After 12 episodes of wolfish fighting and catty behavior, the reality-show portion of The Ultimate Fighter season 20 came to a close with a double-header featuring Carla Esparza vs. Jessica Penne and Rose Namajunas vs. Randa Markos.
While Esparza and Penne are both primarily known for their skills on the ground, their bout was contended almost entirely upright. All three rounds saw Penne stalk Esparza, peppering her with long jabs while Esparza fired back with squirrely, in-and-out combinations. All three judges favored the Invicta champ’s volume and occasional takedowns, giving her the 30-27 nod.
That, however, wasn’t the case with Namajunas vs. Markos. The two fastest-rising talents of the season hit the mat early following a Namajunas trip, igniting an exciting series of scrambles and submission attempts. Namajunas, as she has regularly done this season, isolated a limb and simply wouldn’t let go. Eventually, Markos found herself with nowhere to go, and was forced to tap to a kimura.
With that, the bout to determine the inaugural UFC women’s strawweight champion is set. The Ultimate Fighter season 20 Finale is set for Friday night, and the full card is as follows:
TUF20 Finale Card
Fight Pass Preliminary Card
- Emily Kagan vs. Angela Hill
- Aisling Daly vs. Alex Chambers
Fox Sports 1 Preliminary Card
- Bec Rawlings vs. Heather Jo Clark
- Joanne Calderwood vs. Seo Hee Ham
- Tecia Torres vs. Angela Magana
- Felice Herrig vs. Lisa Ellis
Fox Sports 1 Main Card
- Jessica Penne vs. Randa Markos
- Joe Proctor vs. Yancy Medeiros
- KJ Noons vs. Daron Cruickshank
- Jeremy Stephens vs. Charles Oliveira
- Carla Esparza vs. Rose Namajunas
Notes and Observations
- For all the drama that flared up in Team Pettis after the quarterfinals began, Carla Esparza and Jessica Penne (long-time friends before entering the House) trained in the same gym, at the same time without incident. That’s just kind of silly, considering how viciously Esparza and BFF Felice Herrig turned on Randa Markos and Tecia Torres for wanting to keep training as a team.
- In a rare turn, the UFC is utterly failing to capitalize on the beefs that developed this season. While Dana White and TUF producers have almost always found a way to make TUF grudge matches happen…not so here. The ugly rivalry between Heather Jo Clark and Angela Magana will apparently be left unsettled, and Randa Markos will not get the chance to face Carla Esparza. Truly disappointing.
- Rose Namajunas‘ development has been absolutely astounding. Go check out any one of her pre-TUF fights and look at her today. If she continues developing at that clip, she will be one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the world in the not-so-distant future.
- Randa Markos is in a similar boat. As the No. 14 seed, she was basically brought in to be a stepping stone for Tecia Torres, who many predicted would end up with the belt. Instead, she has proven herself to be a top-10 fighter.
- Justine Kish remains unable to compete due to her bum knee. She is replaced in the Finale by Korean standout Seo Hee Ham, who will face Joanne Calderwood.
- There are three men’s fights on the main card of the Finale for some reason. Kind of odd, frankly, considering none of them match up pound-for-pound with the likes of Tecia Torres, Joanne Calderwood or Jessica Penne. Still, that fight between KJ Noons and Daron Cruickshank should be amazing.
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