(See, Viacom? There ARE some things that are too stupid for pro-wrestling fans to watch.)
Remember when we told you guys on Sunday that Bellator is going through some hard times before its (extremely misguided) inaugural PPV? Well, with a brand new episode of TNA Impact scheduled to air tonight, we decided to look into how Viacom’s other promotion is doing. Try not to act too surprised, but here’s the short version of the story:
Believe it or not, the professional wrestling outfit that’s been repackaged as an infomercial for an MMA PPV that no one cares about is in some pretty dire straights. Over the course of the past year, TNA Impact has been making some drastic budget cuts, which have included firing numerous young prospects and veteran wrestlers alike (leading to somehilarioussatiricalstories from Kayfabe News). Okay, no problem with trimming the fat, right? Well, once main players in the company start getting cut, it’s not exactly a good sign. Follow us after the jump, and we’ll explain…
(See, Viacom? There ARE some things that are too stupid for pro-wrestling fans to watch.)
Remember when we told you guys on Sunday that Bellator is going through some hard times before its (extremely misguided) inaugural PPV? Well, with a brand new episode of TNA Impact scheduled to air tonight, we decided to look into how Viacom’s other promotion is doing. Try not to act too surprised, but here’s the short version of the story:
Believe it or not, the professional wrestling outfit that’s been repackaged as an infomercial for an MMA PPV that no one cares about is in some pretty dire straights. Over the course of the past year, TNA Impact has been making some drastic budget cuts, which have included firing numerous young prospects and veteran wrestlers alike (leading to somehilarioussatiricalstories from Kayfabe News). Okay, no problem with trimming the fat, right? Well, once main players in the company start getting cut, it’s not exactly a good sign.
Two weeks ago, TNA Impact actually had to fire Hulk Hogan as a cost cutting measure. On the surface, Hogan’s dismissal from the company has been long overdue — he’s an overpaid sixty year old being used as an on-air authority figure because he physically can’t wrestle anymore. But for TNA Impact to finally part ways with the guy? Brother, that’d be like Dana White firing Chuck Liddell from his vaguely-defined job; even though it would make sense financially, it would never happen unless the company was circling the drain.
To make matters worse, the promotion’s first show without Hulk Hogan since 2009 only managed to bring in only 1.08 million viewers last Thursday, which is nearly an all-time low for the promotion. To put that into perspective, more people watched a midnight rerun of Pawn Stars than TNA Impact. But they did manage to pull in a few more viewers than an American Dad rerun that aired at 1:30 in the morning, so that’s a plus, I guess.
I’m not writing that the situation is hopeless, but I am writing that it may very well be hopeless if Bellator’s pay-per-view flops. Viacom has invested the futures of both promotions into this card. If it doesn’t end well, it’ll take more than Tim Sylvia to fix the ensuing fiasco.
At the UFC 165 post-fight presser last month, UFC president Dana White showered praise upon UFC interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao, calling him one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport and remarking that the media hadn’t given enough credit to his eight-year, 32-fight undefeated streak, which has remained pristine since May 2005.
Barao has only tasted defeat once, and it was in the first fight of his career. The fact that he’s rebounded with the longest current undefeated streak in mixed martial arts — despite the fact that his first loss could have ruined his confidence forever — is absolutely amazing to me, as many young would-be prospects have crashed and burned in their debuts, never to be heard of again.
It got me thinking: What other mixed martial artists lost their first fight but then went on to have great success? I expected to bang out a list of ten fighters, but once I started doing the research, it blew my mind that some of the best fighters to ever compete in the sport, and a number of currently top 10-ranked fighters, actually lost their very first fight.
And so, I compiled a list of the top 24 MMA fighters of all time who lost their first fight. The list is based on accomplishments in the sport, overall skill level, and potential. Enjoy, and if I somehow missed somebody notable, please leave a comment below and explain why he or she should be included.
On July 26, 1996, at the age of 19 years old, Travis Fulton fought Dave Strasser in his MMA debut at Gladiators 1 in Davenport, Iowa, losing the fight via first-round submission. He then went on to win 249 fights, the most wins in mixed martial arts history. Fulton also holds the record for most fights (309) and most knockout wins (91) in MMA history.
Mind = blown.
Was Fulton a can crusher? Yes, yes he was. Or, should I say, yes he is, as he beat some nobody in his native Iowa just this past March. But you don’t win 249 MMA fights by accident, and Fulton deserves a place on this list based on volume alone.
