Tag: Peggy Morgan

Invicta FC 8 Summed Up in One GIF


(GIF via r/MMA)

Invicta FC 8 aired on UFC Fight Pass last night.

A Fight Pass deal was a welcomed development. Invicta finally had a stable medium to broadcast their shows on…or so we thought.

After a pretty entertaining card, the stream froze shortly into the main event, which pitted Michelle Waterson against Yasuko Tamada.

People were understandably upset, though some tried to justify the stream going down by saying the phone stream was intact. The stream bounced back for about 10 seconds in the third round and then froze again. It didn’t come back (at least not for us) until Mike Schiavello was saying goodbye to everyone. From what we did see of the main event, Waterson looked incredible. She was agile, her strikes were lightning quick and she was unloading fierce combinations on Tamada. Tamada, on the other hand, looked like she was about 60 years old. We’re not kidding either. Her age is unknown. She had to be close to 40 at least. Outside of the fact that she was slow, her skill set was anemic. Waterson destroyed her.

Overall, the event was pretty good if you ignore the stream collapsing at the end (bad streams must be some kind of Invicta curse).


(If GIFs had sound you’d be hearing “THISFIGHTTHISFIGHTTHISFIGHTTHISFIGHT.” / GIF via r/MMA)

Invicta FC 8 aired on UFC Fight Pass last night.

A Fight Pass deal was a welcomed development. Invicta finally had a stable medium on which to broadcast their shows…or so we thought.

After a pretty entertaining card, the stream froze shortly into the main event, which pitted Michelle Waterson against Yasuko Tamada.

People were understandably upset, though some tried to justify the stream going down by saying the phone stream was intact. The stream bounced back for about 10 seconds in the third round and then froze again. It didn’t come back (at least not for us) until Mike Schiavello was saying goodbye to everyone. From what we did see of the main event, Waterson looked incredible. She was agile, her strikes were lightning quick and she was unloading fierce combinations on Tamada. Tamada, on the other hand, looked like she was about 60 years old. We’d love to know how old she actually is but her age is unknown. No joke. She had to be close to 40 at least. Outside of the fact that she was slow, her skill set was anemic. Waterson destroyed her.

Overall, the event was pretty good if you ignore the stream collapsing at the end (bad streams must be some kind of Invicta curse).

We got to see Katja Kankaanpaa capture the Invicta FC strawweight title with a plucky submission win over Stephanie Eggink. Eggink controlled the first four rounds of the fight and nearly finished Kankaanpaa on multiple occasions. In the fifth round, Kankaanpaa caught Eggink, who seemed to disregard Kankaanpaa’s chances so late in the fight, in a d’arce choke. For some reason, the announcer called it a “dragon sleeper choke.” Cool, sure.

Other fights:

Tonya Evinger absolutely wrecked Ediane Gomes, dominating her in the grappling department and ultimately submitting her with an armbar. In her post-fight interview, Evinger said her game plan was simply to “kick someone’s ass.”

Women’s MMA pioneers Roxanne Modafferi and Tara LaRosa met on this card. Modafferi looked like a different fighter. Her striking and footwork improved about a thousand times over since we saw her in the UFC. She picked LaRosa apart en route to a unanimous decision.

DeAnna Bennett scored an incredible liver kick KO over Michelle Ould. The kick was brutal enough to have Ould reeling for several minutes after the fight was over.

Veronica Rothenhausler couldn’t continue her streak of knocking out her opponents in the first round. She managed to clip Charmaine Tweet in the first few seconds of the fight, but Tweet recovered quickly and proved to be far too much for Rothenhausler to handle. Tweet took control of the fight, dragged Rothenhausler to the mat, and finished her with ground and pound.

There were two fights of note on the prelims:

Irene Aldana defeated UFC-vet Peggy Morgan in a totally one-sided match-up. Aldana submitted Morgan with a rear-naked choke after flooring her multiple times with powerful strikes.

Alexa Grasso became 5-0 after defeating Ashley Cummins via unanimous decision. Grasso could potentially be a big name in the future. She’s conventionally attractive, talented, and Mexican–which will likely cause the UFC to call her up as they seek to expand in Mexico and Latin America.

The complete results of Invicta FC 8 are below:

Main Card

Michelle Waterson def. Yasuko Tamada via TKO (knee and punches), 4:58 of round 3.
Katja Kankaanpaa def. Stephanie Eggink via submission (d’arce choke), 2:03 of round 5.
Tonya Evinger def. Ediane Gomes via submission (armbar), 3:31 of round 1.
Roxanne Modafferi def. Tara La Rosa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
DeAnna Bennett def. Michelle Ould via TKO (liver kick), 1:34 of round 2.
Charmaine Tweet def. Veronica Rothenhausler via TKO (punches), 4:05 of round 1.

