Episode No. 10 recap: 'The Ultimate Fighter 25: Redemption'

Episode No. 10 of “The Ultimate Fighter 25: Redemption” opens with official weigh-ins for the upcoming quarterfinal bout between Team Dillashaw’s Jesse Taylor and Team Garbrandt’s Hayder Hassan.

Before things can get started, though, head coaches Cody Garbrandt and T.J. Dillashaw begin a verbal back-and-forth stemming from Dillashaw’s new T-shirt design, which features a snake around the “Killashaw” slogan. Garbrandt criticizes the shirt, but Dillashaw doesn’t appear bothered.

“I told Cody he’s so obsessed with me he might as well hold on to my pocket and follow me around, make Cody my (expletive),” Dillashaw says. “He’s so into what I have going on in my life. I could care less what he’s doing.”

Team Garbrandt assistant coach Justin Buchholz joins the conversation, telling Dillashaw that he “left the team in (expletive) shambles” when he parted ways with Team Alpha Male and went to train with Duane Ludwig in Colorado.

“I love Team Alpha Male, I really do,” Garbrandt says. “It saved my life and I’ll defend that as many times as I can. It’s Team Alpha Male against everybody and T.J. and Duane are on the chopping blocks and I’m ready to cut the snake’s head off.”

Weigh-ins for the fight take place, and both Taylor and Hassan come in under the required 171-pound welterweight limit, making the third tournament quarterfinal official. The bickering between the coaches continues but cooler heads eventually prevail.

Fight day arrives. Both fighters finalize preparation with their coaches backstage at the “TUF” gym, and finally, the competition continues.

Team Dillashaw’s Jesse Taylor (30-15) vs. Team Garbrandt’s Hayder Hassan (6-3)

Round 1 – Hassan opens with a front kick which narrowly misses and Taylor fires back with a body kick. Taylor changes levels to attempt a takedown and chains several moves together before planting Hassan on the mat. Taylor quickly takes the back of his opponent and is working for a choke. Hassan spins out, but finds himself back within Taylor’s grip and is slammed to the canvas again. Taylor steps over into mount and is peppering Hassan with short punches. Taylor finally gets into an appropriate position to lock in the rear-naked choke and Hassan is doing everything he can to survive. Taylor finally secures it and Hassan is forced to tap out to the submission.

Jesse Taylor def. Hayder Hassan via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1

Taylor becomes the third fighter to advance to the semifinal round, joining Team Dillashaw teammates Tom Gallicchio and Dhiego Lima. All Team Garbrandt fighters have officially been eliminated from the competition, which is a joyous moment for coach Dillashaw.

“It was such a great feeling to know all of Team Garbrandt is gone,” Dillashaw says. “I did my job, I came here to do what I was supposed to do. I don’t want to be a jerk about it but it’s definitely a great feeling to shut Cody out and shut his mouth.”

Scenes immediately shift to weigh-ins for the fourth and final quarterfinal tournament bout, which will pit Team Dillashaw’s James Krause against Team Dillashaw’s Ramsey Nijem. Both fighters come in under the required 171-pound welterweight limit. A tense staredown follows.

Fight day arrives. Both fighters finalize preparation with their coaches backstage at the “TUF” gym, and the competition continues.

Team Dillashaw’s James Krause (23-7) vs. Team Dillashaw’s Ramsey Nijem (9-6)

Round 1 – Krause opens with a low kick but Nijem pressures forward with wild striking combinations. Krause times one of the punches and ducks under the complete an easy double leg takedown. Krause is swarming from on top and attempting to establish a dominant position. He’s landing short punches but Nijem does a good job keeping himself out of a danger from the bottom. Nijem attempts to kick his opponent off but ends up giving up his back. He scrambles and gets back up to his feet but eats a pair of clinch knees for his troubles. Nijem continues to push forward with his strikes and Krause is looking to counter. Both sides eat hard shots before Krause initiates the clinch again and drags his opponent down to the canvas. Krause can’t do much on the mat before Nijem finds his way back to the feet. Krause is standing on the outside throwing a lot of kicks while Nijem attacks with punches. Nijem completes a takedown new the end of the round but there’s not enough time to do anything with it.

Round 2 – The pace is slower to start the second round. Nijem is beginning to find his range with the punches while Krause attempts to counterstrike. Nijem goes for another takedown and lands a number of hard punches on Krause as he puts him down. Nijem gets too aggressive, though, and falls over the top of Krause into bottom position. Krause is riding out the position and attempting to take the back but Nijem stands back up. Nijem is connecting more and more with his punches then takes Krause down again. Nijem opens a cut on Krause’s forehead and inflicting some solid damage to the eye. Krause fights his way back up but drops down for a guillotine choke which is easily escaped by Nijem. He spends a solid amount of time on top before Krause returns to his feet. Nijem holds Krause against the fence until time expires.

Round 3 – Both men are exhausted but Krause does a nice job pumping the jab early. He lands an uppercut as well but Nijem explodes into a takedown. He can’t keep Krause down, though, and ends up in a headlock position. Krause reverses onto the back and is working to get his forearm under the neck for a choke. Nijem turns over and has Krause on top of him in the guard. Krause is riding out the position and battering Nijem with more solid strikes. Krause spends several minutes on top before Nijem finally gets to his feet with less than 60 seconds remaining. Nijem attacks aggressive and puts Krause on his back with another takedown. Nijem is unleashing everything he can in the waining seconds but time expires with Krause attempting a guillotine choke.

James Krause def. Ramsey Nijem via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Krause becomes the fourth and final fighter to advance to the semifinals. UFC President Dana White invites both coaches into his office to deliberate the semifinal matchups.

White reveals that Krause may not be able to compete in the next round because of damage sustained to his eye, which is swollen almost entirely shut. A replacement will be brought in if that’s the case, but Krause will get a few days to recover before a decision is made.

After some discussions, the matchups are decided: Dhiego Lima vs. Tom Gallicchio and James Krause vs. Jesse Taylor.

Also see:

• Episode No. 1 recap: ‘The Ultimate Fighter 25: Redemption’
• Episode No. 2 recap: ‘The Ultimate Fighter 25: Redemption’
• Episode No. 3 recap: ‘The Ultimate Fighter 25: Redemption’
• Episode No. 4 recap: ‘The Ultimate Fighter 25: Redemption’
• Episode No. 5 recap: ‘The Ultimate Fighter 25: Redemption’
• Episode No. 6 recap: ‘The Ultimate Fighter 25: Redemption’
• Episode No. 7 recap: ‘The Ultimate Fighter 25: Redemption’
• Episode No. 8 recap: ‘The Ultimate Fighter 25: Redemption’
• Episode No. 9 recap: ‘The Ultimate Fighter 25: Redemption’

Catch new episodes of “The Ultimate Fighter 25: Redemption” every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) on FS1. MMAjunkie recaps each episode of the reality series.