Valentina Shevchenko secures her first finalist on The Ultimate Fighter 32.
In the initial battle of this season’s middleweight semifinals, Ryan Loder (6-1) utilized traditional American wrestling to clinch a victory over Finland’s Omran Chaaban (6-1). It was a hard-earned triumph for the Team Bullet contender who progresses to the finals with a chance to claim a six-figure UFC contract.
He is now awaiting the outcome of the second middleweight semifinal fight between Team Alexa Grasso’s Paddy McCorry and Robert Valentin.
Loder stuck to his strategy to secure the win, biding his time to utilize his wrestling skills and control the more striking-focused Chaaban. Despite a slow start, Loder managed to take Chaaban down at the end of Round 1 to narrowly secure the round, and repeated the feat halfway through Round 2 with ample time to dominate. Loder’s standup game proved effective in keeping Chaaban in check, mixing in solid leg kicks and a well-timed counter right.
A late surge from Chaaban in Round 3 had Loder on the defensive for much of the final five minutes, but Chaaban needed a finish to snatch the victory after falling behind on the scorecards. Loder weathered the storm and is now just one strong performance away from securing a UFC contract.
This week’s episode was marked by harmony outside the octagon, with everyone getting along after the quarterfinals. Giannis Bachar prepared a traditional Greek meal for the entire house, earning praise from Loder for the castmates’ embrace of diversity and mutual respect for each other’s cultures and beliefs.
Next week, the first TUF 32 featherweight finalist will be determined as Team Grasso’s Kaan Ofli faces off against Team Bullet’s Roedie Roets.
Additionally, Grasso and Shevchenko will go head-to-head in the Coaches Challenge of the season, featuring a basketball showdown in the presence of WNBA star Kelsey Plum.
The Ultimate Fighter 32 airs live every Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Following the season finale, Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko are scheduled to clash in a flyweight championship trilogy bout at UFC 306 on Sept. 14 at Sphere in Las Vegas.
The finalists of the TUF 32 middleweight and featherweight tournaments will vie for a six-figure UFC contract at the live finale of the show. The date for this event is yet to be announced.
Here are the TUF 32 rosters categorized by team:
Team Grasso
Featherweights
- Guillermo Torres (Mexico) (7-1)
- Kaan Ofli (Australia) (10-2-1)
- Bekhzod Usmonov (Tajikistan) (11-4)
- Mairon Santos (Brazil) (13-1)
Middleweights
- Robert Valentin (Switzerland) (10-3)
- Paddy McCorry (Ireland) (4-1)
- Omran Chaaban (Finland) (6-1)
- Tom Theocharis (Canada) (9-5)
Team Shevchenko
Featherweights
- Roedie Roets (South Africa) (7-1)
- Zygimantas Ramaska (Lithuania) (9-2)
- Nathan Fletcher (England) (8-1)
- Edwin Cooper Jr. (USA) (6-1)
Middleweights
- Shamidkhan Magomedov (Russia) (7-1)
- Mark Hulme (South Africa) (12-3)
- Ryan Loder (USA) (6-1)
- Giannis Bachar (Greece) (9-2)
Check out the semifinal results below:
Middleweight
Ryan Loder defeated Omran Chaaban by decision
Paddy McCorry vs. Robert Valentin
Featherweight
Kaan Ofli vs. Roedie Roets
Zygimantas Ramaska vs. Mairon Santos
Review the quarterfinal results below:
Roedie Roets defeated Guillermo Torres by decision
Robert Valentin defeated Giannis Bachar by KO (strikes) (R1)
Kaan Ofli defeated Nathan Fletcher by decision
Omran Chaaban defeated Shamidkhan Magomedov by technical submission (anaconda choke) (R2)
Zygimantas Ramaska defeated Bekhzod Usmonov
Ryan Loder defeated Tom Theocharis by submission (arm-triangle choke)
Mairon Santos defeated Edwin Cooper Jr. by split decision
Paddy McCorry defeated Mark Hulme by submission (guillotine choke) (R1)