Tag: Meisha Tate

‘TUF 18? Episode 7 Recap: The Great Facial Hair Fracas of 2013 Wages On


(The TUF editors refer to this as the “fearection” shot.)

Breaking from our usual tradition of giving long-winded, play-by-play recaps of each week’s The Ultimate Fighter, I’m going to keep things relatively short and sweet for yesterday’s episode, “Zone In,” which featured a fight between Josh Hill (Team Tate) and Michael Wootten (Team Rousey). It might be because the seventh episode of season 18 contained very few highlights of note, it might be because I am just catching up on the episode as I write this. In any case, I’ve already provided more introspection than I will for the rest of this recap, so let’s get started.

Following her three round war with Jessamyn Duke last week, Raquel Pennington receives a congratulatory talking to from Dana White, who insists that she “Let dem hands go, grrrl” if she wants to win this whole thing. He might have phrased that differently.

It’s father’s day back at the house (and presumably, the rest of the world as well), so you know what that means: DADS HAVING A CRYFEST!! Cody Bollinger is hit the hardest by the sads but Ronda Rousey stops by to give all the father’s shaving kits to make them feel better. Oh, so Team Tate gives Edmund a discount coupon for an eyebrow treatment and it’s offensive, but Ronda can hand out shaving kits all willy-nilly and we’re supposed to commend her for it? SHE-NAN-I-GANS.

Not willing to sit idly by and lose the Great Facial Hair Fracas of 2013, Team Tate puts up some photos of Fallon Fox “Edmund Rousey,” a unibrowed, half-man, half-woman thing so horrifying that the cameras dare not show it. POINT GRYFFINDOR TATE. Dana White stops by to remove the photos but neglects to check the sauna like a goddamn amateur. Upon seeing the photo DW missed, Ronda immediately pulls the racist card on Team Tate. That’s right, unibrow jokes now qualify as racist. Tell them how we feel about this latest development, Hubert.

Team Rousey has a training session that consists of convulsing on the mat, Dana White hates one-dimensional fighters like Josh Hill, slow-motion walking blah blah blah FIGHT TIME!


(The TUF editors refer to this as the “fearection” shot.)

Breaking from our usual tradition of giving long-winded, play-by-play recaps of each week’s The Ultimate Fighter, I’m going to keep things relatively short and sweet for yesterday’s episode, “Zone In,” which featured a fight between Josh Hill (Team Tate) and Michael Wootten (Team Rousey). It might be because the seventh episode of season 18 contained very few highlights of note, it might be because I am just catching up on the episode as I write this. In any case, I’ve already provided more introspection than I will for the rest of this recap, so let’s get started.

Following her three round war with Jessamyn Duke last week, Raquel Pennington receives a congratulatory talking to from Dana White, who insists that she “Let dem hands go, grrrl” if she wants to win this whole thing. He might have phrased that differently.

It’s father’s day back at the house (and presumably, the rest of the world as well), so you know what that means: DADS HAVING A CRYFEST!! Cody Bollinger is hit the hardest by the sads but Ronda Rousey stops by to give all the father’s shaving kits to make them feel better. Oh, so Team Tate gives Edmund a discount coupon for an eyebrow treatment and it’s offensive, but Ronda can hand out shaving kits all willy-nilly and we’re supposed to commend her for it? SHE-NAN-I-GANS.

Not willing to sit idly by and lose the Great Facial Hair Fracas of 2013, Team Tate puts up some photos of Fallon Fox ”Edmund Rousey,” a unibrowed, half-man, half-woman thing so horrifying that the cameras dare not show it. POINT GRYFFINDOR TATE. Dana White stops by to remove the photos but neglects to check the sauna like a goddamn amateur. Upon seeing the photo DW missed, Ronda immediately pulls the racist card on Team Tate. That’s right, unibrow jokes now qualify as racist. Tell them how we feel about this latest development, Hubert.

Team Rousey has a training session that consists of convulsing on the mat, Dana White hates one-dimensional fighters like Josh Hill, slow-motion walking blah blah blah FIGHT TIME!

Round 1: Being that Hill is a one-dimensional lay-n-prayer not worthy of our praise, he shoots in for a takedown almost immediately. Apparently Hill follows the Michael Bay rule of compromise, and I respect him for it. The rest of the round, however, is boring as shit. Hill fails to capitalize on a rear-naked choke and spends three or so minutes pushing Wootten against the cage. THIS IS WHY THE WOMEN’S FIGHTS ARE GETTING HIGHER RATINGS, YOU GUYS.

