Episode No. 7 recap: 'The Ultimate Fighter 24: Tournament of Champions'

Episode No. 7 of “The Ultimate Fighter 24: Tournament of Champions” opens with the fighters hanging out by the pool at the “TUF” house. It’s nighttime and the alcoholic beverages are flowing, a situation which historically has led to nothing good on the reality series.

Tensions begin to flare amongst the athletes, specifically involving those that have already been eliminated from the tournament. Matt Rizzo, who suffered a second-round submission loss to Matt Schnell on the previous episode, confronts Schnell with the claim that the outcome of their fight didn’t prove the best fighter. Rizzo turns his attention to Jaime Alvarez and the pair argues before coming face-to-face.

A tense confrontation occurs in which Rizzo pushes Alvarez. Rizzo repeatedly calls him “a rat” and the heated argument goes on until Alvarez eventually walks away and allows the situation to fizzle.

The next day, focus turns to No. 3 Tim Elliott of Team Benavidez, who will fight No. 14 Charlie Alaniz of Team Cejudo in the eighth and final flyweight tournament opening-round bout.

UFC President Dana White provides some background on Elliott, a fighter that’s already competed six times under the UFC banner. Elliott had an up-and-down run in the UFC that ended when he was released on a three-fight losing skid. He then moved to Titan FC, where he captured the organization’s 125-pound championship prior to joining “TUF 24.”

Elliott reflects on the learning experiences he’s already gone through in his career and thinks his UFC experience gives him an edge over his fellow competitors. Coach Joseph Benavidez agrees and also thinks the unorthodox fighting style of Elliott will pose a lot of problems to anyone he shares the octagon with.

Alaniz, on the other hand, is considerably less known and less accomplished than Elliott but has the chance to alter the perception of his career by pulling off what would be considered a significant upset in the tournament rankings.

The American fighter who now lives and trains out of Australia is flyweight champion of the Melbourne-based Hex Fight Series. He’s earned half of his career victories by stoppage but hasn’t competed against anyone with even a fraction of Elliott’s name value.

As Alaniz tightens his preparation for his fight, teammate Kai Kara-France expresses frustration with his overly aggressive approach to training. Kara-France calls out Alaniz in front of Team Cejudo at the end of practice, and the issue is discussed amongst all the fighters and coaching staff.

At the conclusion of practice, it’s time for the annual Coaches Challenge. Coaches Benavidez and Henry Cejudo arrive at Top Golf in Las Vegas, where they will attempt to hit golf balls at targets with various assigned point totals. The coach with the most points at the end of 20 balls wins $10,000, as well as $1,500 for each member of their respective team.

Benavidez and Cejudo both struggle to record points in the early stages, but then Benavidez starts to hit his stride. He jumps up to a massive lead over Cejudo and manages to dominate his way to a clear-cut victory.

At the official weigh-in, Elliott and Alaniz come in under the 126-pound flyweight limit, and the eighth tournament matchup of the season is official. A tense staredown follows.

Fight day arrives and the fighters head to the training center to finalize preparations before they step in the octagon for competition.

No. 3 Tim Elliott (13-6-1) vs. No. 14 Charlie Alaniz (8-1)

Round 1 – Alaniz immediately closes the distance on Elliott and looks to come up the middle with an uppercut combination. Elliott backs away and starts to work the jab while showing his unique foot and head movement. Elliott throws a flying knee then engages in a wild exchange of punches with Alaniz, who is throwing heavy hands. Alaniz shoots for a takedown and Elliott tries to drop for a guillotine, but he doesn’t have it. Alaniz gets on top and throws punches from guard. He takes Elliott’s back off a scramble but Elliott escapes to freedom. Elliott comes forward with punches then lands a takedown of his own. Alaniz pops right back up, but as soon as he comes forward is greeted with more punches. He walks right into another Elliott takedown. Elliott quickly takes the back, and as Alaniz tries to role away, turns into a bulldog choke. Elliott doesn’t even attempt to secure either hook before he sinks his arm under Alaniz’s neck and presses his face toward the canvas. He squeezes the choke until Alaniz is frantically forced to tap out.

Tim Elliott def. Charlie Alaniz via submission (bulldog choke) – Round 1

“I’m always looking for crazy submissions,” Elliott says after his victory. “I’m always looking to get the bulldog choke. It’s not much of a submission. It’s what you do to the bully in the park. I got way better stuff than that. I have more to show. I have better stuff and I’m going to show it in the next fight.”

Elliott records the fourth victory for Team Benavidez and ties the competition at 4-4 with Team Cejudo at the end of the opening round. Both sides have four fighters advancing into the semifinal round, with the matchups on the tournament bracket unfolding as follows:

Bracket A

No. 1 Alexandre Pantoja (Team Cejudo) vs. No. 9 Kai Kara-France (Team Cejudo)

No. 5 Hiromasa Ogikubo (Team Benavidez) vs. No. 13 Adam Antolin (Team Cejudo)

Bracket B

No. 7 Ronaldo Candido (Team Benavidez) vs. No. 15 Eric Shelton (Team Benavidez)

No. 3 Tim Elliott (Team Benavidez) vs. No. 6 Matt Schnell (Team Cejudo)

The first fight of the quarterfinal round will see the first encounter of teammates when Team Cejudo fighters Pantoja and Kara-France scrap for the first position in the tournament semifinals.

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Catch new episodes of “The Ultimate Fighter 24: Tournament of Champions” every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) on FS1. MMAjunkie recaps each episode of the reality series.