Episode 1 Recap | The Ultimate Fighter Season 32

The athletes arrive at the UFC APEX, where they’re met by UFC CEO Dana White and this season’s coaches, flyweight champ Alexa Grasso and No. 1 contender Valentina Shevchenko.

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White outlines that this is the 20-year anniversary of The Ultimate Fighter, noting that the show has produced 15 UFC champions, reminding everyone of the difficulty ahead of them this season. The two weight classes represented this season are featherweight and middleweight, with 16 athletes from 14 countries competing.

The athletes arrive at the TUF House and start settling in, selecting rooms, exploring the backyard, and getting to know each other, with everyone hanging the flag from their nation above their bed.

Because Grasso had first pick of the fighters, Shevchenko has the first fight pick, and selects Roedie Roets to face Torres, explaining that she wanted to put her top fighter against a strong wrestler. This is a pairing of each coach’s No. 1 selection and should be a dynamite way to kick off Season 32.

Going through a mitt session with Grasso, Torres explains in an interstitial interview that he competed in the Olympics in wrestling for Mexico. Grasso keeps working with him to develop his boxing more, working through combinations on the double-edged reflex ball, showing him different exercises that she’s used to develop her hands over the years.

Shevchenko starts her first team session by explaining to everyone that when they’re training, they don’t drink water, detailing her reasoning in an interstitial interview.

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“When you’re drinking water, you kind of focus on that you’re tired,” she says. “This is a way you develop your champion’s mindset.”

Shevchenko works closely with Roets as he prepares for Torres, focusing on sharpening his striking skills as he readies to face the experienced wrestler.

Torres hangs pictures on his wall of his mother, his sister, and his daughter, showing off a tattoo drawn by his daughter as tears stream down his face.

His home video from Guadalajara rolls, opening with his mother, Ima Cervantes, showing off the sports complex where her son began his athletic journey.

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Torres explains that he competed in the London 2012 Summer Games and transitioned to fighting after his daughter was born. The video cuts to Scottsdale, Arizona, where the 37-year-old who traditionally competes at bantamweight lives and trains at Fight Ready MMA. He explains that he’s divorced and his daughter lives at home with her mother.

We see Torres going through the paces at Fight Ready, and he tears up again an in interstitial interview speaking about the distance between him and his daughter.

Roets is up first and hits 145 pounds on the dot before Torres follows and hits the same mark, making the first fight of the season official.

White breaks down the matchup, pointing out Roets’ height advantage, and believes this will be an electric way to kick off the competition.

Both Roets and Torres arrive at the UFC APEX and head to their respective locker rooms, getting wrapped and warming up in the back, receiving last-minute direction from Shevchenko and Grasso.

The featherweight hopefuls make the walk to the cage and step in for the first fight of the season.

There is a 10-year age difference between the two — Torres is 37, Roets is 27 — and the South African has a four-inch edge in height, and six-inch edge in reach; both men are 7-1 in their pro careers.

These are two-round fights with a sudden victory overtime available if the athletes are deadlocked after the first two rounds.

The top picks in the featherweight division for each team squared off in the first bout of the season, with Team Grasso’s Torres earning the first win in the competition.

Team Shevchenko’s Roets made the most of his size advantage, controlling Torres in the clinch through the majority of the opening round, attacking with knees to the head when he was in a back waist lock and knees to the midsection when they were face-to-face in the over-under position. Torres drew level in the second, attacking straight out of the corner and putting Roets on the canvas, keeping his shoulders planted to the mat for the first half the round. But after Roets scrambled to his feet, he immediately put Torres on the mat, only to lose the position, giving the Team Grasso fighter a chance to close out the round on top and draw level.

They traded shots on the feet to start the third round, with Roets shooting first, ending up in front in a clinch position on the fence, where he went back to the knees to the midsection that worked well in the first. When Torres pressed forward late in the fight, Roets timed a level change perfectly to dump him to the canvas, doing well to defend Torres’ desperation leg lock attempt and remain in control through to the final horn.

Shevchenko, Grasso, and White recap the fight, with each coach detailing how their charge won their round early, and the UFC CEO talking through the third frame, calling Roets’ effort “very impressive.”

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Roets and Team Shevchenko are excited, while Team Grasso tries to lift Torres up after a hard-fought loss.