Tag: The Ultimate Fighter 20

The Ultimate Fighter 20 returned to the air Wednesday night, as the show still had two fights to sort out in the quarterfinals. The winners would come one step closer to becoming a UFC champion.

The show didn’t waste much time getting into the first fight between somewhat rivals Carla Esparza, the first-ranked seed in the tournament, and No. 3 Tecia Torres. What ensued will not go down as one of the better fights of the season excitement-wise. 

From bell to bell, Torres looked to establish her striking range and keep Esparza at a distance. However, Esparza repeatedly went in and scored takedowns and clinch, which allowed her to do more.

Not a whole bunch of damage was done, but when the final bell rang and the judges were called upon, Esparza walked away with a decision victory. That win put her in the semifinals opposite Jessica Penne, someone Esparza is very familiar with, as they are both friends in California.

We then saw a lead up to the Joanne Calderwood-Rose Namajunas fight, as Namajunas had sort of a mental breakdown at practice. She puts a lot of pressure on herself, which forced the outburst of emotion by “Thug Rose.”

The fight between Calderwood and Namajunas was definitely one worth watching. Both showed some great technique on the feet and some good skills on the ground. In fact, I would venture to say it was a pretty even fight.

However, late down the stretch, Namajunas showed why she is so promising and dangerous, as she slapped on a kimura out of nowhere and was able to force Calderwood to surrender.

The win for Namajunas set her up with a semifinal with underdog-turned-stud Randa Markos in what should be a highly anticipated bout. The winner faces the victor of Esparza-Penne in the live finale.

 

Team Pettis	Team Melendez
Carla Esparza	Rose Namajunas
Joanne Calderwood	Bec Rawlings
*Tecia Torres	Angela Magana
Jessica Penne	Heather Clark
Aisling Daly	Lisa Ellis
Felice Herrig	Emily Kagan
Alex Chambers	Angela Hill
Randa Markos

*Torres was originally on Team Melendez, joined Team Pettis after re-entering tournament for injured Justine Kish

 

Notes and Observations

• It was really nice not having a bunch of the drama from the house on this episode, it made for a more enjoyable watch. Unfortunately, I think this season of the show has hurt WMMA more than it has helped. It hasn’t really created stars, or even many likable characters for that matter.
• Although it wasn’t the most exciting fight, Carla Esparza, and Randa Markos for that matter, have proven my pre-season theory that wrestling will carry fighters through this show. WMMA is still in its early stages and many female combatants are still rounding off their games. That’s why, as seen earlier in MMA, wrestling was so dominant. Esparza and Markos have made it this far because their wrestling is a notch above everybody else. It also helps that they are somewhat well-rounded too.
• Rose Namajunas vs. Joanne Calderwood was a fight I really wanted to see and I was not disappointed. I very much enjoyed the fight and both women showed why they are so high quality. Namajunas was the better woman, but I definitely think these two could trade wins and losses with each other.
• My predictions for next week will be Esparza by decision in a very close fight and Namajunas by late submission or decision. That means my predicted finals match would be Esparza vs. Namajunas, which is an interesting matchup.
• I am going to matchmake for the finale right now. Obviously, Justine Kish cannot be used because she is injured so I will fill in another fighter. I would have Joanne Calderwood vs. Bec Rawlings; Tecia Torres vs. Angela Hill; Felice Herrig vs. Angela Magana; Jessica Penne vs. Alex Chambers; Heather Clark vs. Randa Markos; Aisling Daly vs. Emily Kagan; and Lisa Ellis vs. Seo Hee Ham, who the UFC recently signed. Those matchups are based on potential for excitement, as well as getting some of the better fighters a tune-up fight for what should be a competitive title picture right off the bat.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

The Ultimate Fighter is in the quarter-finals now, and this week’s fight was between No. 4-seed Jessica Penne and No. 5-seed Aisling Daly.

Penne defeated Lisa Ellis in the first round, and Daly beat Angela Magana to advance.

When the referee started the action they came out to the center of the cage to get to work.

Penne took a finger to the eye early on, and Herb Dean halted the bout long enough for her to clear her vision. Penne decided to stop fighting at a distance soon after and put Daly’s back against the fence. Daly reversed the position and attacked the body well. Penne landed a few nice strikes herself, but she was more concerned with positioning. Daly got a takedown late in the round, but did not want to test Penne‘s guard.