Preliminary Card

Irene Aldana def. Peggy Morgan via submission (rear naked choke), 2:51 of round 1.
Alexa Grasso def. Ashley Cummins via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).
Jodie Esquibel def. Jinh Yu Frey via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-27).
JJ Aldrich def. Delaney Owen via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26).

TUF 18 Finale Results — Diaz Smashes Maynard in First Round


(“Alright boys, this one’s for all the marbles. Well, maybe not *all* the marbles, but some of the marbles. There will definitely be marbles involved, that much I can promise you.” Photo via MMAJunkie)

After three months of an Ultimate Fighter season that we lost interest in around episode 10, we’re finally at the finish line. Tonight’s TUF 18 Finale card in Las Vegas is headlined by a quasi-rubber-match between Gray Maynard and Nate Diaz — assuming that Nate’s high school reunion doesn’t run late. But the rest of the lineup shouldn’t be overlooked. For one thing, the main card is 60% female, which is unprecedented for the UFC, and the winner of the women’s bantamweight final could theoretically wind up fighting her own TUF coach in the not-so-distant future.

Handling our liveblog of the FOX Sports 1 main card is Matt Kaplan, who will be sticking round-by-round results after the jump beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and shoot us your thoughts in the comments section.


(“Alright boys, this one’s for all the marbles. Well, maybe not *all* the marbles, but some of the marbles. There will definitely be marbles involved, that much I can promise you.” Photo via MMAJunkie)

After three months of an Ultimate Fighter season that we lost interest in around episode 10, we’re finally at the finish line. Tonight’s TUF 18 Finale card in Las Vegas is headlined by a quasi-rubber-match between Gray Maynard and Nate Diaz — assuming that Nate’s high school reunion doesn’t run late. But the rest of the lineup shouldn’t be overlooked. For one thing, the main card is 60% female, which is unprecedented for the UFC, and the winner of the women’s bantamweight final could theoretically wind up fighting her own TUF coach in the not-so-distant future.

Handling our liveblog of the FOX Sports 1 main card is Matt Kaplan, who will be sticking round-by-round results after the jump beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and shoot us your thoughts in the comments section.

Preliminary card results
– Akira Corassani def. Maximo Blanco via disqualification (intentional foul), :22 of round 1
– Tom Niinimaki def. Rani Yahya via unanimous decision  (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
– Jared Rosholt def. Walt Harris via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
– Sean Spencer def. Drew Dober via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Joshua Sampo def. Ryan Benoit via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:31 of round 2

Hey now. So who else is ready for the fight card of the year? Possibly the decade. Oh snap, here come the fighting robots: “It’s tiiiiime!” Man, I feel it deep in m’ plums.

Chael Sonnel  just said Jessica Rakoczy is the “eight-time world boxing champion.” Some part of that statement is wrong. I’m not going to look it up because he didn’t even seem to believe that.

Submission of the Season: Three rear naked chokes and one armbar. I like Sarah Moras in this one. Feel free to vote on my behalf.

Raquel Pennington vs. Roxanne Modafferi

Rd. 1: Both ladies work the jab early; Modafferi opens with some kicks to the lead leg of Pennington. Modafferi is a bit more actice, whereas Pennington seems to be waiting on that right hand. Good 1-2 from Modafferi. Pennington hasn’t thrown anything in combination just yet. There’s a good right from Pennington, right on cue. Modafferi is throwing in volume, but Pennington is blocking most of the shots and landing the right hand with some success. They clinch against the fence. Modafferi looks for the trip, but Pennington seems to have the strength advantage. Nice elbow from Pennington right there. Back to the center of the cage we go. Good jab from Pennington, who’s picked up momentum and lands a big right at the bell.

Rd 2: Pennington is busier and looks strong. Modafferi lands a good left to the jaw and rushes in for a takedown, but Pennington holds her off. Pennington lands some good short elbows as the two break from a clinch against the fence. 1-2 from Pennington. Big right hand from Pennington; Modafferi wants no part of the fisticuffs and drops for the takedown. Pennington stuffs it and lands in Modafferi’s guard. Modafferi landed some elbows from the bottom, but Pennington is up and starting to score with the right hand from above. Whoa. Modafferi may have Pennington’s left arm. Nope, she’s out and back to her feet. Modafferi is still down. And she’s up. Pennington takes the center of the cage and fires that right hand again. Pennington lands a big lead left hook before the round ends.

Rd. 3: Pennington is the better striker, and Modafferi’s chin is real high. This could end badly. Pennington stuffs a takedown and swats away Modafferi’s flicking jabs. Modafferi is taking shots to the jaw as she circles away. Pennington controls the brief clinch, muscling Modafferi around at will. Modafferi misses a spinning back kick, eats a 1-2, and is stuffed on her takedown attempt. Pennington drops ‘bows from side control, and now from the guard of Modafferi. Modafferi wants the arm, but Pennington is posturing her way to safety and doing damage from top position.  They’re up. Pennington wants the guillotine. Deep. Deep deep.  Not quite. The fight ends with Pennington on top of a flattened Modafferi, still working for that guillotine.

