The Ultimate Fighter‘s 20th season is nearing its end, and the finale will see the crowning of the champion in a brand-new division.
The latest season of the show featured 16 strawweights who will fill out the newly minted division, and the two finalists will fight to become the inaugural champion in the main event Friday. The remaining fighters are Carla Esparza, Jessica Penne, Rose Namajunas and Randa Markos.
The UFC released six strawweight fights last week with fighters from the show. The majority of those fights are lopsided. The UFC gave the highly touted fighters easier matchups. It will be interesting to see everyone’s progression since the ending of the show, but these are not necessarily a group of fights that excite on a competitive basis.
That title fight will be the focus, but there are several other fights on the card that are worth being excited about.
Here is a look at the four other bouts you should be interested in for the Friday UFC card.
The Possible Ultimate Fighter Runner-Up Bout
Unlike the other strawweight bouts announced containing TUF contestants, the possible matchup of semifinalist losers will be a high-level bout no matter who is involved.
I say possibly because the UFC has not released if this is the case or if the losers have signed bout agreements against other debuting strawweights to round out the card. However, there is precedence for the UFC pitting the semifinal losers against each other.
We also don’t know if one of the semifinalists came out of the show with an injury.
We will find out the plan for the losers after The Ultimate Fighter on Wednesday when the UFC releases the full slate for the finale. If this matchup is on the docket, you can get excited for a very good fight.
Jeremy Stephens vs. Charles Oliveira
The co-main event of the show is a Top 15 matchup in the featherweight division.
No. 10-ranked contender Jeremy Stephens and No. 13-ranked Charles Oliveira compete against one another in an interesting clash of styles.
Stephens is a power striker with quality wrestling, and Oliveira is a fantastic submission specialist. It is not only the stylistic matchup that makes this fight exciting but also that both men almost always come to deliver exciting fights.
They don’t rest, and they don’t back down. This will be a fun appetizer for the main event.
K.J. Noons vs. Daron Cruickshank
You want an early Fight of the Night candidate? This is the one.
Stephens vs. Oliveira is the classic striker vs. grappler matchup, but Noons vs. Cruickshank is a striker vs. striker battle that will deliver.
Cruickshank is flashy. He comes with attacks from odd angles thanks to his karate background, but he blends it in well with his overall MMA game that has developed since his time on Season 15 of TUF. Noons is primarily a boxer, but one of the more technically proficient in the game.
If this fight fails to deliver, it will be shocking.
Joanne Calderwood vs. Seo Hee Ham
The TUF 20 vs. TUF 20 bouts are not great, but the one bout featuring a TUF 20 cast member who faces debuting competition is top notch.
Seo Hee Ham is the No. 2-ranked atomweight in the world, but she moves up to take on Joanne Calderwood. The Scottish striker entered TUF as one of the top five strawweights. Both women are good strikers who will dart out to the center of the cage and start exchanging.
This isn’t the best matchup for Ham to walk out a winner, but you cannot count her out. Regardless, it is going to be a fight that delivers action. That is a reason to be excited as a fan. Calderwood vs. Ham could end up as one of the best fights on the card.
These are the types of bouts we wanted out of the division.
The announcement of this fight helped make the finale show more than just a card with a title fight on it. It added needed depth to the event. Friday night will be a good night of fighting, and this fight is one big reason why. The American audience will get a good sense at how good women’s MMA can be.
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