Conor McGregor is still without a win on season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter as his fighter Trevor Wells lost a unanimous decision to Timur Valiev in the latest episode.
McGregor's team of prospects are still without a win four episodes into the season as Michael Chandler's group of veterans have won every fight so far. Wells faced a tough task going up against former UFC bantamweight Valiev, but he started the fight well by stunning his opponent with a left hand in the opening minute. The Russian veteran wasted no time in taking the fight to the mat as he secured a body-lock takedown and took the back of Wells.
Valiev showed he wasn’t just a grappler by narrowly missing with spinning attacks on the feet. Wells recognised he was likely down on the scorecards and came firing out of the blocks in the second stanza. The bantamweights were swinging it out on the feet and both landed some heavy punches. Valiev landed another takedown and controlled Wells for several minutes, but the American reversed position with a minute left.
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Wells finished the fight on top but the judges scored both of the rounds in favour and Valiev and the Russian won by unanimous decision. McGregor was visibly frustrated at the judges not scoring either of the two rounds in Wells' favour as he said “That should have been a third round lads, no?”
Chandler disagreed with McGregor's notion that a sudden death round should have taken place as he said of the fight: “I get what Conor is saying, if I was in his shoes I would probably think the fight was closer than it actually was. But to me and the judges, we know who won those two rounds.”
UFC boss Dana White was impressed with Wells' performance despite the defeat, stating: "Trevor showed some great defence against the cage when Timur got him in a body triangle. He wanted to stand and bang, he landed a couple of good shots and wouldn't let Timur take him down. The difference in experience didn't seem to be a factor in round one."
In the next episode, McGregor will be coaching against his SBG teammate Brad Katona as he relies on Carlos Vera to get his team their first victory. Several members of Team Chandler can be seen frustrated with Katona during a preview of the episode, with the fighter even claiming his own coach is "fed up with him".