(Renan Barao: Started from the bottom, now he here. / Photo via Getty)
At the UFC 165 post-fight presser last month, UFC president Dana White showered praise upon UFC interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao, calling him one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport and remarking that the media hadn’t given enough credit to his eight-year, 32-fight undefeated streak, which has remained pristine since May 2005.
Barao has only tasted defeat once, and it was in the first fight of his career. The fact that he’s rebounded with the longest current undefeated streak in mixed martial arts — despite the fact that his first loss could have ruined his confidence forever — is absolutely amazing to me, as many young would-be prospects have crashed and burned in their debuts, never to be heard of again.
It got me thinking: What other mixed martial artists lost their first fight but then went on to have great success? I expected to bang out a list of ten fighters, but once I started doing the research, it blew my mind that some of the best fighters to ever compete in the sport, and a number of currently top 10-ranked fighters, actually lost their very first fight.
And so, I compiled a list of the top 24 MMA fighters of all time who lost their first fight. The list is based on accomplishments in the sport, overall skill level, and potential. Enjoy, and if I somehow missed somebody notable, please leave a comment below and explain why he or she should be included.
On July 26, 1996, at the age of 19 years old, Travis Fulton fought Dave Strasser in his MMA debut at Gladiators 1 in Davenport, Iowa, losing the fight via first-round submission. He then went on to win 249 fights, the most wins in mixed martial arts history. Fulton also holds the record for most fights (309) and most knockout wins (91) in MMA history.
Mind = blown.
Was Fulton a can crusher? Yes, yes he was. Or, should I say, yes he is, as he beat some nobody in his native Iowa just this past March. But you don’t win 249 MMA fights by accident, and Fulton deserves a place on this list based on volume alone.
Akihiro Gono was just 19 when the Japanese icon made his MMA debut in his home country against Yasunori Okuda in the first round of the Lumax Cup: Tournament of J’ 94, way back in April 1994. Like many of the fighters of the time, Gono wasn’t ready to defend submissions, and he tapped out to a first-round toe hold.
Gono may have lost the fight, but he would go on to have a very solid career that saw him compete in the UFC, PRIDE, Shooto, Pancrase, Sengoku, and finally Bellator, which would be his final stop.
In May 2012, after a solid 18-year run as a fan favorite, Gono fought for the last time against current Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler at Bellator 67, losing the fight via first-round KO.
Some will laugh that Minowaman is on this list, but he deserves to be after amassing a respectable 55-35-8 record during his cult-legendary career as a journeyman, where — like the great Fedor Emelianenko — he was notorious for fighting and beating larger opponents in the UFC, PRIDE, Dream and Pancrase, amongst other promotions.
However, he was also notorious for losing to some of them.
The first of his 35 losses came to Yuzo Tateishi via decision on March 30, 1996, at the Lumax Cup: Tournament of J ‘96 in Japan. It was the first of many career losses for Minowa, who started off his career 2-9-2 in his first 13 fights. To his credit though, he rebounded to eventually leave the sport with a winning record, and became a big star in PRIDE because he always put on exciting fights and feared no man.
The name “Minowaman” is always one that makes the hardcores’ hearts beat whenever anyone brings it up. Not bad for a guy who at first glance looked like he would contribute nothing in the sport.
(NOTE: The graphic in the video say his record was 3-1 but that tally likely referred to his amateur fights.)
Back on February 15, 1997 in – surprise, surprise – Iowa, a 24-year-old Shonie Carter got into his first professional MMA fight, the first of many for him.
It didn’t last long, however, as he was KO’ed by future five-time UFC vet Laverne Clark at Monte Cox’s Extreme Challenge 3, just nine seconds into the first round in what was the MMA debut of both men.
It became a classic KO in regional circuit MMA history.
Despite that early career loss, Carter then went on to have an unexpectedly awesome career where he attained 50 wins, including 26 by stoppage. He even made it to the Ultimate Fighting Championship and, in total, he fought six times in the UFC — one more than Clark, who knocked him out in that first battle.
One of those 26 aforementioned stoppage wins I mentioned — and one of the best KOs in UFC history — was his spinning back fist knockout of Matt Serra at UFC 31. Serra, who at the time was considered to be below Carter in the ranks, later defeated Georges St-Pierre at UFC 69 to win the UFC welterweight title. Carter, on the other hand, never quite made it to the top of the sport, to say the least, but at least he built a memorable persona as a stone-cold pimp.
