The eighth episode of The Ultimate Fighters Nations kicked with a closer look into the aftermath of both a victory and a loss in a fight.
With his Canadian teammates around him, Olivier Aubin-Mercier celebrated his victory over Jake Matthews by eating cake and poutine, a dish that originated in Candada, while Matthews is consoled and given advice by a trio of his teammates in Dan Kelly, Brendan O’Reilly, and Vik Grujic, who will fight Luke Harris later on in the show.
The middleweight fight between Grujic and Harris will end up being the last fight in the preliminary round as the winner of the bout will join Elias Theodorou, Sheldon Westcott, and Tyler Manawaroa in semifinals.
Viewers at home received a little bit of insight into the lives of both contestants.
Team Australia’s Vik Grujic showed a big montage of family pictures that he has crafted on his wall and talked about how important it is for him to fight and provide for his family, especially since they aren’t currently in the best of financial situations.
Instead of talking about his family, which has been covered in earlier episodes of this season, Luke Harris explored his evolution in martial arts. Harris picked up judo at just eight years of age, eventually began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and lastly, started a career in Mixed Martial Arts.
In an effort to rally his troops and escape the 5-2 deficit they are spotting the Canadians, Team Australia coach Kyle Noke brings in UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones for the day to train and inspire the team.
Along with a few inspirational speeches, Jones taught the squad an elbow technique to use when exiting the clinch. Later on in the episode, the 205 champ would eat dinner with the Australians at the house and give them advice on nutrition and let the fighters know what he eats pre-fight, which was eating a protein bar an hour before the fight and then twenty minutes prior, a scoop of honey.
Some concerns regarding Sheldon Westcott’s health began to develop as he cited an unusual feeling in his neck and absence with feelings in his hands from time to time.
Westcott ended up visiting with a doctor, but he didn’t receive a real prognosis yet on whether he could still fight in the tournament. He was just put in a neck brace and told not to train until the prognosis comes in.
Olivier Aubin-Mercier, Kajan Johnson, and Chad Laprise, the three Canadian welterweights that are in the semis of the 170 pound tournament, gathered with coach Patrick Cote and discussed potential fights for the next round. Laprise and Johnson both wanted Richard Walsh from Team Australia, while Aubin-Mercier wasn’t too vocal about any particular fight.
Both, Luke Harris and Vik Grujic made weight for their middleweight fight.
Speaking of middleweights, Strikeforce veteran and current UFC fighter Cung Le dropped by and trained with the Canadians in the lead-up to Luke Harris’ match-up with Grujic.
At last, the fight between Vik Grujic and Luke Harris took place, and Grujic was able to finish Harris with a flurry of elbows in short space in the first round. Grujic was able to set the tone of the contest early on by landing a clean left overhand, later taking down Harris, landing in to half-guard and eventually finishing the contest from that position.
The episode concludes with 36-year-old Luke Harris being stitched up and discussing how big of a loss this is for him at this point in his career.
All four semifinal bouts in the the welterweight and middleweight fields will be determined on the next episode of The Ultimate Fighter Nations.