Episode No. 7 recap: 'The Ultimate Fighter 22: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber'

Urijah Faber and Conor McGregor

Episode No. 7 of “The Ultimate Fighter 22: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber” opens with Team McGregor’s Martin Svensson, who fights later in the episode, criticizing Team Faber.

Svensson doesn’t like the way in which Team Faber’s fighters perform. He says they are “dancing” and “joking” in the cage, which in his opinion, is “not MMA and not fighting.”

Back at the “TUF” house, Team Faber celebrates Julian Erosa’s victory that took place on the previous episode. Erosa is showered in NOS Energy Drink by his teammates after the victory, which has become tradition for the team.

Team McGregor is outside watching the celebration, and several of the European fighters are not impressed by the celebrations.

Team Faber’s Thanh Le, who competes against Team McGregor’s Svensson in the upcoming matchup, discusses his path to “TUF 22.” Le says his father owned a martial arts academy, so he’s been close to the sport since he was young. Le says his taekwondo background has heavily influenced how he competes in MMA.

At the “TUF” house, Team Faber’s Erosa and Chris Gruetzemacher begin a alcohol-drinking competition. They bet shots over games of pool, and Gruetzemacher loses several games in a row. The competition escalates, and the drinking gets heavier.

Following multiple drinks, Erosa and Gruetzemacher begin to turn on each other later in the night. Erosa says Gruetzemacher’s winning performance has been the worst and “most boring” of the competition and believes he could be on the chopping block given the new stipulation that one winner won’t advance to the quarterfinals.

The conversation between the teammates gets more heated, and Erosa challenges Gruetzemacher to act on his aggression. Gruetzemacher splashes beer and water in Erosa’s face, and Erosa makes a challenge to fight by the pool. Team McGregor takes notice of the situation and come to spectate the drama.

Erosa invites Gruetzemacher to throw the first blow. However, Gruetzemacher is unwilling. Tempers simmer, and eventually cooler heads prevail before any acts of physicality are committed.

At weigh-ins, Le and Svensson come in under the 156-pound lightweight limit. The sixth opening-round matchup of the season is official. A friendly staredown follows the weigh-in.

Le and Svensson finalize their preparation, and the next tournament matchup is underway.

Team Faber’s Thanh Le (4-1) vs. Team McGregor’s Martin Svensson (14-5)

Round 1 – No strikes are thrown in the first 20 seconds. Le attacks first with a missed body punch, and he then moves forward with a powerful head kick that Svensson blocks. Le connects with a straight right punch followed by another head kick. Svensson has yet to throw a strike. Le unleashes a body kick that’s caught by Svensson. He turns it into a takedown and lands in side control. Le recovers half guard, but Svensson is active with his attempts to pass. Le shows solid defense and keeps his opponent at bay, but Svensson is still on top. Le attempts to scramble but gives up his back near the fence. Le uses the fence to stand up and escape the position, but he’s still stuck against the fence. Le reverses position and breaks free. Svensson comes forward with a sloppy knee, and Le counters perfectly with a huge straight right. Svensson is hurt and falls to the ground. Le jumps on top and pounds away with strikes, but the bell saves Svensson from being finished.

Round 2 – Svensson lands a leg kick, which is his first successful standing strike from range. He lands another leg kick as Le looks to counter with his right hand. Svensson shoots for a single-leg takedown, which he gets and manages to immediately take Le’s back. Le tries to lock up an arm submission from an awkward position, but Svensson steps over into mount. Le gives up his back again but doesn’t allow Svensson to work toward a choke. Le keeps spinning, which allows Svensson to seamlessly move from mount to back control. Le finally bucks Svensson off into half guard but is still stuck working from guard with less than two minutes remaining. Le gives up back control again, and this time Svensson makes him pay. He slides his arm under the neck for a rear-naked choke and squeezes until Le feverishly taps out.

Martin Svensson def. Thanh Le via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2

Svensson comes up big in a bout in which Team Faber owned fight selection. He’s very happy with the victory while Le is disappointed and aware he needs to improve his ground game.

The competition is tied 3-3 after Svensson’s victory. With control of fight selection, Team McGregor chooses Artem Lobov to face Team Faber’s James Jenkins in the seventh opening-round matchup.

Also see:

• Episode No. 1 recap: ‘The Ultimate Fighter 22: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber’
• Episode No. 2 recap: ‘The Ultimate Fighter 22: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber’
• Episode No. 3 recap: ‘The Ultimate Fighter 22: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber’
• Episode No. 4 recap: ‘The Ultimate Fighter 22: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber’
• Episode No. 5 recap: ‘The Ultimate Fighter 22: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber’
• Episode No. 6 recap: ‘The Ultimate Fighter 22: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber’

Catch new episodes of “The Ultimate Fighter 22: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber” every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. MMAjunkie recaps each episode of the reality series.