Raquel Pennington wins via unanimous decision (30-27 X 2, 29-28).

Jessamyn Duke vs. Peggy Morgan

Rd. 1: Fists fly right away from both fighters. Duke lands a lead left. Morgan lands a left of her own now. Duke scores with a combo. Duke clinches as Morgan presses; Duke lands some knees. Duke works for an arm-in guillotine as she drops to her back. She’s squeezing as Morgan bridges forward. Morgan is in Duke’s guard. She pops up, but Duke wants the triangle. Duke elbows from the bottom. Morgan’s left arm is keeping her safe for now, but Duke is working from the bottom. Plenty of punches from Duke. Duke transitions to the triangle and lands some elbows. Duke elbows the neck and ears of Morgan. That looks unpleasant. Morgan just got battered.

Rd. 2: Again both fighters answer the bell with punch combinations, but it’s Duke who seems to have the striking advantage. Morgan jabs, but Duke comes over the top with the left hook. Duke just misses with the uppercut. Duke lands a right and then a left hook. Morgan is hanging in there, though. Morgan is landing her jab, but her head’s on a stick and she’s eating punches from Duke. Duke lands some knees to the body in the clinch. Right-left combination lands for Duke. More hooks from Duke. Morgan lands a jab; Duke counters with a right hook. That seems to be the story of this round. Duke lands a takedown at the bell.

Rd. 3: Morgan comes out aggressive, but Duke is the better counterpuncher and her head movement is superior. Duke kicks to the body, clinches, knees the body, and punches the face. Again Duke is landing her right hook-left hook tandem, and Morgan’s face shows it. Morgan wants a takedown. Duke does too apparently. Duke drags Morgan to the ground with a bulldog style headlock. Duke has the headlock, but Morgan is on Duke’s back. Morgan’s head is free, and Duke is flattened on her belly with Morgan working for the choke. Duke escapes and has Morgan in half guard. Morgan is punching, looking for a guard pass. Referee Lurch stands them – bad stand-up – and it’s Duke landing those hooks. And that’s that. Morgan’s face is jacked up.

Jessamyn Duke wins via unanimous decision (30-27 X 3).

Chris Holdsworth vs. Davey Grant

Rd. 1: Grant opens with some kicks to the outside of the lead leg of Holdsworth. Holdsworth misses with a huge overhand right. They clinch against the fence now, and it’s Grant with some good body shots. A big right from Holdsworth connects. Holdsworth wants Grant on the mat, but Grant is withstanding the attempt and looks for a takedown of his own. Good knee tot he body from Holdsworth. Grant lands a right hook to the body and misses the follow-up left hook upstairs. Holdsworth grabs a single leg, but Grant again holds him off. And it’s Grant now who goes for a slam. Holdsworth with a knee. Holdsworth’s jab is working for him. Fighters trade knees on the fence. Grant has the body lock, goes for a throw, but it’s Holdsworth who’s on top now. Holdsworth is in Grant’s guard as the round ends.

Rd. 2: Grant catches a head kick (after catching the shin to the face) and kicks the outside leg of the Californian. Grant with a body shot and a strong push kick. Holdsworth goes for the single leg, Grant counters with a choke, but Holdsworth escapes, takes down Grant, and is in side control. Grant’s nose is bleeding pretty badly. Holdsworth takes Grant’s back. Body triangle – check. Holdsworth gets under the chin, squeezes, ball game. Holdsworth proved to be the bigger, more proficient fighter tonight.

Chris Holdsworth wins via submission (rear naked choke), 2:50 of Rd. 2

Julianna Pena vs. Jessica Rakoczy

Rd. 1: Rakoczy opens with a short lead hook, and Pena charges in, pressing her against the cage. Pena finds herself on top as the two take it to the canvas. Both fighters pop up, and Pena is again muscling Rakoczy against the fence. Rakoczy lands a knee to the body, but Pena drags her down. Pena is in half guard now, dropping bombs. Rakoczy tries to get up, but Pena ain’t having it. Uh-oh. Pena is mounted and throwing leather. Rakoczy is trying to push Pena off with those long legs, but Pena is too high. Big elbow from Pena. Punches are a plenty. Rakoczy is covering up sort of intelligently, but Mario Yamasaki calls it with about 3 seconds left.

Julianna Pena wins via TKO, 4: 59 of Rd. 1.

