The Ultimate Fighter
Episode 6 Recap | The Ultimate Fighter: Team Grasso vs Team Shevchenko
Who Will Emerge Victorious In The Middleweight Battle Between The United States’ Ryan Loder And Canadian Tom Theocharis?
Previously on The Ultimate Fighter…
Team Grasso middleweights Robert Valentin of Switzerland and Omran Chaaban of Finland earned their spots in the semifinals, while Team Shevchenko’s Zyga Ramaska out-worked Bekhzod Usmonov in the latest featherweight matchup to move to the next round.
Now, Canadian Tom Theocharis and American Ryan Loder face off to see who moves forward in the 185-pound tournament and one step closer to becoming the next Ultimate Fighter.
TUF HOUSE
Usmonov and Ramaska return to the house and receive a round of applause from their housemates, with everyone telling them what a great fight they had. Ramaska acknowledged in an interstitial interview that he feels like he’s earned the respect of the other competitors now that they’ve seen him compete, with Nathan Fletcher calling it one of the best fights he’s ever seen live in his life, noting that Usmonov surprised a lot of people with his performance.
Ramaska says he’s fully healthy after his fight and that he’s “on his mission.”
UFC CEO Dana White says he was so pumped up by the fight between Ramaska and Usmonov that he awards the competitors an off day and a chance to watch a UFC Fight Night event at the house.
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Valentin instructs Edwin Cooper Jr. that when the television comes on, he needs to be quiet, which of course gets a response from the American featherweight. Cooper Jr. keeps chirping throughout the fights, annoying everyone in the house, and sipping from a bottle that turns out to contain an alcoholic beverage.
“That guy is drunk 24/7,” says Chabaan. “If Shevchenko knows that, she’s gonna kill him.”
Fletcher is critical of his mindset and approach in the house, before Cooper Jr. speaks with a producer in an interstitial interview, who asks him about drinking in the house.
I didn’t hit it hard,” he says. “That ain’t hard. I ain’t hit nothin’ hard. Ain’t nothing going on besides getting ready to train and get prepared for my fight.”
TEAM SHEVCHENKO TRAINING SESSION
Pavel Fedotov leads the team through a training session at the UFC Performance Institute, where Loder gets partnered with Cooper Jr., who elbows him in the face without an elbow pad on, drawing an immediate reaction from the middleweight, who is getting ready to fight.
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Loder gets upset and says he’s done working with Cooper Jr., leading to the two chirping back and forth before Shevchenko steps in, instructing him to be more careful. The Team Shevchenko representatives keep bickering before the former flyweight queen finally stops training and gives them an earful for fighting amongst themselves and not maximizing training, not acting like true martial artists.
She wants to end the conflict in the moment so that it doesn’t continue or escalate later. She leans into Loder, telling him he’s fine and that Cooper Jr. has apologized, prompting the two to shake hands and end things.
White talks about how these things happen all the time on the show, acknowledging the outstanding job done by Shevchenko to address the issue immediately and get it laid to bed without further issue.
TUF HOUSE
Cooper Jr. is asked about the bottles lingering around the house by Valentin, while Usmonov shares in an interstitial interview that he's stayed out of the situation because the two are training partners at Jackson-Wink MMA in New Mexico. He decides to pull Cooper Jr. aside to speak to him about his drinking, both in an effort to avoid being lumped in as someone not doing things the right way in the house and to show concern for his teammate.
Cooper Jr. acknowledges the support and comfort from his teammate and says he’s still focused on winning the competition.
TOM THEOCHARIS FIGHT PREP
At the UFC PI, Grasso leads Theocharis through his training ahead of his fight with Loder, trying to keep him dialed in on what a difficult battle it could be.
Theocharis says the plan is to keep things standing and hopefully knock Loder out as his highlight reel begins. The Niagara Top Team representative 9-5 overall and riding a three-fight winning streak.
“Whoever falls first, that’s kind of how my fights go,” he says in a voiceover of two quick first-round finishes run. “My strategy never changes: me delivering this fantastic knockout.”
He hits pads withs Valentin, who says the Canadian has the most power of anyone in the house and says he’s trying to get Theocharis to trust his hands and let them go against Loder.
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Grasso praises his coachability and activity in training, suggesting he could do amazing things in the fight and competition.
TUF HOUSE
Loder explains to Fletcher that he started MMA at age 29, transitioning into the sport after wrestling in college and coaching.
The 32-year-old from Sacramento’s home video begins with him having “the last summer” with his family, including his girlfriend Avery. He’s shown snowboarding on his day off, with Loder discussing the ample outdoor opportunities Sacramento has to offer.
He started wrestling at four years old and used it to help drive him, acknowledging his dyslexia and the amount of work it took to get through school. Loder talks about wrestling collegiately at Northern Iowa, pursuing his master’s and training for the 2016 Olympics before moving into a coaching role at San Francisco State.
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When the pandemic happened, he moved back to Sacramento, got the invite for his team to train at Urijah Faber’s Ultimate Fitness, and gets some motivational words and coaching from “The California Kid.”
