Episode No. 3 recap: 'The Ultimate Fighter 22: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber'

Urijah Faber and Conor McGregor

Episode No. 3 of “The Ultimate Fighter 22: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber” opens with a Team McGregor training session.

UFC President Dana White explains McGregor’s unique approach to coaching the team. He doesn’t show up for the morning session, which focuses on light training. However, McGregor always arrives for the evening session, which focuses on technique.

After losing the first matchup of the season, coach McGregor turns his attention to the upcoming bout between Team McGregor’s Sasha Sharma and Team Faber’s Chris Gruetzemacher.

McGregor and Sharma both believe the matchup is advantageous to the European team and begin to tighten training and narrow down a game plan. Sharma believes his boxing and reach will play to his favor.

Attention shifts to Team Faber’s training session and Gruetzemacher’s preparation. Faber is also confident in the matchup and says Sharma will likely try to take the fight to the ground. He believes his fighter is superior in every area but is concerned about the amount of damage Gruetzemacher absorbs in his fights.

The Team Faber coaches and fighter then have a night of relaxation in which they watch T.J. Dillashaw’s UFC on FOX 16 bout with Renan Barao. Dillashaw defended his UFC bantamweight championship at the event.

Prior to the official weigh-ins, McGregor and Faber have a conversation about Dillashaw’s fight. McGregor says Faber should “man up” and fight Dillashaw even though they are teammates. He says Dillashaw is “the only fight for you.” Faber says he’s not interested in the fight, but McGregor continues to pester him over the situation.

Gruetzemacher and Sharma come in under the 156-pound lightweight limit, and the second opening-round matchup of the season is official. A routine staredown follows the weigh-in.

Both fighters finish preparation and discuss their respective triumphs and hardships that led to a potentially life-changing opportunity of competing on “TUF” and, perhaps eventually, the UFC.

Fight day arrives, and all parties are confident in victory.

Team Faber’s Chris Gruetzemacher (12-1) vs. Team McGregor’s Sasha Sharma (7-2)

Round 1 – Sharma opens with a tight right hook and immediately initiates the clinch. Gruetzemacher breaks free and presses forward on the feet. He wings an overhand right, but Sharma clinches again. They fight for position, and Sharma pushes his opponent against the fence and throws a knee to the body. Sharma drops for a takedown but can’t get it. They continue to fight in the clinch until Gruetzemacher gets a takedown off a leg trip. Sharma throws up his legs for a triangle choke, and it looks to be locked in. Gruetzemacher fights it off and escapes. He lands two punches on the ground before Sharma scrambles to his feet. Sharma moves back into the clinch and goes for more takedowns against the fence. He briefly grounds Gruetzemacher, who gets back to his feet. They still battle for the takedown against the fence. Gruetzemacher gets the takedown this time and lands in guard. Sharma is active from his back with upkicks and submission attempts. Gruetzemacher displays strong control on the ground, though, and sticks tight on Sharma until the end of the round.

Round 2 – The second round begins with a wild flurry of punches from both men. Sharma dives for a double-leg takedown, but Gruetzemacher stuffs it. Sharma flops back to the mat and essentially pulls guard. Gruetzemacher dives on top and picks up where he let off in the last round. He gets side control, advances to mount, and even takes the back. He works for a choke, but Sharma scrambles free while eating big punches. Sharma gets back up but dives in for another takedown, much to the anger of coach McGregor. Gruetzemacher takes advantage and takes control on the ground again. Gruetzemacher nearly locks in an armbar, then a triangle choke and then another armbar, but he’s unable to finish. Sharma ends up on top after the submission attempts. Gruetzemacher sweeps his way back on top and ends up in side control. He advances to mount and continues the solid mix of strikes and submission attempts that he’s shown all fight. He can’t finish the fight, but Gruetzemacher ends the contest in dominant fashion.

The judges declare the fight a draw after two rounds, and a sudden-victory third round will determine the winner.

Round 3 – Sharma makes the exact same error as the previous rounds to start the third. He dives for a lackluster takedown that allows Gruetzemacher to get on top. Gruetzemacher takes the back and hammers away with numerous punches. Sharma does a decent job of holding on and surviving, but Gruetzemacher is utterly dominating the positions and landing ground-and-pound along the way. Sharma has nothing to offer other than trying to avoid the big punches, but Gruetzemacher is still unable to pour on enough offense to force a stoppage. Sharma scrambles on top with one minute but does little other than hold. Gruetzemacher scrambles and gets back on top, where he ends the round and the fight.

Chris Gruetzemacher def. Sasha Sharma via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Gruetzemacher gets another victory for Team Faber and says he’s happy with his performance despite going all three rounds and not earning a finish.

Team Faber takes a 2-0 lead in the competition. They keep control of fight selection for the next bout, and Team Faber’s Tom Gallicchio is selected to fight Team McGregor’s Martin Wrzosek.

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’

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.