Gray Maynard vs. Nate Diaz:

Rd. 1: No glove touching (no surprise), and we’re off. Maynard takes the center of the cage. Diaz lands some early jabs and a nice hook. Maynard gets the takedown and settles into Diaz’s guard. Maynard muscles Diaz against the fence. They’re up. Nice throw from Diaz, but Maynard is up. A cut is opened above the left eye of Maynard. An overhand right from Maynard hits Diaz on the side of the head. Diaz landed some left hands and Maynard is hurt. Diaz is keeping his distance and teeing off. Big uppercuts, right crosses, left hook. Maynard looks to be in trouble, and Yves Levigne stops is. That was a shit ton of punches that landed flush by Nate Diaz. Wow.

In the replay, you can see that a short left started it all. Diaz stayed poised and landed flush shots on Maynard, who may have been out on his feet.

Nate Diaz wins via Rd. 1 TKO (2:38).

Hey now. Can Nate say “motherfuckers” on Fox Sports 1? If not, too late.

Nighty night.

Mk

(P.S. Ronda Rousey says of her friend Nate Diaz’s win, “It was great to end the night on a high note.” Weed reference?)

TUF 18 Finale Lineup Complete With Pena vs. Rakoczy, Modafferi vs. Pennington + More

(Jessica Rakoczy vs. Raquel Pennington full fight video, via TheUltimateFighterFX)

Assuming you had better things to do on Wednesday night, you probably missed the 13th and final episode of The Ultimate Fighter 18, in which Team Rousey dark horse Jessica Rakoczy fought through an injured shoulder to win a unanimous decision over Team Tate’s Raquel Pennington. (Now everybody pat Jared on the back for calling it.) Rakoczy, who came into this season with a rather stinky professional record of 1-3, now heads into the TUF 18 Finals against Julianna Pena. New prediction: Bruce Buffer will announce Rakoczy’s record as “4-3,” including her exhibition bouts on the show. Call it a hunch.

After Wednesday’s episode aired, the UFC released the full fight lineup for this Saturday’s TUF 18 Finale. Headlined by the lightweight grudge match between Nate Diaz and Gray Maynard, the main card will kick off with two bouts between female TUF 18 castmembers, including the Happy friggin’ Warrior herself. None of TUF 18‘s male castmembers made the cut, besides Chris Holdsworth and David Grant in the men’s final. Harsh, but fair, considering how badly some of these dudes embarrassed themselves.

Check out the full TUF 18 Finale lineup after the jump, and come back to CagePotato.com tomorrow night at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT for our liveblog of the main card.


(Jessica Rakoczy vs. Raquel Pennington full fight video, via TheUltimateFighterFX)

Assuming you had better things to do on Wednesday night, you probably missed the 13th and final episode of The Ultimate Fighter 18, in which Team Rousey dark horse Jessica Rakoczy fought through an injured shoulder to win a unanimous decision over Team Tate’s Raquel Pennington. (Now everybody pat Jared on the back for calling it.) Rakoczy, who came into this season with a rather stinky professional record of 1-3, now heads into the TUF 18 Finals against Julianna Pena. New prediction: Bruce Buffer will announce Rakoczy’s record as “4-3,” including her exhibition bouts on the show. Call it a hunch.

After Wednesday’s episode aired, the UFC released the full fight lineup for this Saturday’s TUF 18 Finale. Headlined by the lightweight grudge match between Nate Diaz and Gray Maynard, the main card will kick off with two bouts between female TUF 18 castmembers, including the Happy friggin’ Warrior herself. None of TUF 18‘s male castmembers made the cut, besides Chris Holdsworth and David Grant in the men’s final. Harsh, but fair, considering how badly some of these dudes embarrassed themselves.

Check out the full TUF 18 Finale lineup after the jump, and come back to CagePotato.com tomorrow night at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT for our liveblog of the main card.

FOX Sports 1 Main Card (10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT)
Gray Maynard vs. Nate Diaz
Julianna Pena vs. Jessica Rakoczy
Chris Holdsworth vs. David Grant
Jessamyn Duke vs. Peggy Morgan
Roxanne Modafferi vs. Raquel Pennington

FOX Sports 1 Prelims (8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT)
Akira Corassini vs. Maximo Blanco
Rani Yahya vs. Tom Niinimaki
Jared Rosholt vs. Walt Harris
Sean Spencer vs. Drew Dober

Facebook Prelim (7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT)
Ryan Benoit vs. Joshua Sampo

‘TUF 18? Episode 9 Recap: The One With All the Coconut Water

(Sarah Moras vs. Peggy Morgan full fight video. Props: YouTube.com/TheUltimateFighterFX)

No, we didn’t skip an episode. Last week’s installment of TUF 18 was a mid-season recap/clip-show-thingy, and if you want to be a dick about it, you could say it was the least-watched episode in the history of the series. We didn’t watch it, you didn’t watch it, let’s move forward.

