.
