It was a classic striker vs. grappler matchup on episode six of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Grasso vs. Team Shevchenko as Toronto’s Tom Theocharis took on Sacramento’s Ryan Loder in middleweight quarterfinal action.
Loder, a Division 1 All-American wrestler, ended up making quick work of the Canadian knockout artist with a first-round submission.
Loder shot for a takedown within the first 10 seconds of the 185-pound matchup, applied heavy top pressure and moved into mount within the opening minute. He immediately locked in an arm-triangle choke, moved to side control and Theocharis tapped out.
“It was a simple game plan but the simplest is the best,” Valentina Shevchenko said of her fighter’s victory.
UFC president Dana White added: “I knew Ryan had a dominant ground game and he showed it in this fight.”
Loder, happy to advance to the next round unscathed, joins his Team Grasso teammates Robert Valentin and Omran Chaaban in the middleweight semifinals.
“I just didn’t put anything together,” a disappointed Theocharis said after the fight. “I was trying to stay patient. I didn’t want to rush at him because I knew he was going to try and take me down. He made me miss (a kick), went for the takedown, got me down. You guys have not seen the last of me. This is not the end of me. I will be back.”
NEXT UP
Alexa Grasso selected 23-year-old Mairon Santos from Rio de Janeiro to face Team Shevchenko’s Edwin Cooper Jr., who’s 31 and fighting out of Albuquerque, N.M., in the final featherweight matchup of the quarterfinals.
PREVIOUSLY ON TUF 32
Episode 5: Team Shevchenko’s Zygimantas Ramaska of Lithuania and Tajikistan’s Bekhzod Usmonov of Team Grasso competed in one of the best TUF fights in recent memory with Ramaska advancing via a two-round decision despite getting dropped early.
Episode 4: Omran Chaaban of Team Grasso earned a comeback win when he submitted Team Shevchenko’s Shamidkhan Magomedov and moved on in the 185-pound bracket.
Episode 3: Australia’s Kaan Ofli of Team Grasso defeated England’s Nathan Fletcher of Team Shevchenko via unanimous two-round decision to advance in the 145-pound tournament.
Episode 2: The middleweight tournament opened with Team Grasso’s Robert Valentin earning an 18-second knockout win over Team Shevchenko’s Giannis Bachar.
Episode 1: Roedie Roets of Team Shevchenko defeated Guillermo Torres of Team Grasso via three-round decision in the first featherweight fight of the season.
