The Ultimate Fighter 31: Team McGregor vs. Team Chandler aired its third episode this week, with Team Chandler securing another win with an impressive performance from veteran Austin Hubbard.

The episode featured the third fight of TUF 31, with a Lightweight contest between the #2 ranked veteran Austin Hubbard (15-6-0, 3-4-0 UFC) and #3 ranked prospect Aaron McKenzie (11-2-1). The fight ended up being by far the longest fight of the season thus far, meaning we got more fighting and less background footage.

Read our recap of The Ultimate Fighter 31: Team McGregor vs. Team Chandler Episode 4 here.

Aaron McKenzie (11-2-1) entered TUF 31 as the reigning LFA Lightweight Champion, a belt he won last August with a split decision victory over Lucas Clay. He also has two bouts in Bellator on his record, with a submission win and a split decision loss from the two bouts. Training out of BJJ legend and former Bellator MMA Middleweight World Champion Rafael Lovato’s gym, unsurprisingly, McKenzie possesses a strong ground game.

Austin Hubbard (15-6-0, 3-4-0 UFC), a former LFA Lightweight Champion, had a somewhat successful UFC run from 2019 to 2021, including victories over Max Rohskopf and Dakota Bush. Fighting out of Elevation Fight Team in Denver, Colorado, Hubbard trains alongside a plethora of UFC talent, including Justin Gaethje, Neil Magny, and Cory Sandhagen.

Before their fight, we got some interesting McGregor scenes, beginning with some lovely singing. He also offered McKenzie the secrets of his ‘pebble’ pain management, grabbing the pain out of your body and throwing it away like a pebble. While convincing coming from McGregor, we did not get to see McKenzie putting it into action.

We also got a lovely scene between McGregor and young figurine maker Samuel Romero, who flew out to the TUF House from California to give McGregor figurines he made of him. The action figures were made by taking different body parts of other action figures, creating decals for tattoos and painting on other details such as the shorts. In return, McGregor pulled out a fat stack of cash and gave him $1200 in cold hard cash.

Then it was fight time.

Everything You Need to Know About The Ultimate Fighter 31: Team McGregor vs. Team Chandler

Round 1

McKenzie came out strong, fighting with the precision, patience and movement of a prime McGregor. After a Hubbard leg kick, McKenzie drove him against the cage, working towards a takedown and taking the back for half the round. Hubbard eventually reversed the position, leading to both men scrambling back to their feet.

From there, Hubbard began to take over, dropping McKenzie with a beautiful right hand and knee to the head. He then followed to the ground, landing massive ground and pound from the mount position. McKenzie managed to survive the onslaught, using his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to maintain some control and prevent Hubbard from ending the fight.

While McKenzie started strong, Hubbard emphatically took the round with his final-minute onslaught. 10-9 to Hubbard after one round.

Round 2

Again, McKenzie opened up strong, landing good shots and damaging leg kicks from the outside. However, the tables turned again when McKenzie went for an ill-advised takedown which Hubbard was able to counter and land a takedown of his own. From there, Hubbard controlled him on the ground, landing some damaging ground and pound.

Although it was the best performance by a Team McGregor fighter this season, it still was not enough, with Hubbard securing a unanimous decision victory over the TUF format of two rounds. McKenzie was shown going straight to a hospital and, as expected, doing his best to deal with the emotions of losing.

Up next week is the delayed Bantamweight contest between #2 ranked prospect Trevor Wells and #3 ranked veteran Timur Valiev. We even got a sneak preview of Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson helping out Team McGregor.

Read our recap of The Ultimate Fighter 31: Team McGregor vs. Team Chandler Episode 2 here.