The Ultimate Fighter 27, Episode 5 results: Mike Trizano vs. Thai Clark

Team Miocic is on the board.

It took five tries, but coach Stipe Miocic finally got to see one of his fighters celebrate a win on The Ultimate Fighter 27, as Mike Trizano used ground-and-pound to put away Team Cormier’s Thai Clark in a lightweight bout.

In round one, it looked like Daniel Cormier’s squad would be improving to 5-0 in this season’s competition when Clark knocked Trizano down with a straight right. However, Trizano was able to shake off the cobwebs and tie up the aggressive Clark to slow him down.

Both men showed solid chins as they traded punches on the feet, but it was the superior grappling of Trizano that made the difference. After peppering Clark with jabs to open round two, Trizano took the fight down to the mat where he maintained top control for the majority of the frame. He eventually transitioned to mount, then took Clark’s back and flattened him out before finishing with strikes with about 10 seconds remaining int he fight.

Trizano entered the show with a 6-0 pro record and can hold onto his undefeated label, while Clark has to accept this setback after a 7-0 start to his career. Technically, both men can claim to have perfect records as the theme of TUF 27 is that all contestants are undefeated and they will remain that way until the finale on July 6, due to TUF bouts being classified as exhibitions.

Clark is the first Team Cormier member to not advance to the next round of the TUF 27 tournament.

In other storylines, Team Miocic’s Suman Mokhtarian had issues with his knee, but a visit to the UFC Performance Institute revealed that there was no serious damage and he remains eligible to compete.

Here are the first-round results so far:

Joe Giannetti def. John Gunther via technical submission (guillotine choke) in Round 1

Brad Katona def. Kyler Phillips via majority decision

Luis Pena def. Jose Martinez via unanimous decision

Bryce Mitchell def. Jay Cucciniello via unanimous decision

Mike Trizano def. Thai Clark via TKO (ground and pound) in Round 2

On next week’s episode, Team Miocic’s Suman Mokhtarian fights Team Cormier’s Ricky Steele in a featherweight bout.

Season 27 of The Ultimate Fighter is being coached by UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. Cormier challenges Miocic for the heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 226 on July 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The finalists of the TUF 27 lightweight and featherweight tournaments will compete for a six-figure UFC contract on July 6, also in Las Vegas.

Here is the TUF 27 roster divided by team:

Team Cormier

Lightweights
Thai Clark
Joe Giannetti
Luis Pena
Richie Smullen

Featherweights
Tyler Diamond
Brad Katona
Bryce Mitchell
Ricky Steele

Team Miocic

Lightweights
John Gunther
Jose Martinez
Mike Trizano
Allan Zuniga

Featherweights
Jay Cucciniello
Suman Mokhtarian
Dulani Perry
Kyler Phillips

Advancing to Round 2: Giannetti, Katona, Pena (forced to withdraw due to injury), Mitchell, Trizano

Eliminated: Gunther, Phillips, Martinez, Cucciniello, Clark