Dana offers a reminder that in addition to training together, the cast members will be living together as well, and we get our first look at the new digs these competitors will be calling home throughout the season as the team vans pull up and the fighters start exploring their surroundings, pick their rooms and start to settle in.
Brady Hiestand explains that he and Josh Rettinghouse both hail from Spokane, Washington and are good friends, which is why they opted to be roommates despite being in the same division and on opposite teams, noting that they could cross paths in the competition, while Ryder Newman and Miles Hunsinger have trained together at Xtreme Couture for years.
“But when it comes to that cage, you gotta have that switch,” says Newman. “When it comes to Miles, he’s my teammate, he’s literally my brother, but we’re both here for business.”
Check out every contestant’s profile on The Return of The Ultimate Fighter.
Night turns to day and we’re off to the first training session for Team Volkanovski, with the featherweight champion getting in there and mixing it up with his athletes as they try to get a read on the team members.
Aaron Phillips explains that most of what he’s learned about MMA has come from YouTube, noting that finally training in a professional setting like this is “a dream come true.”
Team Ortega gets their time in the space and Ortega explains his approach to coaching, noting that he’s a great coach because he was taught by great coaches like Rener Gracie. He shows the team some different attacks and movements on the ground, and then we get a look at a couple other members of the coaching staff, Tiki Ghosn and Paul Herrera, working with the team, who are happy to finally be getting down to work.
Ortega spends some quality time helping to prepare Andre Petroski for the first fight of the season, which Petroski appreciates.