Brian Ebersole’s first MMA bout took place on February 24, 2000 against Chris Albandia at TCC – Total Combat Challenge in Chicago. He lost the fight via decision.
He was just 18 years old.
However, despite the loss, Ebersole has gone on to have an awesome journeyman career that has seen him compile an excellent record of 50-15-1, 1 NC.
Ebersole finally made it to the UFC in 2012, upsetting Chris Lytle at UFC 127 and then winning three more in a row before a split decision loss to James Head at UFC 149 ended his win streak. He has sat out the past year with injuries.
But things are looking up for Ebersole, as he will finally make his return to the cage at UFC 167 against Rick Story. It’s a difficult matchup on paper, but it’s winnable. And even if he loses, the fans get to see the Hairrow — well hopefully, anyways — or at least one of those fancy cartwheel kicks. Make it happen, Brian.
On April 7, 2007, at UCW 7 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, two unknown Canadian women fought each other. One was Sarah Kaufman, who would later go on to win the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion and who will be making her UFC debut this Saturday at UFC 166, and the other was a 21-year-old Alexis Davis, who would eventually make it into the UFC as well.
On that night, Kaufman was the better woman, as she finished Davis via strikes in the third round. And Kaufman would demonstrate her superiority once again, defeating Davis via majority decision in March 2012 at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey.
However, Davis looks to be on the rise, and she certainly showed her potential in defeating Rosi Sexton in her Octagon debut at UFC 161. If her and Kaufman ever meet for a trilogy match, it’s possible Davis might finally get a win over her rival.
On Friday, MMAJunkie’s John Morgan tweeted that the PPV had sold only approximately 1,700 tickets, with another 2,000 on consignment. Matt Roth of MMAMania noted just how dire the situation really is. He pointed out that the venue can hold over 13,000 people, meaning that Bellator would have to sell in the neighborhood of 10,000 tickets in less than 20 days to secure a sellout. That probably isn’t going to happen — not even if Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson became giants like in the awful trailer for the PPV.
Bjorn Rebney better be prepared to get a job at his dad’s Winnebago dealership; winter is coming for Bellator. Nobody is going to attend their PPV, and it’s probable that, at an expected price between $35-45, nobody is going to purchase their PPV either. Nobody gives a fuck about their product and their titles are considered worthless. If the UFC stacked three title fights on a card, you’d expect success, even if it were the titles for the three lightest weight classes. But with Bellator, which is offering three title fights on its PPV (although one is a dubious interim title), nobody knows or cares. Hell, we’re a site whose fanbase is comprised pretty much of entirely hardcore fans, and judging by the front page poll, a third of you never even watch Bellator. If they can’t get the hardcores, what fucking chance do they have at getting the casual fans to drop money on this PPV?
Even more concerning is a recent report from MMAPayout about Bellator 102, which UFC “star” Cheick Kongo headlined. The show’s gate was only $73,410.43. A paltry 1,482 people attended the show but nearly half of those tickets (604 of them to be precise) were comped. Now, are you ready to be really amazed? Let’s look at the salaries…
On Friday, MMAJunkie’s John Morgan tweeted that the PPV had sold only approximately 1,700 tickets, with another 2,000 on consignment. Matt Roth of MMAMania noted just how dire the situation really is. He pointed out that the venue can hold over 13,000 people, meaning that Bellator would have to sell in the neighborhood of 10,000 tickets in less than 20 days to secure a sellout. That probably isn’t going to happen — not even if Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson became giants like in the awful trailer for the PPV.
Bjorn Rebney better be prepared to get a job at his dad’s Winnebago dealership; winter is coming for Bellator. Nobody is going to attend their PPV, and it’s probable that, at an expected price between $35-45, nobody is going to purchase their PPV either. Nobody gives a fuck about their product and their titles are considered worthless. If the UFC stacked three title fights on a card, you’d expect success, even if it were the titles for the three lightest weight classes. But with Bellator, which is offering three title fights on its PPV (although one is a dubious interim title), nobody knows or cares. Hell, we’re a site whose fanbase is comprised pretty much of entirely hardcore fans, and judging by the front page poll, a third of you never even watch Bellator. If they can’t get the hardcores, what fucking chance do they have at getting the casual fans to drop money on this PPV?
