Episode No. 1 recap: 'The Ultimate Fighter 19: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn'

“The Ultimate Fighter 19: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn” kicks off with a video package of several fighters explaining their desire to compete at the highest level of MMA in the UFC and become the new tournament champion.

The package cuts to the “TUF” gym with a voiceover of UFC President Dana White explaining that this season consists of light heavyweight and middleweight fighter. 32 will fight to get into the house, 16 will make it and only four will make it to the end to compete for the six-figure UFC contract.

Coaches B.J. Penn and Frankie Edgar awkwardly meet in the gym. Penn explains that despite the fact Edgar holds two wins over him, there are no hard feelings. “The Prodigy” is grateful for the opportunity to fight “The Answer” for a third time at the end of the season. Edgar says he shares a similar mindset toward Penn.

Camera head backstage where the fighters are warming up and preparing for the all-important elimination round, and we’re off to the first bout.

Tyler King (6-1) VS. Daniel Spohn (8-3) – Light Heavyweight Bout
Round 1 – Spohn opens with a hard body kick. King comes forward aggressively and gets caught with a massive overhand right. King collapses to the mat face-first and two follow-up blows from render him unconscious, forcing referee Herb Dean to stop the fight just seconds after it began.

Daniel Spohn def. Tyler King via knockout (punches) – Round 1

Adrian Miles (14-5) VS. Hector Urbina (16-8) – Middleweight Bout
Round 1 – Both fighters meet in the center of the cage and swing hard. Urbina gets a takedown and nearly takes Miles’ back. Miles scrambles to his feet but is pressed up against the cage. Urbina working hard against the fence and lands another takedown. Miles gets up again but leaves his neck exposed as he gets back to his feet. Urbina drops down for a guillotine and forces the submission.

Hector Urbina def. Adrian Miles via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1

Jake Heun (5-3) VS. Todd Monaghan (8-2) – Light Heavyweight Bout
Round 1 – Monaghan opens with an inside leg kick, straight punch combo. Heun pressed forward and lands and overhand right. Monaghan escapes danger and fights his way back to his feet. Heun lands a body lock takedown and lands in Monaghan’s half-guard. Heun works his strikes from top position. Monaghan gives up his back and is taking hard shots to the head. He gets back up but is met with a knee from Heun that drops him back to the ground. Monaghan gets back up and desperately clasps the legs for a takedown. Heun scored another takedown and lands in north-south position. He throws knees to Monaghan’s shoulders from the position. Heun works for the north-south choke but soon gives up the submission and moves mount. Monaghan gives up his back and Heun throws punches while trying to lock in a rear-nake choke. Monaghan scrambles from the back and locks up Heun’s arm. Heun fights the submission for a brief moment, but unless he wants his arm broken, has no choice but to tap out.

Todd Monaghan def. Jake Heun via submission (armbar) – Round 1

MIDDLEWEIGHT Cathal Pendred (13-2-1) GETS A BYE
Dana White explains that highly touted Irishman Cathal Pendred will get an automatic bye into the house because his opponent withdrew from the fight at the last minute. White says this is a first in the history of “The Ultimate Fighter” and it will be a big advantage for Pendred going into this season.

Roger Zapata (5-1) VS. Tyler Minton (5-1) – Middleweight Bout
Performance highlights of the fight show Zapata picking a bloodied and bruised Minton apart with a wide range of strikes. He picks his shots throughout the fight and finally stops the contest with strikes in the second round.

Roger Zapata def. Tyler Minton via TKO (strikes)

Lyman Good (15-3) VS. Ian Stephens (4-0) – Middleweight Bout
Performance highlights show Stephens outworking Good on the feet and on the ground. For almost the entirety of the two rounds, Stephens dominates top position as Good is unable to get up off his back. Despite his lack of experience, Stephens cruises to a lopsided decision win over an early tournament favorite.

