Check out our Team McGregor vs Team Faber recap for episode two.
Rather than let the guys go home after their fights, McGregor brings the guys to the locker room to give them a speech. He tells them to forget Team Europe and Team USA. Everyone should want to win and if not, they’re just filler. He said he’s not really going to coach them.
He said Faber will coach his guys like a team and pretend. He wants his guys to stay fresh.
Faber says he’s not sure McGregor knows how to treat people. He says he’ll treat his team as important and as individuals.
Faber does normal grappling training with his team and McGregor does light sparring with no pads. He says when you wear pads, you can’t really find the shots.
Dana came to the training facility and said each coach was able to pick a guy to bring back onto the show. McGregor picked one of his training partners, Artem Lobov and Faber picked wrestler, Johnny Nunez. Lobov lost by decision while Nunez got tapped out quickly.
It’s not an even tournament now with the extra two fighters, but Dana said he’s going pull one guy back who wins based on performance. So even if you win, you better be exciting. ‘
Faber gets to choose the first fight. It’s Ryan Hall from Team USA against Franz Slioa from Team Europe. McGregor says Slioa’s body type, meaning length, will make it hard for Hall’s submission game.
Hall has Tourette syndrome and twitches a lot. Faber called him the most exciting man in America. Faber says his jiu jitsu is amazing. He started to call him Ryan The Wizard. He’s also the master of the 50/50 position.
Franz Slioa Vs Ryan Hall
Slioa tried to keep his distance and McGregor told him to parry with the lead hand so Hall couldn’t get inside. It didn’t matter. Hall dove toward his legs and immediately locked into his favorite position. Slioa did a good job initially making sure to not get heel hooked, but like just like the sun sets, it was going to happen.
Winner: Ryan Hall by way of 1st round submission
Hall said it’s sort of like Ronda Rousey in that when he gets a hold of the guys, it’s over. He also said he’s not just a leg lock guy.
Faber and McGregor sparred verbally after the fight where Faber called McGregor out for his money roll which he said was a hundred on the outside with ones in the middle. McGregor made fun of Faber’s clothing which was jeans and flip flops. I would’ve too and I’m from California. McGregor said the difference between them was that Faber worked hard so he didn’t have to wear and suit, but McGregor worked hard so he could wear a suit.
Faber picked the next fight which was Chris Gruetzemacher against Sascha Nitin Sharma. He called Gruetzemacher the Fabio of the MMA world.
Final thoughts: I think they have something with Ryan Hall if he continues to do well. McGregor is amazing and Faber is right there with him. This season is already more interesting than last season.