It was a close first round, but it appeared that Daly got a slight edge.

Penne was more successful on the feet at the start of the second. She then went back to the clinch game. Daly got another takedown, but again let Penne right back up. Penne‘s reach was a factor on the feet. After being touched up, it was Daly who closed the distanced. The fight hit the floor, and Penne managed to take top position. She got full mount and then back mount as Daly tried to stand.

Penne ended the second round in dominating position and even the fight.

Penne got a takedown early in the third round. Daly tried to work back up, but Penne got her back. Penne slid off and was on her back, but actively working for a submission. Penne got back into a better position and fired off good ground and pound. Penne got back into Daly’s half-guard. Daly spent the majority of the third fighting to just get to a better position with no offense. Daly got back to her feet with 40 seconds remaining, but couldn’t do anything with the time.

It was a solid third round for Penne who took the unanimous decision to advance to the semi-finals.

Next week will feature both remaining quarter-final bouts—Carla Esparza vs. Tecia Torres & Joanne Calderwood vs. Rose Namajunas.

 

Note: The highlighted matchup is the fight that will air next week. Tecia Torres replaced Justine Kish on Team Pettis following an injury that forced Kish out of the competition.

• Jessica Penne is seen working on a puzzle of the TUF logo. These poor fighters can’t even get a regular puzzle in the house.
• As Daly and Penne are on the same team, Team Pettis, they are still training in close quarters to one another. Pettis says he is taking a step back and letting them dictate how they’ll train. Penne works closely with Justine Kish.
• A portion of the show was spent with an in-program advertisement for Harley-Davidson. The fighters had a “Harley Boot Camp” to learn about the bikes and how to ride them.
• Daly expressed concern that the coaches may have more a personal connection with Penne, and wonders if that will come in to play with how they handle this fight. It is tough to know from the editing how legitimate this concern is, but it would be tough to handle mentally entering a fight in this environment.
• Conor McGregor showed up to surprise Daly. He spoke to her one-on-one, and then spoke to the rest of the team. McGregor noticed a tension in the room of Team Pettis. It seemed to boost Daly’s mood.
• With this being a quality fight there was not much time for anything else in this episode. They made their walk to the cage about halfway through the episode, and this week’s offering was all about a high-level fight between two of the best on the show.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

The opening round of The Ultimate Fighter season 20 is over and the quarterfinals kicked off Wednesday night with a matchup between Felice Herrig and Randa Markos. The fight was a true grappler vs. striker matchup, and featured the most impressive finish of the season thus far. 

Things started as one would expect, with Herrig looking to pepper Markos with punches, and Markos attempting to neutralize Herrig with clinchwork. The strategy backfired, however, as Herrig used her formidable Muay Thai skills to land short, powerful elbows and knees against the cage.

Herrig, surprisingly, took Markos down and briefly worked in half-guard. Markos would get back up, however, and dragged Herrig down with a head-and-arm throw. From there, she isolated Herrig‘s arm with her legs as though she was moving to a mounted-crucifix position. Instead, however, she used the position to set up a strange, modified, straight armbar to get the tap just minutes into the first round. Check out the highlights here to see the crafty submission.

The win moves Markos into the semi-finals, where she will face the winner of Joanne Calderwood vs. Rose Namajunas.

Matchup	Results/Notes
Felice Herrig vs. Randa Markos	Markos def. Herrig
Carla Esparza vs. Tecia Torres
Aisling Daly vs. Jessica Penne	Next Week
Joanne Calderwood vs. Rose Namajunas

 