Even more concerning is a recent report from MMAPayout about Bellator 102, which UFC “star” Cheick Kongo headlined. The show’s gate was only $73,410.43. A paltry 1,482 people attended the show but nearly half of those tickets (604 of them to be precise) were comped. Now, are you ready to be really amazed? Let’s look at the salaries.
Kongo made $60,000 for his fight against Mark Godbeer, who made $15,000. So the main event alone accounted for more money than the entire show made in ticket sales. The total salary payout for the entire card, including Kongo and Godbeer, was $308,000.
Subtract the gate from the salaries and you get $234,589.57 — that’s what Bellator lost on the show, or at least that’s the amount of money that Bellator needs to make up through sponsorships and other deals. “Well Viacom is rich and can take a loss on Bellator,” you say? True enough, it seems at first that Viacom could pull off the whole Ted Turner-WCW thing, but Viacom already paid $50 million for an inferior product and a Dana White lookalike. And that product is proving that it’s not financially sustainable. How much longer will Viacom decide to keep the sick man of MMA on life support?
It’s rare, but we’re going to have to agree with Dana White here: There’s no value to Bellator. The promotion still features some insanely talented fighters, but financially, they’re worse in the shit than Enron or WaMu. Get ready for Dana to add another name to the tombstone.
(“Ugh, leave me out of this.” — God / Photo via Getty)
It’s day one of the post-Palhares era in the UFC, and so many questions still remain unanswered. Mainly, what the hell is up with this guy anyway? Is he a sociopath or something? And if so, should he be forced out of the sport altogether?
Palhares’s manager Alex Davis is throwing his support behind his fighter, and has decided to follow the narrative that Palhares is a good guy who simply isn’t in control of his own actions. As Davis told MMAFighting.com:
“He’s perplexed. He doesn’t really grasp it. He doesn’t really understand that he’s doing something overly wrong. He doesn’t get it…First of all, we’re going to figure out what the problem is. This kid is not a mean kid. Everyone who is with him loves him to pieces. We’re going to try to figure out why this happens. Why does this kid do this [expletive]? Why doesn’t he just stop?”
(“Ugh, leave me out of this.” — God / Photo via Getty)
It’s day one of the post-Palhares era in the UFC, and so many questions still remain unanswered. Mainly, what the hell is up with this guy anyway? Is he a sociopath or something? And if so, should he be forced out of the sport altogether?
Palhares’s manager Alex Davis is throwing his support behind his fighter, and has decided to follow the narrative that Palhares is a good guy who simply isn’t in control of his own actions. As Davis told MMAFighting.com:
“He’s perplexed. He doesn’t really grasp it. He doesn’t really understand that he’s doing something overly wrong. He doesn’t get it…First of all, we’re going to figure out what the problem is. This kid is not a mean kid. Everyone who is with him loves him to pieces. We’re going to try to figure out why this happens. Why does this kid do this [expletive]? Why doesn’t he just stop?”
“I just gave Rousimar the news. He was very sad to hear Dana’s decision. He is not a bad person or dirty fighter, and he is not trying to hurt people. Somehow, he just doesn’t hear or feel things at these moments. He worked very hard to get this far in his career, and he is not going to give up on it. He loves fighting. This is what he does. He apologizes to his fans, and will work hard to resolve these issues and fight in another event that would be interested in having him.
I can understand Dana’s perspective, but I need to reiterate that this kid does not do these things out of maliciousness. The people that live with him and train with him every day love him, and anyone else that meets him ends up doing the same. The UFC is a company and has both the right and the obligation to do what is in its best interest. I, myself, am extremely sad that it came to this, but I will continue to help and support Rousimar in his life and career. He is an awesome fighter by any standards – dedicated, humble and extremely hard-working. He will surpass this bump in the road and continue on with his fighting career.”
Mixed martial arts already rides such a thin line between combat sport and pure barbarism. It relies on its athletes to follow the rules — don’t eye-gouge, don’t keep hitting your opponent after the referee intervenes, don’t punch the referee when he tries to pull you off, etc. — and so far, MMA has survived because the vast majority of fighters have been able to control themselves and compete within that structure. But when a fighter doesn’t possess the capacity to show basic concern for his fellow athletes, it shouldn’t matter if it’s because he’s a bad person or not. He’s a liability to the sport, plain and simple.