Round 2: Ever the contrarian, Wootten starts round 2 by firing off the biggest strike of the fight, a right knee that momentarily drops Hill. Hill gets back to his feet and Wootten takes him down for reasons that are not immediately clear. They become more and more clear, however, as Wootten continues to reign down heavy punches and elbows from Hill’s guard. Hill survives the onslaught and gets back to his feet, only to have Wootten shoot on him. Hill pulls guard and snatches up a guillotine that is a no-go, then Wooten attempts a similarly misguided RNC of his own. Hill reverses and finishes the round with some pitter-patter punches from on top. A much more entertaining round and it looks like we’re going to a third…

Round 3: Hill starts things off with a spinning backfist that misses. After a scramble along the fence, Hill tries to secure another takedown but fails. Another scramble, a few elbows, and Wootten tries for a takedown. Hill trying for a takedown against the fence. Hill trying for a takedown. Hill still trying for that takedown…they break! Hill tries another spinning backfist that is just adorable and Wootten gets a takedown. Wootten stays on top for the final minute and a half, landing a few punches here and there and this one is all over.

Michael Wooten def. Josh Hill via Unanimous Decision.

It wasn’t exactly the barnburner that last week’s fight was, but it’ll do, pig.

Tate congrats Team Rousey on the win, gets flipped off again, rinse, repeat. At the fight announcement, Rousey “picks’ the final two quarterfinal fights: Peggy Morgan vs. Sarah Moras and Cody Bollinger vs. Anthony Gutierrez.

Next week: A recap episode? With no fights? The fuck do they think this is, Twin Peaks?! Yeah, we will not be recapping that.

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 (eliminated by Michael Wootten in the quarterfinals, episode 7)
Louis Fisette (eliminated by Davey Grant in the quarterfinals, episode 5)

–J. Jones

‘TUF 18? Episode 6 Recap + Videos: Hooters Girls, Bed Invasions, And an All-Out War

(The entire Raquel Pennington vs. Jessamyn Duke fight, via YouTube.com/TheUltimateFighter)

By Elias Cepeda

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:


(The entire Raquel Pennington vs. Jessamyn Duke fight, via YouTube.com/TheUltimateFighter)

By Elias Cepeda

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 by Davey Grant in the quarterfinals, episode 5)

‘TUF 18? Episode 6 Recap + Videos: Hooters Girls, Bed Invasions, And an All-Out War

(The entire Raquel Pennington vs. Jessamyn Duke fight, via YouTube.com/TheUltimateFighter)

By Elias Cepeda

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:


(The entire Raquel Pennington vs. Jessamyn Duke fight, via YouTube.com/TheUltimateFighter)

By Elias Cepeda

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 by Davey Grant in the quarterfinals, episode 5)

Ronda Rousey: ‘Crazy’ Like a Champion


(Ronda Rousey after successfully defending her UFC bantamweight title against Liz Carmouche in February. | Photo via Getty)

By Elias Cepeda

There seems to be a lot of chatter about Ronda Rousey’s mental state lately. The UFC women’s bantamweight champion has always gotten attention for her intensity and arm-snapping viciousness, but ever since Rousey the TUF 18 Coach began appearing on television a few weeks ago, the notion that the undefeated fighter is mentally unstable has started to pick up steam.

There was Ronda becoming infuriated when Meisha Tate dared to celebrate her own fighter’s win over Team Rousey’s Shayna Baszler. There was Ronda getting in the face of and taunting Tate’s coach/manager/boyfriend Bryan Caraway. There was Ronda kicking open the UFC gym door and screaming Tate’s team out because they’d gone approximately 30 seconds over their scheduled time. In last week’s episode, Ronda launched some of her trademark hostility against UFC vet and Team Tate assistant coach Dennis Hallman.

And then, of course, there’s Ronda crying. A lot. Like, all the time.

Not your normal, boo-hoo type of crying, either. Hers is an angry, motivated and terrifying type of cry. Former Strikeforce champion and would-be Rousey rival Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino called Rousey “mentally sick” after watching her on The Ultimate Fighter. Recently, Hallman did an interview where he recounted a story of an incident he said happened on the TUF set where Rousey told a producer of the show to shut their mouth while she was speaking to her, and then said that he believed that Ronda had mental health issues.