Ian Stephens def. Lyman Good via decision

Chris Fields (8-4-1) VS. JOSH STANSBURY (4-2) – Light Heavyweight Bout
Round 1 – Fields opens with a front kick that misses. Stansbury pumps the jab and is using a lot of movement. Fields continues to be active with his kicks. Stansbury rips a right hook to the body. Fields just misses with a head kick. Stansbury lands an overhand right that puts Fields on his heels. The fighters clinch and Stansbury drops down for a takedown. He attempts to press Fields against the cage, but the Irishman escapes. Stansbury takes the center of the octagon and drops Fields with a huge right hand. Fields is hurt and Stansbury follows him to the ground. Stansbury is trying to finish the fight but Fields defends well. Fields fights back to his feet and somehow gets back to striking range. Fields lands a groin kick and there’s a brief break in the action. Once they resume it’s clear both fighters have slowed. Stansbury is winging the right hand and ducks for a takedown. Stansbury blows out his knee on the takedown attempt and the fight is stopped.

Chris Fields def. Josh Stansbury via TKO (injury) – Round 1

Anton Berzin (3-1) VS. Cody Mumma (5-1) – Light Heavyweight Bout
Round 1 – Mumma opens with a jab. They exchange a few flurries of punches and Mumma presses Berzin against the fence. Berzin lands a trip takedown and quickly advances to Mumma’s back where he works for a rear-naked choke. Berzin can’t get the finish but he transitions to an armbar. He can’t finish with the armbar so he locks up the triangle as well, forcing Mumma to quit.

Anton Berzin def. Cody Mumma via submission (triangle-armbar) – Round 1

Tim Williams (7-1) VS. Bojan Velickovic (8-2) – Middleweight Bout
Performance highlights show both men landing solid strikes in Round 1. Williams appears to have the more dominant grappling ability as the highlights show several instances where he’s on top throwing punches. The fight goes to a third sudden victory round and Williams scores a quick stoppage after a flurry of well-placed strikes.

Tim Williams def. Bojan Velickovic via TKO (punches) – Round 3

Matt Gabel (8-3) VS. Eddie Gordon (5-1) – Middleweight Bout
Performance highlights show Gordon landing hard punches throughout the first round. He continues to connect with more of the same through the second round and takes the decision victory.

Eddie Gordon def. Matt Gabel via decision

John Poppie (3-1) VS. Josh Clark (5-1) – Light Heavyweight Bout
Performance highlights show both fighters connecting with hard shots in the opening round. Clark takes Round 1 and Poppie wins Round 2. The fight goes to a third sudden victory round where Clark wins by armbar from the bottom.

Josh Clark def. John Poppie via submission (armbar) – Round 3

Patrick Walsh (5-1) VS. Doug Sparks (7-2) – Light Heavyweight Bout
Round 1 – Walsh swings his way to the inside, picks Sparks up and slams him to the ground. Sparks scrambles back to the feet but is hip tossed back to the ground. Walsh works his ground-and-pound from the half-guard. Sparks grabs ahold of Walsh’s neck but can’t finish a guillotine attempt. Walsh moves to side control and attempts to isolate an arm. After a brief struggle, Walsh locks up a kimura and Sparks taps out.

Patrick Walsh def. Doug Sparks via submission (kimura) – Round 1

Daniel Vizcaya (7-2) VS. Matt Van Buren (6-2) – Light Heavyweight Bout
Round 1 – Vizcaya opens with an inside leg kick and Van Buren responds with one of his own. Vizcaya fires back with another leg kick. Both men are pumping the jab to try and find their striking range. Vizcaya rushes in for a takedown against the cage. Van Buren fires off a series of Travis Browne-esque elbows to the side of the head while his back is against the cage. Vazcaya briefly goes out. Referee Herb Dean stops the fight to the dismay of Vazcaya, but Dean assured him he was out from the blows. The replay confirms the stoppage was correct.

