The ninth episode of The Ultimate Fighter 21 premiered on Wednesday night on Fox Sports 1 and the show began with Hayder Hassan discussing his win in last week’s show against Felipe Portela.
Back at the house, several members of the Blackzilians talk about the competition and how they only need to win two more fights to win the show. UFC President Dana White discussed the importance of the next fight as the American Top Team can even up the score with a win in the next fight.
Over at the American Top Team gym, the coaches talk about how they need to have a “beast” fight next. The coaches discussed the possibility of having either Michael Graves or Steve Carl next. Both fighters have already suffered a defeat earlier in the show and Dan Lambert ends up talking to Carl about his weight. Following the conversation with Carl, Lambert decides that Carl will be fighting next for them.
At the Blackzilian gym, Glenn Robinson ask Tyrone Spong if he thought Kamaru Usman would be ready to fight again. Spong says Usman is ready to go and Robinson approached Usman about fighting. He told Robinson that he is ready to fight and will be fighting in two days in the ninth fight of the season.
With the ninth fight twenty-four hours away, both teams head to the American Top Team gym for the official weigh-ins. Usman and Carl step forward as the fighters that will be representing their teams. Usman made weight at 170 pounds and Carl initially weighed in at 171.25 pounds. He would take off his underwear and make weight at 171 pounds.
The next day, both teams head to the American Top Team gym and before the fight, Carl talks about winning the fight by submission while Robinson is confident that Usman will win by TKO. As the fight started, Usman would land a jab and Carl would fire back with a jab of his own. Usman would end up scoring a takedown against the fence, but Carl would be able to get back to his feet.
Once again, Usman would look for a takedown against the fence. The attempt would not be successful and Carl went for a guillotine choke. Usman defended the attempt and they continued to battle against the fence. American Top Team would complain about Usman grabbing the fence. The fighters would end up separating and Usman got the fight to the ground in the final moments of the round. Usman would finish the round in top position and the fight moved to the second round.
At the start of the second round, Usman would continue to find a home with his right hand. He would have Carl on his heels and looked for another takedown against the fence. Carl went for a kimura submission, but the attempt was stopped and the action went to the ground. Carl worked his way back to his feet against the fence, but Usman had a hold of him and eventually got the fight back to the ground. Usman would go for an arm-triangle choke. However, Carl defended the attempt. Usman would keep the fight on the ground for the remainder of the round.
After the round concluded, the referee informed both fighters that there was a decision and Usman won by unanimous decision (20-18, 20-18, 20-18). With the victory by Usman, the Blackzilians are now up 300-100 in the competition with three fights left. American Top Team will have to win the final three fights to win the competition, while the Blackzilians only have to win one more time to win the competition.