I’ve already written in partial jest that Rousey’s mind is evidently a dark and scary place, but is the two-time Olympian “crazy?” The simple answer is, “no.”

If Ronda Rousey is crazy, it’s the type of crazy that has become familiar to us in great competitors. Rousey isn’t an out-of-control head case, she’s a competitor. She’s not crazy, she’s a champion. And like many champions before her, Ronda is a fiercer competitor than most professional athletes. Her hyper-competitiveness, her apparent need to establish dominance in almost every and any situation, and her ability to used even perceived slights as fuel are traits Rousey shares with the likes of Michael Jordan and Anderson Silva.


(Ronda Rousey after successfully defending her UFC bantamweight title against Liz Carmouche in February. | Photo via Getty)

By Elias Cepeda

There seems to be a lot of chatter about Ronda Rousey’s mental state lately. The UFC women’s bantamweight champion has always gotten attention for her intensity and arm-snapping viciousness, but ever since Rousey the TUF 18 Coach began appearing on television a few weeks ago, the notion that the undefeated fighter is mentally unstable has started to pick up steam.

There was Ronda becoming infuriated when Meisha Tate dared to celebrate her own fighter’s win over Team Rousey’s Shayna Baszler. There was Ronda getting in the face of and taunting Tate’s coach/manager/boyfriend Bryan Caraway. There was Ronda kicking open the UFC gym door and screaming Tate’s team out because they’d gone approximately 30 seconds over their scheduled time. In last week’s episode, Ronda launched some of her trademark hostility against UFC vet and Team Tate assistant coach Dennis Hallman.

And then, of course, there’s Ronda crying. A lot. Like, all the time.

Not your normal, boo-hoo type of crying, either. Hers is an angry, motivated and terrifying type of cry. Former Strikeforce champion and would-be Rousey rival Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino called Rousey “mentally sick” after watching her on The Ultimate Fighter. Recently, Hallman did an interview where he recounted a story of an incident he said happened on the TUF set where Rousey told a producer of the show to shut their mouth while she was speaking to her, and then said that he believed that Ronda had mental health issues.

I’ve already written in partial jest that Rousey’s mind is evidently a dark and scary place, but is the two-time Olympian “crazy?” The simple answer is, “no.”

If Ronda Rousey is crazy, it’s the type of crazy that has become familiar to us in great competitors. Rousey isn’t an out-of-control head case, she’s a competitor. She’s not crazy, she’s a champion. And like many champions before her, Ronda is a fiercer competitor than most professional athletes. Her hyper-competitiveness, her apparent need to establish dominance in almost every and any situation, and her ability to used even perceived slights as fuel are traits Rousey shares with the likes of Michael Jordan and Anderson Silva.

Joe Rogan shared a keen observation about high-level competitors on his podcast once. He spoke about legendary athletes like Jordan, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson and how traits of theirs that could be considered flaws, actually helped make them the champions they were.

“A lot of success in athletics comes down to almost, like, a psychosis,” Rogan said. “At a real high level of anything, there’s a certain amount of crazy behavior to get to this incredible position like Michael Jordan or Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson in his prime. There’s a madness.”

Joe Rogan on the madness of excellence

MJ not only held on to grudges longer than anyone and turned them into fifty-point games, he was also so ruthlessly competitive that he punched his own teammates in the head during practices. Ali literally, and arguably criminally, stalked Sonny Liston outside his home, and before their first fight doctors came close to not even allowing the brash young star to compete because of his erratic behavior at the weigh in and because his heart rate and blood pressure were at dangerous levels afterwards. Anderson Silva has spent more time talking and taunting and pantomiming during some fights than actually fighting. He has worn masks, kissed and shoulder-checked opponents in the face during weigh-ins.

We don’t really have to detail Mike Tyson’s crazy behavior for you, do we?

Ronda Rousey’s craziness is becoming part of her persona, but it is clear that she’s often times acting out on purpose. She’s already said that a chief part of her strategy in her rematch with Tate is to get her opponent so angry and agitated by her antics leading up to the fight that she will not fight smart — something that Rousey believes happened in their first fight and helped her win so fast.