Last night’s episode began with Coach Miesha Tate showing up with some burgers for Michael Wootten and Josh Hill, as a reward for their not-terrible fight in episode 7. Meanwhile, Ronda Rousey angrily eats falafel balls alone in her car. Honestly, she’s such a pretty girl, she should smile more.

The last two quarterfinal matches are on the docket: Team Rousey’s Anthony Gutierrez vs. Team Tate’s Cody Bollinger, and Team Rousey’s Peggy Morgan vs. Team Tate’s Sarah Moras. Miesha feels good about the matchups, but Cody’s weight is a concern. He still has a lot of pounds to drop, and he eyes the burgers with longing and resentment.

Anthony has been watching TUF since season 5, when he was 15 years old. As you can imagine, the young gangster Nate Diaz made quite an impression on him. Being on the show himself is “completely unreal” to Anthony. Ronda describes him as “annoying and squirrely,” but in a good way.

Gutierrez’s weight-cutting routine involves sleeping while wrapped in multiple layers of blankets. Ugh, that looks terrible. I’m one of those “sleeps over the covers unless it’s freezing in the room” kind of guys. My wife is totally the opposite. She’s under the blanket even when it’s the middle of summer and the AC’s not working. Opposites attract, I guess. I don’t know. It’s something we’re discussing with out marriage counselor. Anyway, Anthony plans on rehydrating up to 155 pounds when this is all over.


(Sarah Moras vs. Peggy Morgan full fight video. Props: YouTube.com/TheUltimateFighterFX)

No, we didn’t skip an episode. Last week’s installment of TUF 18 was a mid-season recap/clip-show-thingy, and if you want to be a dick about it, you could say it was the least-watched episode in the history of the series. We didn’t watch it, you didn’t watch it, let’s move forward.

Last night’s episode began with Coach Miesha Tate showing up with some burgers for Michael Wootten and Josh Hill, as a reward for their not-terrible fight in episode 7. Meanwhile, Ronda Rousey angrily eats falafel balls alone in her car. Honestly, she’s such a pretty girl, she should smile more.

The last two quarterfinal matches are on the docket: Team Rousey’s Anthony Gutierrez vs. Team Tate’s Cody Bollinger, and Team Rousey’s Peggy Morgan vs. Team Tate’s Sarah Moras. Miesha feels good about the matchups, but Cody’s weight is a concern. He still has a lot of pounds to drop, and he eyes the burgers with longing and resentment.

Anthony has been watching TUF since season 5, when he was 15 years old. As you can imagine, the young gangster Nate Diaz made quite an impression on him. Being on the show himself is “completely unreal” to Anthony. Ronda describes him as “annoying and squirrely,” but in a good way.

Gutierrez’s weight-cutting routine involves sleeping while wrapped in multiple layers of blankets. Ugh, that looks terrible. I’m one of those “sleeps over the covers unless it’s freezing in the room” kind of guys. My wife is totally the opposite. She’s under the blanket even when it’s the middle of summer and the AC’s not working. Opposites attract, I guess. I don’t know. It’s something we’re discussing with out marriage counselor. Anyway, Anthony plans on rehydrating up to 155 pounds when this is all over.

Cody Bollinger is fading badly during the weight cut. The guy is painfully skinny as it is, and shedding all his water on the treadmill and in the sauna is breaking him mentally. Four hours before weigh-ins, Cody is still at 142 pounds. (Or, “141 and a half,” as Brian Caraway says, trying to stay positive.) But Cody has nothing left to give. He had just punished himself for the past two hours, and has made no progress on the scale. It’s a bridge too far.

Chris Holdsworth explains that all of Cody’s previous fights have been at 145 or higher, so doing the bantamweight season of TUF was sort of an ill-advised plan for him to begin with. Cody quits. Bryan and Miesha try to talk him off the ledge. “You’re not thinking clearly right now,” Miesha says. “You will hate yourself forever if you don’t try your hardest to make weight.” Miesha shows Cody a picture of his daughter, who is being held hostage somewhere, I guess. That is cold-blooded, Tate.

The two-headed being known as Mieshaway Caratate takes Cody back to the house and arranges a nice salt bath for him. Cody won’t even get in. “You’re just gonna give up like that?” Miesha asks, sounding like a disappointed mother. “You’re not even gonna try?”

“I can’t make weight,” Cody says. “It’s over. I’m sorry.”

He starts rehydrating. Coconut water, shit like that. Raquel Pennington tries a last-ditch effort to get him back in the game, urging him to try the salt bath. Amazingly, he does. But it’s too late. He already drank the coconut water.

