Marciea Allen

For the first time ever The Ultimate Fighter competition will feature the biggest male and female weight classes in the UFC. Eight heavyweights and eight female featherweights from around the globe come to Las Vegas to compete on The Ultimate Fighter - Heavy Hitters. After coaches Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum introduce themselves, they run the fighters through drills to evaluate their skill sets. Then UFC President Dana White arrives, greets the group, and the coaches pick their teams and choose the first preliminary matchup. After the fighters move into The Ultimate Fighter house, team training sessions get underway. While Team Gastelum's practice is intense, with the men and women sparring together, the Team Whittaker session takes a lighter approach to training. Back at the house, one of the heavyweights enjoys drinking alcohol before and after training, which raises some eyebrows among the other fighters. Then, in the first preliminary fight of the competition, two fighters lay it all on the line for a spot in the semifinals.

With the first fight in the competition in the books, Kelvin goes straight back to work, putting his team through an intense conditioning session. One of the heavyweights struggles throughout, raising concerns over his ability to perform in his fight. During Team Whittaker's practice, the coaches turn their attention to their upcoming featherweight. She's familiar with her opponent and plans for a stand up battle. Back at the house, Team Gastelum's upcoming featherweight shows off pictures from back home and talks about how fond she is of her pet. Through home video footage, we meet her family, boyfriend and, most importantly, her adorable dog. As her competitor keeps mostly to herself, we learn more about her and her life back home through her own self-shot footage. At the gym, it's Team Gastelum's turn to prepare their fighter. She's very excited about the matchup and believes her opponent may be underestimating her skills. A couple of days later, as Team Gastelum is about to start another training session, their next featherweight has a mishap, which lands her in the dentist office in need of a painful procedure. The fighters make weight and go to war the next day. The first featherweight semifinalist is revealed and the coaches pick the second heavyweight fight.

Missing his family after a hard day of training, heavyweight Justin Frazier places photos of his wife and kids on the kitchen table and sits down to a nice 'dinner' with them. As the competition moves along, the fighters in the house begin to separate into cliques, with the American fighters hanging out together while the foreign fighters stick together. While there's an obvious language barrier between many of the fighters, Team Gastelum's Maurice and Justin think that some of the Spanish-speaking fighters actually understand more English than they lead on. During a team meeting at the gym, Maurice pokes fun at the Spanish fighters. Juan Espino hears his comments in the nearby hallway and is not pleased. As a result the two get into a small argument, leading Juan to call out Maurice to fight in the semifinals. In the days leading up to the second heavyweight matchup, one of the fighters struggles with his weight cut. In support of their teammate, the entire squad and staff of coaches helps him out during the night, working with him to try to shed the pounds in preparation for his weigh-in the next day. Then, in the third preliminary matchup, two heavyweights face off with a spot in the semifinals on the line.

After an intense battle in the Octagon, one of the featherweights is carried through the front door, bruised and battered, by her heavyweight teammate. As she dwells on her defeat, her opponent gets drunk by the pool, relishing in her victory. At the gym, Kelvin brings in his friend John Walker, a former football player-turned-trainer and motivational speaker. Walker puts the team through a series of vigorous drills, and gives them words of encouragement along the way. At the house, the Team Gastelum coaches pay a visit and enjoy some adult beverages with the fighters. The visit makes Leah continue to wonder if switching teams might be in her best interest. Maurice does his best to recruit Leah to make the move, but in the end she decides to wait and see what happens in the next several days. In the morning, Josh opens up letters that his family sent him from home and reads them aloud to Marciea. Then, in the fifth preliminary fight, two heavyweights face off in the Octagon with a spot in the semifinals on the line.

Leah returns home from her fight battered and bruised, but gets praise from her teammates for her strong performance. After weeks of debating whether she should switch teams, she finally comes to a decision. The next night, Maurice goes on a profanity-laced tirade, calling Juan out along the way. After Juan takes offense to his salty language, the two have a heated confrontation in the backyard. The next night, just 24 hours after the big blowup, Ben and Przemyslaw try to talk some sense into Maurice. After a long conversation, Maurice decides to approach Juan and they settle their differences, at least for the time being. Then, after a few days of training, two more heavyweights take to the Octagon in the seventh preliminary fight. At stake, a spot in the semifinals!