As for how legitimately touchy Ronda appears to be at times, her mind might very well be wired differently, but it is also likely a key to all her success. Like Silva and Jordan, Rousey appears to be a master at being able to use anything to fuel and motivate herself.

And, if Rousey couldn’t manufacture extra things to motivate her in fighting Tate again, there simply might not be enough there for her to be sharp. Think about it. Ronda beat Tate already and did so quickly and decisively. Most recently, Tate went out and lost to Cat Zingano in her UFC debut. Ronda, still undefeated, now has to fight a woman who she’s already beaten and who has lost two out of her last three fights.

Chances are that Ronda needs a little extra motivation to fight Tate again and so she’s giving it to herself on this season of TUF. In the sense of living a happy and healthy life outside of or after your competitive career, are traits like hyper competitiveness, a need to dominate, and an ability to make mountains our of mole hills great for a person’s emotional health? Maybe not. Would Rousey have become a champ without those traits, though? Unlikely.

Rousey is exactly what she has needed to be to succeed. That isn’t to discount how good, dedicated and hard fighting even someone as even-tempered as Meisha Tate can be and is. Tate is an excellent fighter, but how many of Rousey’s personality critics would be willing to put their money up against the champ in their rematch? All other things being equal in a fight, this writer will always bet on the meaner, madder dog.

So far, Ronda Rousey hasn’t met anyone meaner or madder and that’s a big reason why she’s the champ.

Ronda Rousey: ‘Crazy’ Like a Champion


(Ronda Rousey after successfully defending her UFC bantamweight title against Liz Carmouche in February. | Photo via Getty)

By Elias Cepeda

There seems to be a lot of chatter about Ronda Rousey’s mental state lately. The UFC women’s bantamweight champion has always gotten attention for her intensity and arm-snapping viciousness, but ever since Rousey the TUF 18 Coach began appearing on television a few weeks ago, the notion that the undefeated fighter is mentally unstable has started to pick up steam.

There was Ronda becoming infuriated when Meisha Tate dared to celebrate her own fighter’s win over Team Rousey’s Shayna Baszler. There was Ronda getting in the face of and taunting Tate’s coach/manager/boyfriend Bryan Caraway. There was Ronda kicking open the UFC gym door and screaming Tate’s team out because they’d gone approximately 30 seconds over their scheduled time. In last week’s episode, Ronda launched some of her trademark hostility against UFC vet and Team Tate assistant coach Dennis Hallman.

And then, of course, there’s Ronda crying. A lot. Like, all the time.

Not your normal, boo-hoo type of crying, either. Hers is an angry, motivated and terrifying type of cry. Former Strikeforce champion and would-be Rousey rival Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino called Rousey “mentally sick” after watching her on The Ultimate Fighter. Recently, Hallman did an interview where he recounted a story of an incident he said happened on the TUF set where Rousey told a producer of the show to shut their mouth while she was speaking to her, and then said that he believed that Ronda had mental health issues.

I’ve already written in partial jest that Rousey’s mind is evidently a dark and scary place, but is the two-time Olympian “crazy?” The simple answer is, “no.”

If Ronda Rousey is crazy, it’s the type of crazy that has become familiar to us in great competitors. Rousey isn’t an out-of-control head case, she’s a competitor. She’s not crazy, she’s a champion. And like many champions before her, Ronda is a fiercer competitor than most professional athletes. Her hyper-competitiveness, her apparent need to establish dominance in almost every and any situation, and her ability to used even perceived slights as fuel are traits Rousey shares with the likes of Michael Jordan and Anderson Silva.


(Ronda Rousey after successfully defending her UFC bantamweight title against Liz Carmouche in February. | Photo via Getty)

By Elias Cepeda

There seems to be a lot of chatter about Ronda Rousey’s mental state lately. The UFC women’s bantamweight champion has always gotten attention for her intensity and arm-snapping viciousness, but ever since Rousey the TUF 18 Coach began appearing on television a few weeks ago, the notion that the undefeated fighter is mentally unstable has started to pick up steam.

There was Ronda becoming infuriated when Meisha Tate dared to celebrate her own fighter’s win over Team Rousey’s Shayna Baszler. There was Ronda getting in the face of and taunting Tate’s coach/manager/boyfriend Bryan Caraway. There was Ronda kicking open the UFC gym door and screaming Tate’s team out because they’d gone approximately 30 seconds over their scheduled time. In last week’s episode, Ronda launched some of her trademark hostility against UFC vet and Team Tate assistant coach Dennis Hallman.

