Dana White had a front-row seat as The Ultimate Fighter 33 began with a bang.
Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen are the coaches on this season of MMA’s original reality TV show, which Jon Jones and Nate Diaz recently shot a knock-off version of in Thailand.
After a short evaluation period, the UFC legends picked their teams from a field of welterweight and flyweight fighters.
Chael Sonnen‘s first pick was 12-2 former UFC fighter Joseph Morales, whom he immediately matched up with 13-2 Brazilian Eduardo Henrique – the man Daniel Cormier picked over every other 125lb fighter in the competition.
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Dana White reacts to first TUF 33 finish
Morales proved Cormier was wrong to overlook him as he ran through Henrique with ease.
The 30-year-old got an early takedown and aggressively began hunting for a rear-naked choke.
Pretty quickly, he grabbed Henrique’s neck and forced the tap before celebrating his win wildly.
Morales stood over his beaten opponent and screamed in his face as the referee dragged him away.
The American continued to scream as the camera panned to Cormier, who looked devastated by the defeat.
Dana White was more interested in Morales’ post-fight celebrations than his impressive win.
“Damn! Intense,” the UFC boss said as loud howls echoed around the APEX facility in Las Vegas.
Morales moves on to the semifinal stage of the competition, where he’ll face a yet-to-be-decided opponent.
What’s next on The Ultimate Fighter 33?
The Ultimate Fighter 33 will air live every Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ for the next couple of months.
TUF coaches typically fight each other at the end of the competition, but that won’t be happening, as Cormier and Sonnen both retired years ago.
Still, the competition is heating up as UFC hopefuls compete for a six-figure contract from White.
Next week, we’ll see Team Sonnen’s Richard Martins face Cormier’s Ukrainian charge Danil Donchenko in the first welterweight bout of the season.