As of now, Palhares wants to continue competing in another organization, and I’d be very interested to see who takes a chance on him. Whoever decides to roll the dice, they won’t be doing MMA any favors.
At the start of last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter, we learn that this week’s paired up opponents — Team Rousey’s Jessamyn Duke and Team Tate’s Raquel Pennington — were supposed to fight once before. Jessamyn was to make her pro debut against Raquel but her coaches made her pull out because they didn’t like the match up for her.
Jessamyn says she’s glad it is finally happening and on this large stage, no less. Raquel is like, whatever, I’m happy to fight you now because I was ready to fight you a while ago.
Raquel gets make over from Julianna Pena, who is supposedly a “little princess.” Raquel talks about the difficulty of having come out as gay to her family and learning to value her own happiness above what others think of her, while we watch her try on high heels, perhaps for the first time, and get a runway walking lesson from Julianna near the pool.
Raquel takes off the heels and gets back into the gym to work on her Muay Thai kickboxing — specifically defending against the clinch of the taller Jessamyn. Coach Tate tells Raquel not to respect Jessamyn’s punching power because she thinks the beanpole ex-model has not yet learned to hit with power. By contrast, Tate says that Raquel is the strongest girl on her team, and she’s concerned that Raquel will get going to a fast start.
After a commercial break, the teams are taken to something called The Green Valley Ranch, which seems to be a high-end bordello. A bunch of scantily clad Hooters Girls await them and pour them drinks. A pool party ensues, featuring gratuitous slo-mo shots of Tate entering the water and bikini-clad backsides. Luckily, the TUF YouTube channel has released video of that too:
At the start of last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter, we learn that this week’s paired up opponents — Team Rousey’s Jessamyn Duke and Team Tate’s Raquel Pennington — were supposed to fight once before. Jessamyn was to make her pro debut against Raquel but her coaches made her pull out because they didn’t like the match up for her.
Jessamyn says she’s glad it is finally happening and on this large stage, no less. Raquel is like, whatever, I’m happy to fight you now because I was ready to fight you a while ago.
Raquel gets make over from Julianna Pena, who is supposedly a “little princess.” Raquel talks about the difficulty of having come out as gay to her family and learning to value her own happiness above what others think of her, while we watch her try on high heels, perhaps for the first time, and get a runway walking lesson from Julianna near the pool.
Raquel takes off the heels and gets back into the gym to work on her Muay Thai kickboxing — specifically defending against the clinch of the taller Jessamyn. Coach Tate tells Raquel not to respect Jessamyn’s punching power because she thinks the beanpole ex-model has not yet learned to hit with power. By contrast, Tate says that Raquel is the strongest girl on her team, and she’s concerned that Raquel will get going to a fast start.
After a commercial break, the teams are taken to something called The Green Valley Ranch, which seems to be a high-end bordello. A bunch of scantily clad Hooters Girls await them and pour them drinks. A pool party ensues, featuring gratuitous slo-mo shots of Tate entering the water and bikini-clad backsides. Luckily, the TUF YouTube channel has released video of that too:
Raquel was bummed she couldn’t eat from the buffet because she was cutting weight, but she did push Tate into the water. Jessamyn says that if she was fighting anywhere else, any other time, she would not have gone to a pool party the day before weighing in, so she skips the festivities. Duke stays at the house alone and says she appreciated the quiet time and used it to focus on her fight.
Back at the pool part, Ronda decides not to fuck with the Tate family and everyone has a good time, with no Armenian-infused tension.
The part where a nation begins to root for Anthony to get knocked out
Team Rousey’s Anthony Gutierrez returns from the pool party, hopped up on liquor and frustrated that none of the hired girls at the ranch would give him the time of day. So, he takes out his frustration on the house. He screams, he stomps around, he throws things at the door of Raquel’s room as she tries to sleep and then proceeds to open up the door, jump on the girls’ beds, and drag Raquel out of hers.
Raquel has a fight coming up and is cutting weight. There could not be a worse time to mess with someone’s sleep or general peace of mind than right now. Anthony should know this well as a fighter himself. Raquel promises revenge. We’re hoping for the ol’ super-glue-on-the-eyelids or bludgeoning-with-a-chair-while-he-sleeps routine.
Instead, Julianna, Sarah Moras, and Raquel just go into Anthony’s room the next morning while he is sleeping, jump on his bed to wake him up, and then flip his mattress over while he’s still on it. Which was probably pretty easy for them because he’s a very, very small man.