And then, of course, there’s Ronda crying. A lot. Like, all the time.

Not your normal, boo-hoo type of crying, either. Hers is an angry, motivated and terrifying type of cry. Former Strikeforce champion and would-be Rousey rival Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino called Rousey “mentally sick” after watching her on The Ultimate Fighter. Recently, Hallman did an interview where he recounted a story of an incident he said happened on the TUF set where Rousey told a producer of the show to shut their mouth while she was speaking to her, and then said that he believed that Ronda had mental health issues.

I’ve already written in partial jest that Rousey’s mind is evidently a dark and scary place, but is the two-time Olympian “crazy?” The simple answer is, “no.”

If Ronda Rousey is crazy, it’s the type of crazy that has become familiar to us in great competitors. Rousey isn’t an out-of-control head case, she’s a competitor. She’s not crazy, she’s a champion. And like many champions before her, Ronda is a fiercer competitor than most professional athletes. Her hyper-competitiveness, her apparent need to establish dominance in almost every and any situation, and her ability to used even perceived slights as fuel are traits Rousey shares with the likes of Michael Jordan and Anderson Silva.

Joe Rogan shared a keen observation about high-level competitors on his podcast once. He spoke about legendary athletes like Jordan, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson and how traits of theirs that could be considered flaws, actually helped make them the champions they were.

“A lot of success in athletics comes down to almost, like, a psychosis,” Rogan said. “At a real high level of anything, there’s a certain amount of crazy behavior to get to this incredible position like Michael Jordan or Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson in his prime. There’s a madness.”

Joe Rogan on the madness of excellence

MJ not only held on to grudges longer than anyone and turned them into fifty-point games, he was also so ruthlessly competitive that he punched his own teammates in the head during practices. Ali literally, and arguably criminally, stalked Sonny Liston outside his home, and before their first fight doctors came close to not even allowing the brash young star to compete because of his erratic behavior at the weigh in and because his heart rate and blood pressure were at dangerous levels afterwards. Anderson Silva has spent more time talking and taunting and pantomiming during some fights than actually fighting. He has worn masks, kissed and shoulder-checked opponents in the face during weigh-ins.

We don’t really have to detail Mike Tyson’s crazy behavior for you, do we?

Ronda Rousey’s craziness is becoming part of her persona, but it is clear that she’s often times acting out on purpose. She’s already said that a chief part of her strategy in her rematch with Tate is to get her opponent so angry and agitated by her antics leading up to the fight that she will not fight smart — something that Rousey believes happened in their first fight and helped her win so fast.

As for how legitimately touchy Ronda appears to be at times, her mind might very well be wired differently, but it is also likely a key to all her success. Like Silva and Jordan, Rousey appears to be a master at being able to use anything to fuel and motivate herself.

And, if Rousey couldn’t manufacture extra things to motivate her in fighting Tate again, there simply might not be enough there for her to be sharp. Think about it. Ronda beat Tate already and did so quickly and decisively. Most recently, Tate went out and lost to Cat Zingano in her UFC debut. Ronda, still undefeated, now has to fight a woman who she’s already beaten and who has lost two out of her last three fights.

Chances are that Ronda needs a little extra motivation to fight Tate again and so she’s giving it to herself on this season of TUF. In the sense of living a happy and healthy life outside of or after your competitive career, are traits like hyper competitiveness, a need to dominate, and an ability to make mountains our of mole hills great for a person’s emotional health? Maybe not. Would Rousey have become a champ without those traits, though? Unlikely.

Rousey is exactly what she has needed to be to succeed. That isn’t to discount how good, dedicated and hard fighting even someone as even-tempered as Meisha Tate can be and is. Tate is an excellent fighter, but how many of Rousey’s personality critics would be willing to put their money up against the champ in their rematch? All other things being equal in a fight, this writer will always bet on the meaner, madder dog.

So far, Ronda Rousey hasn’t met anyone meaner or madder and that’s a big reason why she’s the champ.

TUF 18 Episode 1 Recap: Welcome to Co-Ed Sleepaway Camp Fight Club

By Elias Cepeda

The first episode of The Ultimate Fighter season 18 begins with Ronda Rousey finding out that she will be coaching against Meisha Tate instead of Cat Zingano. She isn’t very happy. In fact, she loses her shit, storms around the TUF gym after Meisha walks in and surprises her, looking for Dana White so he can explain.