It was when he was coaching at the Team Alpha Male facility that he started to get the itch, and after taking an amateur fight, he dove in head-first, explaining that the relative newness of the sport and ability to innovate are elements that inspire and motivate him. He gets emotional talking about serving as a role model for kids that are dealing with the same things he dealt with a youngster, holding back the tears.
“I’m not smart, but I work really hard,” he says, “and I’ll be the next Ultimate Fighter.”
LAKE MEAD
Team Shevchenko rolls into Lake Mead, where the Shevchenko takes the group out on the lake as a way to relax and unwind after seeing all the tension that had built up in the last training session.
Everyone enjoyed the opportunity to get out of the house, back into nature, and calm down a little, calling it exactly what the team needed.
TUF HOUSE
Theocharis talks about the tattoo he has on his left forearm, which is a sketch outline of the last photo he took of his late girlfriend, who passed tragically in August 2021.
His home video from Stratford, Ontario, Canada runs, with him visiting his parents’ house. It’s a small, rural community where hockey is obviously massive. He praises his parents and shows off the title belt he won in the first fight he had after his girlfriend passed.
A video of them together begins and he talks about their relationship, giving a cursory explanation of what happened to her without going into too much detail for obvious reasons. He explains that one of the first people he called after her passing was Elias Theodorou, who won the middleweight competition on TUF: Nations and fought in the UFC for several years before passing in 2022 following a battle with cancer.
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“Those two were the closest people in my life at that point,” he says, as the footage shows him sitting near the water at home in Toronto. “With depression comes anxiety. I still battle anxiety on a daily basis, I would say. I’m not as depressed anymore — I’m actually a very happy individual — but all of that has taken a lot of time to get to this point.
“I’ve had to speak with therapists to live a healthy lifestyle and know what makes me feel good,” he continues. “What makes me feel good is competing in mixed martial arts, training every day.
"For anybody who is listening to this, I want you to know there is always hope — you just have to find something that inspires you to be a better person. If you’re going through a traumatic experience, it’s gonna take some time. Everyone has their own process; you just have to find what works for you and what makes you happy.”
RYAN LODER FIGHT PREP
Shevchenko talks to Loder about his movement as he works the heavy bag, with the middleweight explaining that he’s worked really hard at dealing with opponents throwing big shots. The plan is to make sure Theocharis doesn’t land something big, and then to take him to the canvas and wrestle.
His highlight reel kicks off with a win under the A1 Combat banner, where he manhandled his opponent on the ground, splitting him open with elbows. It’s more of the same in his BTC fight as well before things click back to Loder working at the PI.
“I know this is the most international season,” he says, “and these guys are gonna taste what an All-American wrestler is.”
MIDDLEWEIGHT WEIGH-IN
The teams file into the UFC APEX as the middleweights step on the scale. Loder comes in at 186 pounds first before Theocharis follows at the same weight.
White sets up the matchup — a classic “striker versus grappler” battle that is also a longstanding North American rivalry bout between Canada and the United States.
Now it’s time to figure out who will emerge victorious.
FIGHT DAY
The combatants make their way to the UFC APEX and into their respective locker rooms, getting taped and loose before getting set to make the walk to the cage. They receive final instructions and reminders from their coaches in the back and head out to compete.
Tom Theocharis vs Ryan Loder
What a performance from Ryan Loder!
The All-American wrestler signaled that he didn’t want to touch gloves, shot across the cage, and put Theocharis on the canvas almost immediately, peppering him with short punches before transitioning to mount. From there, he quickly sunk in an arm-triangle choke and drew out the tap.
Ryan Loder Talks Win Over Theocharis | The Ultimate Fighter Season 32
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Ryan Loder Talks Win Over Theocharis | The Ultimate Fighter Season 32
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One-way traffic for the Team Shevchenko middleweight.
Official Result: Ryan Loder defeats Tom Theocharis by submission (arm-triangle choke) in Round 1
The coaches and White recap the fight, which was pretty straightforward. This is how things go sometimes in these classic clashes of styles.
Loder is pumped after his performance, coming away completely unscathed, while Theocharis is understandably bummed out with how things went.
Valentina Shevchenko Reacts To Ryan Loder Win | The Ultimate Fighter Season 32
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Valentina Shevchenko Reacts To Ryan Loder Win | The Ultimate Fighter Season 32
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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENT FEATHERWEIGHT
The final matchup in the 145-pound tournament is announced, with Team Grasso’s Mairon Santos facing off with Edwin Cooper Jr. of Team Shevchenko.
Who will be the last semifinalist on the featherweight side of things?
Alexa Grasso Reacts To Tom Theocharis Loss | The Ultimate Fighter Season 32
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Alexa Grasso Reacts To Tom Theocharis Loss | The Ultimate Fighter Season 32
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NEXT TIME ON THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER
The last two featherweights head into action, with Cooper Jr. looking to put the drama surrounding him this season to rest, while Santos calls for a “first-round demolition” when the two hit the cage.
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