And now it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for — the moment where UFC President Dana White shows up to the gym and publicly humiliates somebody for not being a real fucking fighter. Check out the video below:

Just like that, Team Tate’s #1 male pick is sent out the door. Bollinger is crushed that he blew his shot. Last night, Cody revealed on Twitter that he’s signed a contract with World Series of Fighting. Jesus. It breaks your heart to see something like that happen.

The good news for Anthony Gutierrez is that he might get a bye into the semifinals because of this. Though Dana thinks that Chris Beal deserves a second-chance to come back in as an alternate, the NSAC is concerned about Gutierrez (who spent all day cutting weight) having to cut weight again for a fight against Beal in the near future. So we’ll see.

Ronda is upset about how Miesha blah blah blah, you know what, it’s not even worth getting into.

Anthony is actually given the option of fighting an alternate or accepting the forfeit and moving on. Huh. So, do you do the smart thing and take a free pass to the next round, or do you cut weight again and take a quarterfinal match just to impress Dana? Luckily, Anthony is here to win this show, not to win respect points. He happily accepts the forfeit, arguing that it wouldn’t be fair to him to have to cut weight again a few days later.

‘Nuff bullshit, time for the women. Sarah Moras gives us the quote of the season: “I’m fighting Peggy Morgan. I think she’s very pale, and a ginger. Really tall, too, so she’s kind of like a giraffe.”

Moras’s origin story is the exact same as Gina Carano‘s, minus the old Thai man calling her fat. Basically, she just wanted to get in shape, her boyfriend was a fighter and took her to the gym one day, and she fell in love with it. Her game-plan is to take Peggy to the mat and pound her face in. She will break Peggy’s arm if the giraffe asks for it.

Peggy is a college professor who never planned to have a professional MMA career, but fell into one anyway. She says Sarah will be surprised at how hard she is to take down, and how hard she can hit.

Weigh-ins proceed without incident. After the face off, Sarah appears to drink coconut water out of an actual coconut.

Fight time. Peggy is seven inches taller, nine years older, and has a 4.5-inch reach advantage.

Round 1: Sarah takes the center of the cage and starts jabbing. Peggy fires back with long straights. Sarah moves in with a body kick and hook. Peggy works her own jab to good effect. Solid leg kick from Sarah. Sarah shoots to take Peggy down, but Peggy defends. Sarah pushes Peggy against the cage. Sarah is warned not to grab the fence. Sarah gets in a body kick, eats a jab in return. Sarah shoots in and drags Peggy down. Peggy tries to reverse it, but Sarah bulldogs her against the fence. Peggy is sitting against the cage, Sarah has her legs tied up with her own. Peggy holds Sarah in a headlock. Sarah breaks out of it, creates some distance and starts raining down elbows and punches. Peggy eats some nasty ones, and she’s cut. Sarah gets mount, and goes for a straight armbar. Peggy tries to defend, but Sarah straightens it out — hyper-extending the arm to a gnarly degree — and Peggy immediately taps, handing another win to Team Tate.

It’s time for the semi-finals matchups to be arranged, and each remaining fighter is asked who they want to go up against. You can watch that scene below. Unsurprisingly, all three of Team Tate’s women call out Jessica Rakoczy, the last female standing on Team Rousey. Also unsurprisingly, Jessica says she’ll fight anybody.

Chris Holdsworth says that he wants to fight Anthony Gutierrez next, because Anthony’s been eating his food, and that him vs. Davey Grant would make for a good finale fight. Davey and Anthony would happily fight any of the other men. Michael Wootten wants Anthony because he’s probably the easiest opponent.

Ronda wants to see Jessica vs. Sarah and Julianna vs. Raquel, and Miesha is agreeable to that. Dana is shocked.

As usual, the fighters’ and coaches’ preferences have absolutely no bearing on the semifinal matchups that are actually made. Seriously. This happens every season. Note to future TUF fighters: If Dana ever asks you who you want to fight next, tell him who you don’t want to fight.

The men’s semifinals will be: Chris Holdsworth vs. Michael Wootten and Davey Grant vs. Anthony Gutierrez.

The women’s semifinals will be: Sarah Moras vs. Julianna Pena and Jessica Rakoczy vs. Raquel Pennington.

Until next week…

— Ben Goldstein

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 (eliminated by Sarah Moras in the quarterfinals, episode 9)
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 (removed from show after not making weight, episode 9)
Chris Holdsworth
Josh Hill (eliminated by Michael Wootten in the quarterfinals, episode 7)
Louis Fisette (eliminated by Davey Grant in the quarterfinals, episode 5)

[VIDEO] Fallon Fox Defeats Allana Jones via Third Round Submission


Video after the jump.

If we weren’t supposed to be talking about Fallon Fox until her next fight took place, then today the unofficial ban has been lifted. Last night, Fox defeated then 2-1 fighter Allana Jones by way of modified north-south choke at CFA 11. Fox improved her record to 3-0 with the victory, and will now fight Ashlee Evans-Smith for the CFA featherweight tournament championship.

