The first featherweight semifinal matchup of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Grasso vs. Team Shevchenko didn’t require a full minute let alone a full round.
Kaan Ofli of Team Grasso forced a quick tap from Roedie Roets of Team Shevchenko to advance to the finals of the 145-pound tournament.
The South African Roets wasted little time aggressively pressing forward with his Olympic-level wrestling, taking his Australian opponent down within 15 seconds of the start. Roets left his neck exposed, however, and the jiu-jitsu black belt Ofli grabbed hold of a guillotine choke and the fight was over after just 30 seconds.
“Roedie did everything the opposite of what I told him,” Valentina Shevchenko said of her fighter after the short bout. “I told him don’t rush and feel Kaan first, but he decided to go and smash him.”
Also during the episode, it was revealed Team Shevchenko featherweight Zygimantas Ramaska has been dealing with a small facial fracture ever since his instant classic quarterfinal against Bekhzod Usmonov.
Ramaska was shown being examined by multiple physicians with both telling him he should be able to compete with the injury, but the Nevada athletic commission still needs to officially clear him before he faces Mairon Santos.
NEXT UP
Grasso teammates Robert Valentin and Paddy McCorry will compete for a spot in the middleweight finals against Ryan Loder, while Ramaska awaits to receive medical clearance ahead of his matchup with Santos.
PREVIOUSLY ON TUF 32
Episode 9: Ryan Loder outlasted and outworked Omran Chaaban to win a unanimous decision and advance to the 185-pound tournament finale.
Episode 8: Team Grasso’s Paddy McCorry submitted Mark Hulme of Team Shevchenko to advance in the 185-pound bracket in the final middleweight bout of the quarterfinals.
Episode 7: The featherweight quarterfinals wrapped up on episode seven of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Grasso vs. Team Shevchenko with Grasso’s Mairon Santos edging out Shevchenko’s Edwin Cooper Jr.
Episode 6: Ryan Loder of Team Shevchenko made quick work of Team Grasso’s Tom Theocharis with a first-round submission victory in middleweight quarterfinal action.
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.