When he does, Rousey looks relieved. For some reason, she thought that seeing Tate there meant that she herself was being kicked off as a coach. Not sure why she’d assume that, but it just reaffirms that Rousey’s mind is a dark, scary place built to use everything it encounters as anger-inducing motivation. She’s a terrifying, awesome chick.

The reality sets in — Ronda will coach against Mr. and Mrs. Tate on TUF and will rematch Meisha when it’s all over. Rousey seems cool with it, finally, talking of destiny and broken limbs. This season, of course, will feature both men and women bantamweights vying for a UFC contract.

Thirty-two fighters, sixteen of each gender, have been invited to Vegas and will fight their way into the TUF house. First up, is the obligatory former female model turned fighter Jessamyn Duke out of Kentucky winning by triangle choke. The Invicta vet is 5’11 and somehow makes 135 pounds. Nuts.

Next up, David Grant from Britain faces Dominick Cruz’s teammate Danny Martinez. Martinez is desperate for the take down from the get-go. While defending a takedown against the fence, Grant throws a downward elbow to Martinez’ spine and has a point deducted.

Martinez finally gets a takedown near the end of the round but Grant immediately works a triangle choke. Time runs out and Martinez is saved by the bell. The second round starts and Martinez looks gassed.

Grant knocks Martinez down with a punch, then transitions to his back and, as Martinez gets up, Grant knees him to what he believes is the shoulder but what referee Herb Dean calls as an illegal knee to the head. Another point is deducted.

By Elias Cepeda

The first episode of The Ultimate Fighter season 18 begins with Ronda Rousey finding out that she will be coaching against Meisha Tate instead of Cat Zingano. She isn’t very happy. In fact, she loses her shit, storms around the TUF gym after Meisha walks in and surprises her, looking for Dana White so he can explain.

When he does, Rousey looks relieved. For some reason, she thought that seeing Tate there meant that she herself was being kicked off as a coach. Not sure why she’d assume that, but it just reaffirms that Rousey’s mind is a dark, scary place built to use everything it encounters as anger-inducing motivation. She’s a terrifying, awesome chick.

The reality sets in — Ronda will coach against Mr. and Mrs. Tate on TUF and will rematch Meisha when it’s all over. Rousey seems cool with it, finally, talking of destiny and broken limbs. This season, of course, will feature both men and women bantamweights vying for a UFC contract.

Thirty-two fighters, sixteen of each gender, have been invited to Vegas and will fight their way into the TUF house. First up, is the obligatory former female model turned fighter Jessamyn Duke out of Kentucky winning by triangle choke. The Invicta vet is 5’11 and somehow makes 135 pounds. Nuts.

Next up, David Grant from Britain faces Dominick Cruz’s teammate Danny Martinez. Martinez is desperate for the take down from the get-go. While defending a takedown against the fence, Grant throws a downward elbow to Martinez’ spine and has a point deducted.

Martinez finally gets a takedown near the end of the round but Grant immediately works a triangle choke. Time runs out and Martinez is saved by the bell. The second round starts and Martinez looks gassed.

Grant knocks Martinez down with a punch, then transitions to his back and, as Martinez gets up, Grant knees him to what he believes is the shoulder but what referee Herb Dean calls as an illegal knee to the head. Another point is deducted.

Grant is clearly the better fighter but is on the verge of losing because of point deductions. Not so fast, the Brit says, and he transitions to a beautiful rolling arm bar the next time the two are on the ground and finishes Martinez to make it into the house.

Dana White sits in between Ronda and Meisha outside of the Octagon, watching the fights. He tries to make small talk and Meisha seems to engage him but Ronda is focused like a laser, pen in hand, making notes as she watches.

Next up, Revelina Berto, sister of Andre Berto, and Jessica Rakoczy get in a back and forth grappling match before Rakoczy gets the submission with a weird, inverted omoplata.

Michael Wootten and Emil Hartsner are up next and both immediately earn the Dana White Scorn Award (also known as the Jon Fitch Memorial Trophy) for being “boring,” and doing that wrestling stuff that is so stupid. Wootten wins a decision.