Other than that, there really isn’t much to see here. Believe it or not, a bout between two inexperienced minor-leaguers that was bumped to co-main event status due to the transgender status of one of the participants didn’t produce a memorable scrap.

Also, Allana Jones chose “Dude Looks Like a Lady” as her entrance song.

The video of the fight and commentary are available after the jump.


Video after the jump.

If we weren’t supposed to be talking about Fallon Fox until her next fight took place, then today the unofficial ban has been lifted. Last night, Fox defeated then 2-1 fighter Allana Jones by way of modified north-south choke at CFA 11. Fox improved her record to 3-0 with the victory, and will now fight Ashlee Evans-Smith for the CFA featherweight tournament championship.

Other than that, there really isn’t much to see here. Believe it or not, a bout between two inexperienced minor-leaguers that was bumped to co-main event status due to the transgender status of one of the participants didn’t produce a memorable scrap.

Also, Allana Jones chose “Dude Looks Like a Lady” as her entrance song.

The video of the fight and commentary are available after the jump.

– If Allana Jones was a significant step up in competition for Fallon Fox, then I can only imagine how hapless the first two cans she fought were. Jones can take a punch – and opted to take many throughout the fight – but has little else to work with at this point in her career. Make no mistake, just because you can be a professional fighter doesn’t mean that you should be.

– After watching Fallon Fox fight, it’s impossible to disagree with Peggy Morgan when she wrote that Fox “definitely didn’t display the sort of technical mastery she claims to possess.” While Fox – a jiu-jitsu purple belt – looked comfortable on the ground, her stand-up left a lot to be desired. From constantly leaving her chin up and hands down to the lack of head movement she displayed, her striking needs a lot of work.

– Whether or not Fox holds a competitive advantage over the women she is competing against is still open for debate, but it’s safe to officially kill the idea that Fox is at a disadvantage competing against women for the two, maybe three people who actually believed it. If Allana Jones looked timid throughout the fight, it was out of respect for Fox’s strength. And yes, I’m well aware that this entire paragraph may be one of the most “No shit, Sherlock” moments in CagePotato.com’s history.

– Did anybody tell the referee that he’s supposed to be watching for eye pokes? I counted three that went completely ignored.

– Speaking of which, the fans booed Fox in the first round when she attacked Jones after Jones appeared to be poked in the eye. While there is absolutely nothing cheap about continuing to fight when the referee doesn’t stop the fight (also known as that thing you’re supposed to be doing in the first place), Fox goes on to throw a punch at Jones in the second round when Jones tries to touch gloves with her. Not exactly a great way to earn fans when there are already whispers that you’re kind of an asshole.

– Heading into the bout, Fox felt that a victory would put her “only four or five fights away from the UFC.” No comment.

– Since we’re on the subject (sort-of): The Best States To Be A Transgender High School Athlete, via Deadspin.

– Oh yeah, Mike Kyle won his un-retirement fight against Othereem late-replacement Travis Wiuff, since you all cared so deeply about that one.

Based solely on her skills and opponents, should we go back to not talking about Fallon Fox after her fight against Ashlee Evans-Smith? Let us know how you feel. Keep it civil.

@SethFalvo

The Unsupportable Opinion: Why Are We Still Talking About Fallon Fox?


(Not pictured: Anything Fallon Fox has actually done in the cage.)

Let me make one thing clear from the very beginning: I’m not trying to say that it wasn’t newsworthy — even inspirational — when Fallon Fox first came out as a transgender MMA fighter. Transgender individuals are extremely prone to harassment, discrimination, violence and bigoted stereotyping — all tragically evident by looking at the Facebook posts and tweets that have been directed at Fox since she came out roughly one month ago. I am in full support of her rights to be socially acknowledged and treated as any other woman would be treated outside of the cage.

Yet during this past month, Fallon Fox has received more attention for simply existing (she’s 0-0 since coming out) than most professionals have received for actually fighting. We’ve seen numerous fighters come forward to offer their opinions on whether or not Fox should be allowed to compete against women. Some have managed to do so in a reasonable, intelligent manner. Others have spoken about “it” as if she isn’t even human. For that matter, even people who aren’t MMA fighters have expressed a willingness to compete against her.

Mind you, this was all before Matt Mitrione called Fox “a lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak” on Monday’s edition of “The MMA Hour,” earning him an indefinite suspension from the UFC.

Despite the punishment, UFC fighters are still willing to discuss Fallon Fox — who, let’s remember, doesn’t even fight in the UFC — with reporters. Yesterday, The New York Post published an interview with one of the most talented, popular, and accomplished female fighters of all time, Ronda Rousey. A total of zero questions had anything to do with Rousey’s own future in the sport, instead focusing on how she feels about potentially fighting Fallon Fox:

“She can try hormones, chop her pecker off, but it’s still the same bone structure a man has,” Rousey told The Post. “It’s an advantage. I don’t think it’s fair.”