Jessamyn readies for war
Back in the Team Rousey training room, coach Edmond advises Jessamyn to use her reach and keep Raquel at the end of her jab. Coach Rousey says that JD is raring to fight.
Duke says that she believes Raquel is the toughest girl left in the tournament and so if she beats her, she’ll be able to win the whole thing. Raquel says that she has had to distance herself from Jessamyn the past few days in order to prepare for their fight.
“No fight is easy but this one is simple. Be focused, be first,” Rousey tells Jessamyn in the locker room before the fight.
“You’re too strong for her. You’re too mentally tough. Just go, go, go, go,” Raquel is prodded in her locker room by a coach.
“The first round has to be yours,” Tate tells her.
Round 1
The first round proves to be a torrid affair as both women go hard. Raquel lands early and often with a hard inside leg kick while Jessamyn tries to keep her at bay with her jab and head kicks. Raquel forces her way inside and presses Jessamyn against the cage only to be caught in a standing guillotine.
Jessamyn looks to have a good grip on it as she works to secure the choke for the better part of a minute but Raquel defends well and works her way out of it and returns to the center of the Octagon. From there, both fighters throw and land with about the same frequency.
Jessamyn tries to use her length through kicks and Raquel counters off those kicks with effective punches of her own. Jessamyn lands a couple knees to the head but Raquel walks through them and returns fire.
Round 2
Both fighters begin by popping out the jab. Jessamyn finds success with some body kicks but Raquel begins to find her own range with an over hand right off of a jab.
Jessamyn gets the clinch and lands several hard knees to the head and body before Raquel punches her way out. Raquel begins to land the more powerful shots, mostly punches. Then, she initiates her own clinch, landing nasty knees to Jessamyn’s body and head.
They must have hurt but the knees also served to piss Jessamyn off as she pushes off and returns fire with knees and punches of her own. Raquel then really finds her mark with her right and left hands, teeing off on Jessamyn against the cage and hurting the Team Rousey fighter.
Jessamyn does not wilt, however, and gets back to the center of the mat before clinching with Raquel again and landing a few more nasty knees to her head. Raquel answers with another crushing right hand. Raquel lands a left push kick that sends Jessamyn careening backwards. Then, Raquel lands a rear round house leg kick. Jessamyn follows up with a head kick of her own.
Jessamyn lands a jab, then a left hook, followed up by knee after knee from the Thai plum clinch while pressing Raquel against the cage until the round ends.
The fight is scored dead even after two so we head into a sudden death round to decide a winner!
Round 3
Coach Tate’s prediction to her fighter Raquel proved to be true in the third round as Raquel’s striking power started to make the difference for her. Jessamyn continued her attack of head kicks and jabs but none of them landed as hard as Raquel’s hard lefts and rights, as well as her stiff leg kicks.
As the round progressed, Jessamyn began to eat more and more power shots to the head but kept moving forward, undeterred. With both her eyes bruised and her face cut, Jessamyn gave it one last flurry of effort in the final thirty seconds of the fight, landing punches and knees.
In the end, however, it was not enough and Raquel won the round and the fight on the judges’ scorecards.
Coach Tate shakes the hand of everyone in Jessamyn’s corner after the fight. Well, everyone except for Coach Rousey who, as Tate extends her hand, puts up a single finger and tells Meisha to “go fuck yourself.”
We may not have seen much of her in this episode, but “Rowdy” Rousey is always there. Don’t you forget it.
Coach Tate regains fight selection rights because of the win and selects Josh Hill (former male model) vs. Michael Wooten (current British guy). Thanks for joining us, ‘Taters. See ya next week!
Team Rousey Women Shayna Baszler (eliminated by Julianna Pena in the quarterfinals, episode 2) Jessamyn Duke (eliminated by Raquel Pennington in the quarterfinals, episode 6)
Peggy Morgan
Jessica Rakoczy
Team Rousey Men Chris Beal (eliminated by Chris Holdsworth in the quarterfinals, episode 3)
Davey Grant
Anthony Gutierrez
Michael Wootten
Team Tate Women
Julianna Pena
Sarah Moras
Raquel Pennington Roxanne Modafferi (eliminated by Jessica Rakoczy in the quarterfinals, episode 4)
Team Tate Men
Cody Bollinger
Chris Holdsworth
Josh Hill Louis Fisette (eliminated byDavey Grant in the quarterfinals, episode 5)
At the start of last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter, we learn that this week’s paired up opponents — Team Rousey’s Jessamyn Duke and Team Tate’s Raquel Pennington — were supposed to fight once before. Jessamyn was to make her pro debut against Raquel but her coaches made her pull out because they didn’t like the match up for her.