Notes and Observations

• After eight episodes of serenity, the fun times are over for Team Pettis. A great deal of the episode was dedicated to a rift in the team forming over the awkwardness of training alongside opponents (seven of the eight quarterfinalists are from Team Pettis). A tentative agreement to split up practice was broken by Randa Markos, drawing a great deal of ire from Felice Herrig and Carla Esparza. Esparza‘s attitude and belligerence were panned thoroughly on Twitter during the show’s airing.
• While much of this episode was dedicated to drama in The House, the real story is Markos’ incredible rise up the division. Markos was largely unknown entering the season, but she has knocked off one of the top picks to become champ in Tecia Torres, and one of the best-known fighters in Felice Herrig. 
• Last week, Angela Magana led a crusade to force Tecia Torres and Heather Clark out of the shared Team Melendez room. Torres and Clark made the move, and all parties will hopefully sleep easier (which, fingers crossed, will result in less petty drama). 
• Following the fight, Markos walked over to the rest of Team Pettis and flatly said “maybe that will shut her up?” Stone cold!
• The coaches’ challenge was this week! Rather than an athletic challenge, Gilbert Melendez and Anthony Pettis competed in UFC trivia. Melendez, for the most part, dominated the challenge, winning his team $1,500 apiece.
• On Fox Sports Live’s “TUF Talk” segment, Markos and Esparza got very, very catty with one another. You can check out the extra-long segment here. If both of these ladies fall short of the finals, look for them to get paired off in the grudge match of the season.
• Next week, Aisling Daly faces off with Jessica Penne. The episode will also function as an infomercial for Harley Davidson (can we all discuss how silly it is that the UFC actively encourages its fighters to ride motorcycles when we’ve seen multiple champions injured biking?) and will feature an appearance by Conor McGregor, who will cheer on Daly.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

The 20th season of the UFC’s hit reality series The Ultimate Fighter trucked on Wednesday evening with Episode 8. 

After Team Gilbert Melendez earned its first win courtesy of Rose Namajunas’ handiwork in Episode 7, Bec Rawlings looked to keep her team’s momentum alive as she faced Tecia “The Tiny Tornado” Torres of Team Anthony Pettis. 

Interestingly, Torres lost earlier in the season to Team Pettis’ Randa Markos, but an injury to cast-mate Justine Kish gave The Tiny Tornado a second chance at gold. However, she had to turn in her Team Melendez jersey for one of Team Pettis’, something that irked the other women and sparked some tension in the house. 

In the end, though, the drama takes a backseat to the action inside the cage, and Rawlings and Torres engaged in a fun, gritty two-round scrap. 

 

Fight Recap

Torres largely controlled Round 1 with her in-and-out, quick, darting striking style. 

While Rawlings tried her best to turn the fight into a dirty battle against the cage, Torres circled out well and avoided these situations for the most part. When the two stood toe-to-toe and swung, each woman had her moments, but no significant damage was inflicted throughout the round. 

It was close, and you could potentially make a claim for Rawlings stealing the round because of her more powerful strikes, but I saw this one for Torres. 

10-9, Torres

Suspecting that Rawlings may have dropped the first frame, Melendez implored his fighter to turn it up in Round 2 and to pursue the finish. 

Apparently, his words rang loud and clear, because Rawlings kicked off the round with fire, landing some big strikes and executing a beautiful hip toss to plant Torres on the canvas. Once there though, Torres worked back to her feet in about 20 seconds, where she then resumed her controlled, calculated method of striking. 

With roughly two minutes left in the round, Torres began to look for a takedown in hopes of sealing the round and, potentially, the fight. Rawlings showcased some nice takedown defense for over a minute, but Torres’ determination eventually won out, as she secured a single leg against the cage with 30 seconds left. 

While she did not inflict any major damage once on top, Torres ended the round with superior position, something that looks nice in the judges’ eyes.

This one was closer than round one, and a case can be made for it being Rawlings’ round, but I’ll stick with Torres again. 

10-9

Both coaches felt that a third round was imminent, but the judges rendered their decision after 10 minutes of action, awarding Torres with the victory. She will advance to the quarterfinals. 

Winner: Tecia Torres via decision 

After the fight, the quarterfinal matchups were announced in full. Here’s what we have to look forward to as the season continues: 

 

Other notes and observations from the episode: 

• Rawlings talked about her two children in a touching segment, saying that her three- and five-year-olds are her motivation. 
• In addition, Rawlings commented on her own upbringing, which saw her bounce from house to house with no stability. She also talked about a past abusive relationship, commenting that getting beat up by men in sparring sometimes reminds her of those dark days. 
• Calderwood and Namajunas had a super intense staredown during the quarterfinal announcements. Neither lady would break eye contact, and the coaches had to pull them away. That fight is going to rule. 
• The coaches’ challenge this year will be trivia. Instead of the usual athletic competition, Pettis will pit his brain against Melendez’s. That could be fun. 
• Overall, the season is primed for a strong finish. This episode was not super packed with intrigue, but it set the quarterfinals, which is where things will get interesting.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com