Conor McGregor has lost his sixth fight in a row as a coach on the latest series of The Ultimate Fighter after teammate Lee Hammond was choked out in the latest episode of the show.
McGregor is six episodes without a win in the UFC reality TV Show with rival Michael Chandler just two wins away from a clean sweep. McGregor was hoping for his SBG pal Hammond to become the first of his prospects to pick up a win and things were initially going in the right direction for the Irishman.
Hammond started the fight well by controlling Kurt Holobaugh on the ground and precisely picking his ground and pound shots. McGregor screamed for Hammond to try and end the fight in the dying moments of the first round as he landed some hard elbows, but Holobaugh managed to survive.
Despite suffering an injury scare heading into the second round, Hammond continued to control the pace of the fight. The SBG fighter mixed in submission attempts with ground strikes, but with less than two minutes left he gave up his neck during a scramble and tapped out to a guillotine choke from Holobaugh. McGregor then dropped to his knees and put his head in his hands at the result.
McGregor said after the fight: "I thought Lee was the better fighter, he got caught but he was dominating the guy. he loves it, it's his life. I'm very happy to see him grow and become the fighter he has become today." The UFC legend tried his best to console his fighter in the cage as he praised Hammond for a "flawless performance" but he dismissed the comment and looked infuriated with himself.
"It's rookies versus vets and I made a rookie mistake, he is a vet fair play to him. He took advantage of the situation and got my neck," Hammond said. Chandler was impressed with his fighter's grit as he said: "Even at his darkest hour, Kurt somehow pulls it out. He throws up a Hail Mary and beats Conor's closest teammate on the team."
McGregor and Chandler had to be separated after the fight as the Irishman pushed his rival which forced UFC boss Dana White to rush into the octagon. In next week's episode, McGregor will rely on knockout specialist knockout artist Landon Quinones for a win as he faces UFC veteran Jason Knight.