Jessamyn says she’s glad it is finally happening and on this large stage, no less. Raquel is like, whatever, I’m happy to fight you now because I was ready to fight you a while ago.
Raquel gets make over from Julianna Pena, who is supposedly a “little princess.” Raquel talks about the difficulty of having come out as gay to her family and learning to value her own happiness above what others think of her, while we watch her try on high heels, perhaps for the first time, and get a runway walking lesson from Julianna near the pool.
Raquel takes off the heels and gets back into the gym to work on her Muay Thai kickboxing — specifically defending against the clinch of the taller Jessamyn. Coach Tate tells Raquel not to respect Jessamyn’s punching power because she thinks the beanpole ex-model has not yet learned to hit with power. By contrast, Tate says that Raquel is the strongest girl on her team, and she’s concerned that Raquel will get going to a fast start.
After a commercial break, the teams are taken to something called The Green Valley Ranch, which seems to be a high-end bordello. A bunch of scantily clad Hooters Girls await them and pour them drinks. A pool party ensues, featuring gratuitous slo-mo shots of Tate entering the water and bikini-clad backsides. Luckily, the TUF YouTube channel has released video of that too:
At the start of last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter, we learn that this week’s paired up opponents — Team Rousey’s Jessamyn Duke and Team Tate’s Raquel Pennington — were supposed to fight once before. Jessamyn was to make her pro debut against Raquel but her coaches made her pull out because they didn’t like the match up for her.
Jessamyn says she’s glad it is finally happening and on this large stage, no less. Raquel is like, whatever, I’m happy to fight you now because I was ready to fight you a while ago.
Raquel gets make over from Julianna Pena, who is supposedly a “little princess.” Raquel talks about the difficulty of having come out as gay to her family and learning to value her own happiness above what others think of her, while we watch her try on high heels, perhaps for the first time, and get a runway walking lesson from Julianna near the pool.
Raquel takes off the heels and gets back into the gym to work on her Muay Thai kickboxing — specifically defending against the clinch of the taller Jessamyn. Coach Tate tells Raquel not to respect Jessamyn’s punching power because she thinks the beanpole ex-model has not yet learned to hit with power. By contrast, Tate says that Raquel is the strongest girl on her team, and she’s concerned that Raquel will get going to a fast start.
After a commercial break, the teams are taken to something called The Green Valley Ranch, which seems to be a high-end bordello. A bunch of scantily clad Hooters Girls await them and pour them drinks. A pool party ensues, featuring gratuitous slo-mo shots of Tate entering the water and bikini-clad backsides. Luckily, the TUF YouTube channel has released video of that too:
Raquel was bummed she couldn’t eat from the buffet because she was cutting weight, but she did push Tate into the water. Jessamyn says that if she was fighting anywhere else, any other time, she would not have gone to a pool party the day before weighing in, so she skips the festivities. Duke stays at the house alone and says she appreciated the quiet time and used it to focus on her fight.
Back at the pool part, Ronda decides not to fuck with the Tate family and everyone has a good time, with no Armenian-infused tension.
The part where a nation begins to root for Anthony to get knocked out
Team Rousey’s Anthony Gutierrez returns from the pool party, hopped up on liquor and frustrated that none of the hired girls at the ranch would give him the time of day. So, he takes out his frustration on the house. He screams, he stomps around, he throws things at the door of Raquel’s room as she tries to sleep and then proceeds to open up the door, jump on the girls’ beds, and drag Raquel out of hers.
Raquel has a fight coming up and is cutting weight. There could not be a worse time to mess with someone’s sleep or general peace of mind than right now. Anthony should know this well as a fighter himself. Raquel promises revenge. We’re hoping for the ol’ super-glue-on-the-eyelids or bludgeoning-with-a-chair-while-he-sleeps routine.
Instead, Julianna, Sarah Moras, and Raquel just go into Anthony’s room the next morning while he is sleeping, jump on his bed to wake him up, and then flip his mattress over while he’s still on it. Which was probably pretty easy for them because he’s a very, very small man.
