The 20th season of the UFC’s hit reality series, The Ultimate Fighter, rumbled on Wednesday evening, pitting Team Anthony Pettis’ No. 1 seed, Carla Esparza (9-2), against Team Gilbert Melendez’s No. 16 seed, Angela Hill (1-0).
To this point in the competition, Team Pettis amassed a spotless 3-0 record, as Joanne “JoJo” Calderwood, Jessica Penne and Randa Markos picked up wins earlier in the season.
While the momentum sat comfortably in Team Pettis’ corner, its top seed strolled into her fight with Hill coming off a long layoff, having most recently defeated TUF 20 castmate Bec Rawlings at Invicta Fighting Championships 4 in January 2013.
She expressed her doubts to teammate and friend Felice Herrig pre-fight, asking, “Will I even remember what it’s like to be in there, to get hit like that?”
Would that matter once the two took to the UFC Octagon?
Nope. Not at all.
Esparza brutalized Hill from the bout’s onset, taking her down, raining down heavy shots, advancing position, then jumping on her back like a spider monkey against the cage before sinking in the fight-ending rear-naked choke.
The fight lasted just under four minutes, and Esparza controlled nearly every second of it. The win was dominant, and it showed why she was awarded the No. 1 seed. If ring rust was a factor here, a fully ready Esparza will hoist UFC gold by the time the show’s over.
With the win, Team Pettis moves to 4-0 and retains control of the fight picks.
Next Matchup: Felice Herrig (Team Pettis) vs. Heather Clark (Team Melendez)
Herrig and Clark have a history of bad blood, so this fight should absolutely rule. Herrig previously defeated Clark at Bellator 94 via split decision.
Highlights from the episode:
- Urijah Faber guest coached for Team Pettis to kick off the episode, and the team responded well to his style and methods. It looked like “The California Kid” was a hit as much for his teaching as for his looks with the ladies of Team Pettis.
- Faber to Calderwood: “You sound like Braveheart.” Awesome.
- Angela Hill farts a lot apparently. In the house. In the practice room. In the cage. That’s…good to know?
- Esparza and Felice Herrig gossiped about Esparza wanting to kiss Faber. Another necessary inclusion to the episode, production crew.
- My mom is in for a visit, so she watched the episode with me. Her comment: “It’s like the MTV Real World.” Is that what you’ve become, TUF?
- The show devoted a solid chunk of airtime to Justine Kish, who not only is having problems with her weight but who also aggravated a past knee injury. She’s understandably upset, and it’s unclear if she’ll be ready to roll once her card is drawn.
- Nobody on Team Melendez likes Heather Clark. She’s complaining nonstop about a knee injury and missing practice time because of it, she’s hogging the ice bath, and she talks funny.
- Mom quote No. 2: “Her five o’clock shadow is showing.” Ouch, mom. Ouch. I won’t say who inspired that gem of a quote.
- Angela Hill says that everyone loves a girl fight because when they fight, they brawl. In my experience, that’s a valid assessment; the two most memorable school fights of my life were girl fights. Absolutely brutal.
- Carla Esparza is really, really good.
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