(Not pictured: Anything Fallon Fox has actually done in the cage.)

Let me make one thing clear from the very beginning: I’m not trying to say that it wasn’t newsworthy — even inspirational — when Fallon Fox first came out as a transgender MMA fighter. Transgender individuals are extremely prone to harassment, discrimination, violence and bigoted stereotyping — all tragically evident by looking at the Facebook posts and tweets that have been directed at Fox since she came out roughly one month ago. I am in full support of her rights to be socially acknowledged and treated as any other woman would be treated outside of the cage.

Yet during this past month, Fallon Fox has received more attention for simply existing (she’s 0-0 since coming out) than most professionals have received for actually fighting. We’ve seen numerous fighters come forward to offer their opinions on whether or not Fox should be allowed to compete against women. Some have managed to do so in a reasonable, intelligent manner. Others have spoken about “it” as if she isn’t even human. For that matter, even people who aren’t MMA fighters have expressed a willingness to compete against her.

Mind you, this was all before Matt Mitrione called Fox “a lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak” on Monday’s edition of “The MMA Hour,” earning him an indefinite suspension from the UFC.

Despite the punishment, UFC fighters are still willing to discuss Fallon Fox — who, let’s remember, doesn’t even fight in the UFC — with reporters. Yesterday, The New York Post published an interview with one of the most talented, popular, and accomplished female fighters of all time, Ronda Rousey. A total of zero questions had anything to do with Rousey’s own future in the sport, instead focusing on how she feels about potentially fighting Fallon Fox:

“She can try hormones, chop her pecker off, but it’s still the same bone structure a man has,” Rousey told The Post. “It’s an advantage. I don’t think it’s fair.”

Rousey said Mitrione worded his views “extremely poorly” and believes the UFC was justified in suspending the heavyweight fighter. But she thinks his sentiments came from the right place. In Rousey’s opinion, Mitrione believes Fox is still a man, who wants to beat up women for a living.

“I understand the UFC doesn’t want to be associated with views like that,” Rousey said. “I’m also glad they didn’t straight cut him.”

Speaking of questionable word choices, I can’t help but feel that her usage of the word “pecker” is going to create an overreaction among the mainstream media outlets. But I digress.

It’s right around now — when accomplished athletes such as Ronda Rousey and Alexis Davis are fielding questions about Fallon Fox instead of their own careers — that we in the MMA media need to stop and ask ourselves what we’re actually doing. Are we really respecting a woman’s right to be treated as any other female, or are we treating Fallon Fox like a sideshow and milking her transgender status for as many page views as we can get?

Because — let’s be honest — if we’re truly concerned with treating Fallon Fox the way that we’d treat any other woman, we wouldn’t continue to force her name into interviews and conference calls. As Jonathan Snowden recently argued, Fox is a thirty-seven year old fighter competing in a small-time, regional promotion that even most hardcore MMA fans wouldn’t recognize. She is 2-0 in her professional career, but has yet to fight an opponent who has actually won a professional bout. She has not been offered a contract by the UFC, Invicta, or Bellator. This is all to say that she hasn’t accomplished anything yet that justifies the non-stop media attention that she has received for the past month.

Giving Fox undue attention over her transgender status isn’t embracing her so much as it’s exploiting her. Forcing her into conversations with UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez isn’t being tolerant, it’s being a carnival barker — we’re emphasizing what makes her different in hopes of generating reactions from other people. Emphasizing her reputation over her skills and accomplishments wades into Kimbo Slice territory; that’s bound to make the fans’ reactions that much more harsh when she actually loses. Also, when former UFC heavyweight Sean McCorkle starts looking for ways to involve himself in this story by taking credit for Mitrione’s suspension-earning jokes, it’s safe to say that we’re no longer coming from a place of acceptance.

This doesn’t mean it’s wrong to make the distinction between Fallon Fox the woman and Fallon Fox the fighter. As of now, there is no conclusive evidence that transgender females do not have unfair competitive advantages over their opponents. There is research that suggests that unfair advantages exist. There is also research that suggests they do not. Another “MMA fighter says Fox has/doesn’t have a competitive advantage” article isn’t going to bring anything new to the discussion.

But you know what will bring something new to the discussion? The result of her fight against Allana Jones on May 24th. After that we might be able to gauge what kind of future — if any — she has in our sport. We’ll be able to publish a story about Fox that’s actually pertinent to what she has been doing in the cage. And if we’re truly concerned with treating her as an equal, we can hold off on cramming her into our headlines until then.

@SethFalvo