Matt Van Buren def. Daniel Vizcaya via TKO (elbows) – Round 1

Kelly Anundson (6-1) VS. Corey Anderson (3-1) – Light Heavyweight Bout
Performance highlights show a lot of grappling in the clinch and on the ground in Round 1. Anundson find a home for the takedown frequently in the opening round. Unfortunately, he can’t do anything with it nor can he keep up the pace and Anderson’s superior conditioning takes over. Anderson completely dominates in the second round and takes a decision.

Corey Anderson def. Kelly Anundson via decision

Adam Stroup (5-1) VS. Dhiego Lima (8-1) – Middleweight Bout
Performance highlights show Lima connecting with combinations to the body and head in the opening round. He even knocks Stroup down at one point. It’s more of the same in the second round and Lima easily takes a decision.

Dhiego Lima def. Adam Stroup via decision

Nordine Taleb (8-2) VS. Mike King (5-0) – Middleweight Bout
Round 1 – Both fighters are tentative to start. King fakes a takedown and eats a right hand for his troubles. King eats a leg kick and shoots for a takedown. Taleb scrambles back to his feet and they exchange in the clinch. King presses Taleb against the fence and works knees and punches from the clinch. Taleb absorbs an uppercut but circles out of clinch position and away from the cage. Taleb lands a hard knee to the body that forces King to back up. King regains his composure and gets back into the clinch. Taleb circles away again and looks to strike but misses on a knee and slips to the floor. He gets quickly back to the feet and lands on the move, and they continue to grind in the clinch. Taleb lands a few low kicks in the final seconds, and the back-and-forth round ends.

Round 2 – King jabs early and takes the center. A solid right sees Taleb wobble a bit, and King moves inside. Taleb recovers well, but King backs away and lands another solid strike Taleb responds with a takedown, but King scrambles up and pulls away. The two continue to trade on the feet, and Taleb lands a big right. King looks to be fading, and Taleb tags him again. Taleb’s right hand looking strong, and King falls to the floor. Taleb looks to capitalize, but King gets back to the feet. Fantastic fight. The round ends, and it’s going to sudden victory.

Round 3 – Both fighters are worn down from the first two rounds, but Taleb lands a huge right hand that sends King to the floor. He somehow recovers, and as Taleb jumps on top and looks to finish, King turns for a kneebar. The nasty attempt torques Taleb’s leg, and though he doesn’t get the finish, King rolls to the top. Fantastic sweep. Taleb scrambles to his feet, where this crazy clash resumes. He gets a takedown, but King turns again to the top. He gets a deep key lock that somehow doesn’t finish the fight. Incredible work from start to finish. In the end, it’s King who earns the hard-fought decision.

Mike King def. Nordine Taleb via decision

With the fights over, it’s time for team selection. First, it’s a coin toss to see if the winning coach wants to pick the first fighter or the first fight. Team Edgar wins it and decides to go with the first fighter.

TEAM EDGAR
1. Corey Anderson (light heavyweight)
2. Patrick Walsh (light heavyweight)
3. Matt Van Buren (light heavyweight)
4. Todd Monaghan (light heavyweight)
5. Ian Stephens (middleweight)
6. Dhiego Lima (middleweight)
7. Eddie Gordon (middleweight)
8. Hector Urbina (middleweight)

TEAM PENN
1. Anton Berzon (light heavyweight)
2. Josh Clark (light heavyweight)
3. Daniel Spohn (light heavyweight)
4. Chris Fields (light heavyweight)
5. Mike King (middleweight)
6. Tim Williams (middleweight)
7. Cathal Pendred (middleweight)
8. Roger Zapata (middleweight)

With the selections in the book, Team Penn gets to pick the first fight. The future UFC Hall of Famer takes Pendred, based on his free pass, to meet Urbina, his opponent’s final draft pick. It’s time to start season 19 of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Catch new episodes of “The Ultimate Fighter 19: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn” every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) on FOX Sports 1. MMAjunkie recaps each episode of the reality series.