We’ll be recapping each episode of The Ultimate Fighter 32 this year, with episode 9 arriving on July 30, 2024. Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko are your coaches, while featherweights and middleweights are featured.
The semifinals kicked off on The Ultimate Fighter 32 this week, as the season draws nearer to completion.
Coincidentally, coaches Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko were just announced as the co-main event of Noche UFC (UFC 306), meaning the TUF 32 coaches fight arrives before the TUF 31 edition (that being Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler, assuming it’s still happening).
It’s the middleweights up first in the semifinals. “If you do one mistake, I will capitalize on it,” Team Grasso’s Omran Chaaban says, as we get a glimpse of him preparing to face Ryan Loder. “My biggest advantage in this fight, I feel like it’s everything. I feel like I will beat him everywhere.”
Later, Omran ominously states “my strategy is, punch a hole in his face.”
Ryan Loder, along with the rest of the semifinalists, gets to call home. That allows Loder to let slip just how he’d got the job done against Canada’s Tom Theocharis.
Speaking to his family “gave me new energy,” says Loder. “I know that I’m going to fight tooth and nail, as hard as I can. If I win, great, if I don’t, I know they’ll still be there to support me. It’s a great support system.”
Weigh-ins arrive, and Loder hits the scale without issue. Chaaban comes in just over on his first attempt, immediately strips down, and makes weight. The fight is official. Semifinal fights are three rounds instead of two this season, so there’s no sudden death – it’s 15 or less.
The Ultimate Fighter 32: Omran Chaaban vs. Ryan Loder
Round 1:
Lots of feeling out through the first two minutes as Chaaban and Loder get off to a slow start. The APEX is so quiet you could hear a pin drop, outside the odd corner hollering “good!” off the (very) rare connection. It’s all feints, feeling out, and shuffle-steps. The lack of action – Loder lands a kick here, Omran a jab there – makes it frustratingly difficult to score. The chess match continues right through to the final minute, with Loder finally shooting in and landing a takedown with about 45 seconds left on the clock. He batters the body with punches. Time runs out. The takedown likely wins him the round.
Round 2:
A little more action, back-and-forth on the feet to begin. This time, Loder nails the takedown about halfway into the round. Chaaban doesn’t stay down, but Loder stays on him. Has a body lock. Hits a trip, but Omran is right back up. Drags him down again. Loder nearly takes the back. Slips off, but is still on control. In the “PFL is getting a great undefeated fighter” era, the approach might not be wowing matchmakers, but it is winning Loder the fight.
Round 3:
We’re in full swing now. This feels like a live fight from the start of the round. After a round and a half of feeling out, both Loder and Chaaban feel a bit more comfortable. Key for Chaaban, he keeps things on the feet this round. He also presses the action a little more, after Loder had been walking him down earlier in the fight. Chaaban is looking to land a home for his uppercut. Finds moderate success in the third. Unfortunately for Chaaban, it’s not enough. Too little, too late with Loder winning on all three scorecards.
Official Result: Ryan Loder def. Omran Chaaban by unanimous decision
