The Ultimate Fighter 20 returned to the air Wednesday night, as the show still had two fights to sort out in the quarterfinals. The winners would come one step closer to becoming a UFC champion.
The show didn’t waste much time getting into the first fight between somewhat rivals Carla Esparza, the first-ranked seed in the tournament, and No. 3 Tecia Torres. What ensued will not go down as one of the better fights of the season excitement-wise.
From bell to bell, Torres looked to establish her striking range and keep Esparza at a distance. However, Esparza repeatedly went in and scored takedowns and clinch, which allowed her to do more.
Not a whole bunch of damage was done, but when the final bell rang and the judges were called upon, Esparza walked away with a decision victory. That win put her in the semifinals opposite Jessica Penne, someone Esparza is very familiar with, as they are both friends in California.
We then saw a lead up to the Joanne Calderwood-Rose Namajunas fight, as Namajunas had sort of a mental breakdown at practice. She puts a lot of pressure on herself, which forced the outburst of emotion by “Thug Rose.”
The fight between Calderwood and Namajunas was definitely one worth watching. Both showed some great technique on the feet and some good skills on the ground. In fact, I would venture to say it was a pretty even fight.
However, late down the stretch, Namajunas showed why she is so promising and dangerous, as she slapped on a kimura out of nowhere and was able to force Calderwood to surrender.
The win for Namajunas set her up with a semifinal with underdog-turned-stud Randa Markos in what should be a highly anticipated bout. The winner faces the victor of Esparza-Penne in the live finale.
| Team Pettis | Team Melendez |
| Carla Esparza | Rose Namajunas |
| Joanne Calderwood | Bec Rawlings |
| *Tecia Torres | Angela Magana |
| Jessica Penne | Heather Clark |
| Aisling Daly | Lisa Ellis |
| Felice Herrig | Emily Kagan |
| Alex Chambers | Angela Hill |
| Randa Markos |
*Torres was originally on Team Melendez, joined Team Pettis after re-entering tournament for injured Justine Kish
Notes and Observations
- It was really nice not having a bunch of the drama from the house on this episode, it made for a more enjoyable watch. Unfortunately, I think this season of the show has hurt WMMA more than it has helped. It hasn’t really created stars, or even many likable characters for that matter.
- Although it wasn’t the most exciting fight, Carla Esparza, and Randa Markos for that matter, have proven my pre-season theory that wrestling will carry fighters through this show. WMMA is still in its early stages and many female combatants are still rounding off their games. That’s why, as seen earlier in MMA, wrestling was so dominant. Esparza and Markos have made it this far because their wrestling is a notch above everybody else. It also helps that they are somewhat well-rounded too.
- Rose Namajunas vs. Joanne Calderwood was a fight I really wanted to see and I was not disappointed. I very much enjoyed the fight and both women showed why they are so high quality. Namajunas was the better woman, but I definitely think these two could trade wins and losses with each other.
- My predictions for next week will be Esparza by decision in a very close fight and Namajunas by late submission or decision. That means my predicted finals match would be Esparza vs. Namajunas, which is an interesting matchup.
- I am going to matchmake for the finale right now. Obviously, Justine Kish cannot be used because she is injured so I will fill in another fighter. I would have Joanne Calderwood vs. Bec Rawlings; Tecia Torres vs. Angela Hill; Felice Herrig vs. Angela Magana; Jessica Penne vs. Alex Chambers; Heather Clark vs. Randa Markos; Aisling Daly vs. Emily Kagan; and Lisa Ellis vs. Seo Hee Ham, who the UFC recently signed. Those matchups are based on potential for excitement, as well as getting some of the better fighters a tune-up fight for what should be a competitive title picture right off the bat.
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