The Ultimate Fighter 20 hasn’t even aired yet but there’s already plenty of lofty expectations for the women competing. The bar just got raised again thanks to UFC president Dana White.
White spoke to members of the media following UFC 177 and couldn’t hold back about how excited he was for this upcoming season of TUF, per MMA Mania.
I love this season of The Ultimate Fighter, it’s way better than the last season of The Ultimate Fighter. The reality is great, but the fights are fucking awesome, and that’s all I really care about. Everybody is going to be happy. You guys are going to be blown away. There’s a Ronda Rousey on this season of The Ultimate Fighter, absolutely.
To be honest, saying this upcoming season will be better than the previous season isn’t saying much.
But despite the obvious hyperbole displayed by White (as if that’s anything new), there are some strong candidates to become a star in the UFC.
Felice Herrig is among one of the most popular (or notorious, depending on your viewpoint) women competitors in MMA. Her ability to use her good looks combined with an outgoing personality have created a considerable amount of buzz, despite the fact she sports a 9-5 overall record.
It’s pretty telling of the dislike for Herrig that an “incident” occurred on just the first day of filming.
Of course, there are plenty of other talented women competing this season as well. Carla Esparza comes in with the Invicta FC strawweight title while Tecia Torres can lay claim to victories over a pair of fellow TUF 20 competitors.
Regardless of the improved talent level, the ladies of TUF 20 are going to have a tough task ahead of them if they’re trying to become the next Rousey. The current UFC women’s bantamweight champion has not only enjoyed success in MMA (none of her fights have gone the distance), but she’s also racked up a number of accolades outside of it.
The Ultimate Fighter 20 is set to debut on Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 10 p.m. ET. The season will feature UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis and former Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez as coaches and will crown the first ever UFC women’s strawweight champion
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