Jessamyn readies for war
Back in the Team Rousey training room, coach Edmond advises Jessamyn to use her reach and keep Raquel at the end of her jab. Coach Rousey says that JD is raring to fight.
Duke says that she believes Raquel is the toughest girl left in the tournament and so if she beats her, she’ll be able to win the whole thing. Raquel says that she has had to distance herself from Jessamyn the past few days in order to prepare for their fight.
“No fight is easy but this one is simple. Be focused, be first,” Rousey tells Jessamyn in the locker room before the fight.
“You’re too strong for her. You’re too mentally tough. Just go, go, go, go,” Raquel is prodded in her locker room by a coach.
“The first round has to be yours,” Tate tells her.
Round 1
The first round proves to be a torrid affair as both women go hard. Raquel lands early and often with a hard inside leg kick while Jessamyn tries to keep her at bay with her jab and head kicks. Raquel forces her way inside and presses Jessamyn against the cage only to be caught in a standing guillotine.
Jessamyn looks to have a good grip on it as she works to secure the choke for the better part of a minute but Raquel defends well and works her way out of it and returns to the center of the Octagon. From there, both fighters throw and land with about the same frequency.
Jessamyn tries to use her length through kicks and Raquel counters off those kicks with effective punches of her own. Jessamyn lands a couple knees to the head but Raquel walks through them and returns fire.
Round 2
Both fighters begin by popping out the jab. Jessamyn finds success with some body kicks but Raquel begins to find her own range with an over hand right off of a jab.
Jessamyn gets the clinch and lands several hard knees to the head and body before Raquel punches her way out. Raquel begins to land the more powerful shots, mostly punches. Then, she initiates her own clinch, landing nasty knees to Jessamyn’s body and head.
They must have hurt but the knees also served to piss Jessamyn off as she pushes off and returns fire with knees and punches of her own. Raquel then really finds her mark with her right and left hands, teeing off on Jessamyn against the cage and hurting the Team Rousey fighter.
Jessamyn does not wilt, however, and gets back to the center of the mat before clinching with Raquel again and landing a few more nasty knees to her head. Raquel answers with another crushing right hand. Raquel lands a left push kick that sends Jessamyn careening backwards. Then, Raquel lands a rear round house leg kick. Jessamyn follows up with a head kick of her own.
Jessamyn lands a jab, then a left hook, followed up by knee after knee from the Thai plum clinch while pressing Raquel against the cage until the round ends.
The fight is scored dead even after two so we head into a sudden death round to decide a winner!
Round 3
Coach Tate’s prediction to her fighter Raquel proved to be true in the third round as Raquel’s striking power started to make the difference for her. Jessamyn continued her attack of head kicks and jabs but none of them landed as hard as Raquel’s hard lefts and rights, as well as her stiff leg kicks.
As the round progressed, Jessamyn began to eat more and more power shots to the head but kept moving forward, undeterred. With both her eyes bruised and her face cut, Jessamyn gave it one last flurry of effort in the final thirty seconds of the fight, landing punches and knees.
In the end, however, it was not enough and Raquel won the round and the fight on the judges’ scorecards.
Coach Tate shakes the hand of everyone in Jessamyn’s corner after the fight. Well, everyone except for Coach Rousey who, as Tate extends her hand, puts up a single finger and tells Meisha to “go fuck yourself.”
We may not have seen much of her in this episode, but “Rowdy” Rousey is always there. Don’t you forget it.
Coach Tate regains fight selection rights because of the win and selects Josh Hill (former male model) vs. Michael Wooten (current British guy). Thanks for joining us, ‘Taters. See ya next week!
Team Rousey Women Shayna Baszler (eliminated by Julianna Pena in the quarterfinals, episode 2) Jessamyn Duke (eliminated by Raquel Pennington in the quarterfinals, episode 6)
Peggy Morgan
Jessica Rakoczy
Team Rousey Men Chris Beal (eliminated by Chris Holdsworth in the quarterfinals, episode 3)
Davey Grant
Anthony Gutierrez
Michael Wootten
Team Tate Women
Julianna Pena
Sarah Moras
Raquel Pennington Roxanne Modafferi (eliminated by Jessica Rakoczy in the quarterfinals, episode 4)
Team Tate Men
Cody Bollinger
Chris Holdsworth
Josh Hill Louis Fisette (eliminated byDavey Grant in the quarterfinals, episode 5)
