Episode No. 7 recap: ‘The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia’

Episode No. 7 of “The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia” opens with the fighters from Team Australia confronting Team Canada’s Kajan Johnson over what they thought was a disrespectful reaction to their teammate’s loss on the previous episode.

Johnson apologizes, explains his intentions weren’t mean spirited, and the situation soon blows over.

With Team Canada up 4-2 in the competition, the team’s confidence is at a high. However, the fighters are quickly realizing the field is narrowing and teammates will soon become opponents.

Canada’s Olivier Aubin-Mercier, who fight’s Team Australia’s Jake Matthews later in the episode, talks about idolizing Georges St-Pierre and how the former UFC welterweight champion inspired him to move from judo to MMA.

Matthews says he studied Aubin-Mercier before entering the house in expectation of a potential matchup. The Australian came to the conclusion his upcoming opponent is overrated and anticipates a winning performance.

With training behind them, both fighters hit the 170-pound welterweight mark at the weigh-in, making the fourth and final quarterfinal matchup of the season official. A friendly stare down follows the weigh-in.

TEAM CANADA’S OLIVIER AUBIN-MERCIER (4-0) VS. TEAM AUSTRALIA’S JAKE MATTHEWS (6-0)

Round 1 – The fighters touch gloves, and Matthews throws first with a combination that misses. Matthews tags Aubin-Mercier with an overhand right. Aubin-Mercier tries to establish the jab, but Matthews is pushing forward with winging strikes. Aubin-Mercier pushes forward to engage the clinch against the fence. Matthews reverses the position but is quickly reversed back. Matthews breaks away. Aubin-Mercier lands a hard body kick then an uppercut. He then gets a body lock and trips Matthews to the ground and into guard. Aubin-Mercier postures up and starts to attack with heavy ground strikes. Matthews attempts to role for a leg submission but can’t get it. The Australian continues to throw his legs up for submissions. However, he leaves himself open to big punches. Matthews rolls out and gets back to his feet. Matthews attempts a flying submission, but Aubin-Mercier shakes him off easily and the round comes to an end.

Round 2 – Matthews is very aggressive with his strikes early. Aubin-Mercier throws a leg kick that is caught by Matthews, who tries to turn it into a takedown but can’t. Aubin-Mercier gets a takedown of his own and postures up with ground-and-pound in a similar scene to the previous round. Aubin-Mercier lands a hard shot that forces Matthews to roll and give up his back. Aubin-Mercier has the back with a full body triangle locked in and works methodically to get the arm under the neck. Matthews eats punches and fights off Aubin-Mercier’s advances to finish for four full minutes until the one-sided round comes to an end.

Olivier Aubin-Mercier def. Jake Matthews via unanimous decision

Aubin-Mercier and his teammates celebrates the victory, which is the second in a row for Team Canada and puts them ahead 5-2 in the competition with just one quarterfinal bout left to go.

The final 185-pound matchup is set by default since the only remaining fighters yet to compete are Team Canada’s Luke Harris (10-2) and Team Australia’s Vik Grujic (6-2).

Catch new episodes of “The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia” every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) on FOX Sports 1. MMAjunkie recaps each episode of the reality series.