Peggy Morgan is an adjunct college professor and tall as all get out. She uses her huge size advantage to smash Bethany Marshall and pound her out for a first round TKO win. Meisha Tate calls Morgan the biggest 135-pounder she’s ever seen in her life. Ronda dubs her “Peggy Don’t Give a Fuck.” Now that’s a nickname.

Next up women’s MMA pioneer Roxanne Modafferi takes on Georges St. Pierre Tri Star gym teammate Valerie Letourneau. The TUF producers and fighters continue their “good television” but incredibly disruptive practice of having the families of competitors come visit them the night before their fight and also watch the fights in person. Letourneau has her young daughter watch her lose. Gotta be rough, but we’ve seen worse. Roxy gets the take down, takes the back and sinks in a rear naked choke early.

Tim Gorman finishes Lee Sandmeier quickly, getting a take down, obtaining mount and then the back and finishing with strikes for the TKO win. You don’t know it yet, but Gorman is a real asshole. Stay with us, you’ll see what we mean soon.

Next up, former Gina Carano opponent and party wrestling buddy Tonya Evinger takes on Raquel Pennington. With so many pioneers and veterans on the women’s side, it is interesting to hear Meisha dish on fighters that she knows or well or at least knows of like Roxanne and Tonya. In this case, Tate shares with Dana that Evinger always has “drama” with her girlfriends and that is the reason she has lost the fights she has.

Seems out of left field, but after Raquel submits Tonya in the second round, Evinger herself seems to be referring to such situations saying that she’s got too many distractions in her life right now. Get it together, Tonya. We’ve always liked what you bring to the table, and we’re rooting for ya.

Chris Beal gets the distinction of being the first TUF 18 member (hopefully the last) to wear a mask out to the cage. The kid is a cancer survivor. Not sure if that’s related to the mask or not. In any case, he scores an early nasty knockdown of Sirwan Kakai but the Swede hangs tough, comes back and fights hard before losing a decision to Beal.

Josh Hill wins a unanimous decision over Patrick Holohan on the strength of his wrestling.

Colleen Schneider takes on the highly regard Shayna Baszler next and Baszler wins with an armbar.

Louis Fisett is a spoiled, no good, lazy moocher. Well, at least that’s what his father says about him. He immediately takes down Chris Holdsworth, of Urijah Faber’s suddenly-unbeatable Team Alpha Male, but is in trouble from armbars and triangle chokes right off. He works out but then gets reversed and taps to an arm triangle choke.

Julianna Pena shows impressive ground striking in her bout against Gina Mazany and wins a decision.

Anthony Gutierrez wins a decision over Matt Munsey next.

Former #1 ranked fighter Tara LaRosa fights a fan in Sarah Moras. That admiration doesn’t stop Moras from winning a decision off the strength of take downs and multiple submission attempts.

We’d heard lots about Cody Bollinger recently and the 22-year-old does indeed look tough in stopping Rafael De Freitas in the second round. Cody got a take down in the first but spent most of the first round working out of deep submission attempts from De Freitas. In the second round, however, Cody is the fresher fighter and begins to tee off on the feet with strikes until he drops and finishes De Freitas.

That’s all the fights and now it is time for the coin toss to see which coach will get to begin picking their team first. Ronda wins the coin toss and has the choice of picking first or instead deciding on the first fight. She chooses to pick the first fight and cedes the first fighter pick to Meisha.

Tate chooses Julianna Pena, whom she has trained with in the past. Ronda chooses Baszler. For the full team list, go here.

Oh yeah, here’s when we learn that Tim Gorman is a dork. The Iowa fighter gets chosen last by Tate, which probably kinda stings. Oh well, the other fighters just deal with it. Not Timmy, though.

“I got picked by Meisha Tate,” he tells the confession camera later. “Is that her name? I don’t even know what her name is so I don’t care that she picked me last because I don’t even know who she is.”

Well, the rest of the fight world knows who the soon to be two-time world title challenger is, Tim. She’s fought in the UFC, you haven’t. She’s headlined a pay per view. You haven’t. She’s a professional fighter who does this for a living. You hope to soon be able to do that one day. Any other questions?

Fight pick time is up and Ronda goes in headfirst. She pits both teams’ first picks against one another. Julianna Pena from Team Tate will take on Shayna Baszler from Team Rousey.

That’s it for this week, kids. Can’t wait to see how these guys and dolls coexist in the house together and who will come out on top in what looks to be a great first fight.