Urijah Faber’s team picked up its first win of the season as top pick Al Iaquinta defeated Team Cruz’s Myles Jury by split decision on episode four of The Ultimate Fighter Live.
Both Jury and Iaquinta were scheduled to be contestants on previous seasons of TUF, but injuries forced them off the show.
Jury — who has trained with his head coach Dominick Cruz on many occasions at Alliance MMA in San Diego, Calif. — tore his ACL during the first week of filming on TUF 13. And Iaquinta was signed on for TUF 12 but broke his hand and was unable to participate on the show.
Iaquinta trains in New York with former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra and his team that includes rising UFC middleweight Chris Weidman and acclaimed striking coach Ray Longo.
Weidman was watching the episode from his home and was nervous for his teammate prior to the fight.
So nervous for #IaquintaNation right now
— Chris Weidman (@ChrisWeidmanUFC) March 31, 2012
As for the fight itself, the two came out throwing some crisp combinations with Iaquinta primarily using his hands, while Jury mixed in kicks and landed more strikes in a back-and-forth round.
In the second round, the two men each had the other rocked early on and Iaquinta landed the more powerful, damaging punches throughout the five minutes. Jury secured a takedown at the end of the round but it wasn’t enough to secure the stanza, so the fight went to a third, sudden death round.
During the final frame, Iaquinta came out the aggressor and continued to land the harder shots, which was ultimately the difference in the fight.
According to betonfighting.com, live betting odds closed with Jury listed at a -415 favourite, which means anyone that put money on Iaquinta more than tripled their investment, with him being a +315 underdog.
The first half of the episode featured more of your typical reality show content. This was the first episode where the fighters discussed adjusting to being in the TUF house, a place where fighters notoriously can become restless.
Also, Faber brought in a motivational speaker that works regularly with Team Alpha Male to speak to the fighters in the TUF house, while Team Cruz’s Mike Rio dealt with a knee injury he suffered in training.
Since Iaquinta won, Team Faber regained control of the fight selection and Faber picked Michael Chiesa to take on Team Cruz’s Jeremy Larson, and the two engaged in an intense stare down.
Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell — a two-time TUF coach — watched the episode and wasn’t exactly a fan of the way they squared off:
And what is it with “stare downs” whereguy touch foreheads or faces or noses I really don’t get it
— Chuck Liddell (@ChuckLiddell) March 31, 2012
Fans can see Chiesa and Larson fight live next Friday.
