UFC Ultimate Fighter 20: Team Pettis vs Team Melendez - Sep 10

[wandshogun09]

Finale complete card;

 

 

FOX SPORTS 1 MAIN CARD

Carla Esparza vs Rose Namajunas - UFC Strawweight Title

Jeremy Stephens vs Charles Oliveira

KJ Noons vs Daron Cruickshank

Yancy Medeiros vs Joe Proctor

Randa Markos vs Jessica Penne

 

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS

Felice Herrig vs Lisa Ellis

Bec Rawlings vs Heather Jo Clark

Joanne Calderwood vs Seo Hee Ham

Tecia Torres vs Angela Magana

 

FIGHT PASS PRELIMS

Aisling Daly vs Alex Chambers

Emily Kagan vs Angela Hill

 

 

This starts next Wednesday (10th Sep).

 

 

I've said for ages I've found TUF stale as a format these days, unless there's a really interesting pair of coaches or a grudge or something, there's just not much we haven't already seen from TUF now.

 

This one looks good though. Not from a coaches point of view so much, although I'm a big fan of both Pettis and Melendez. But it's a historic season for a couple of reasons;

 

1) It's the first all-female TUF.

2) For the first time ever in TUF history, a title is on the line. The winner of this season will be crowned the first ever UFC Strawweight (115lbs) champion.

 

Here's the coaching staff;

 

TEAM PETTIS

Anthony Pettis - Head Coach

Duke Roufus

Daniel Wanderley

Sergio Pettis

Scott Cushman

 

TEAM MELENDEZ

Gilbert Melendez - Head Coach

Jake Shields

Anucha Chayaisen

Nate Diaz

Josh Berkovic

 

The teams;

 

TEAM PETTIS

Carla Esparza (#1 seed)

Joanne Calderwood (#2 seed)

Jessica Penne (#4 seed)

Randa Markos (#14 seed)

Alex Chambers (#10 seed)

Felice Herrig (#6 seed)

Justine Kish (#9 seed)

Aisling Daly (#5 seed)

 

TEAM MELENDEZ

Tecia Torres (#3 seed)

Rose Namajunas (#7 seed)

Heather Jo Clark (#11 seed)

Bec Rawlings (#8 seed)

Lisa Ellis (#13 seed)

Angela Magana (#12 seed)

Emily Kagan (#15 seed)

Angela Hill (#16 seed)

 

First round fights are;

 

Carla Esparza vs Angela Hill

Bec Rawlings vs Justine Kish

Aisling Daly vs Angela Magana

Jessica Penne vs Lisa Ellis

Felice Herrig vs Heather Jo Clark

Tecia Torres vs Randa Markos

Rose Namajunas vs Alex Chambers

Joanne Calderwood vs Emily Kagan

 

Pettis has already said there is no beef between him and Melendez, but having Nate Diaz as an assistant coach might be interesting. And ultimately, the Pettis vs Melendez fight on Dec 6th is going to be fantastic.

 

 

This season is all about the arrival of the strawweights though. The good thing about this is, there was plenty of talent out there to do this. There's a few really good fighters on this show. I'm actually not that bothered about the coaches not having a grudge this time because the stakes for the tournament brings its own value. Plus there's rumoured to have been some drama in the house anyway.

 

Here's the cast, and because there's actually info on these fighters and there's a title on the line, I'll go a bit more detailed. Here's your 16;

 

Carla 'Cookie Monster' Esparza:

 

 

26 years old, 11-2 record. Fights out of Team Oyama in California. Primarily a wrestler. She was the Invicta Strawweight champion when this deal came together, and never lost the title, so she comes in with kind of a bullseye on her, I guess. Got to be one of the favourites.

 

Alex 'Astro Girl' Chambers:

 

 

35 years old, 4-1 record, so a late starter. Australian. Not a lot of info out there on her but at 35 and with little experience, I wouldn't fancy her chances much here.

 

Felice 'Lil Bulldog' Herrig:

 

 

29 years old, 9-5 in MMA, 23-5 in Kickboxing. Fights out of Team Curran in Illinois. She's been around MMA longer than maybe anyone else on the show and was around in 2007 during the Gina Carano era.

 

Bit of a...erm...character. Turns up at weigh ins dressed like she's ready to hit the street corner. Bit of a fiery personality as well and there was talk that she was causing trouble from day one on the show...

 

Dana quote;

 

"Well, I wouldn't say she almost got thrown off, but a fight broke out the first day."

OK. The rumour is that she got into a fight with Heather Jo Clark. The two have been sniping at each other for years and it didn't help when they fought in Bellator and this happened...

 

 

So yeah, Herrig is probably going to be the twat of the season. It's always good to have a heel in there. There was a video Helwani put out with all the cast talking after the show wrapped and they were all basically hinting that Herrig was the knob in the house. Her name came up a lot, and not much of it good.

 

'Rowdy' Bec Rawlings:

 

 

25 years old, 5-3 record. Another Australian. Another 'Rowdy'. At 5-3 she's not going to be highly favoured here. She's tough from what I've seen but she's got to be one of the weaker links.

 

Emily Kagan:

 

 

33 years old, 3-1. Trains at Greg Jackson's gym in Albuquerque. Again, not high hopes for her. I only know of her from her getting standing rear naked choked by Rose Namajunas in Invicta.

 

Speaking of which...

 

'Thug' Rose Namajunas:

 

 

22 years old, only 2-1 but she's got time. Fights out of Grudge in Colorado. Black-belt in Karate, black-belt in Tae Kwon Do. Pat Barry's girlfriend. Exciting fighter. Really good striking as you'd expect from a Karate and TKD black-belt. But her submission game is good as well. Like I said, the standing RNC on Kagan. Plus her 12 second flying armbar on Kathina Catron was incredible. Her only loss is to Tecia Torres who is being touted as a legit prospect. Look for Team Pettis to pick Rose, given the Pat Barry/Roufusport links.

 

I like Namajunas. She's one of my favourite fighters on this season, from the ones I know about. I've got a feeling she might struggle given her lack of experience but I'd like to see her go far.

 

Namajunas highlight;

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=k9rJxuUuz1k

 

Badass!

 

Tecia 'Tiny Tornado' Torres:

 

 

25 years old, 4-0 MMA. Black-belt in Karate, black-belt in Tae Kwon Do, blue-belt in BJJ. Trains at American Top Team. And like I said, there's high expectations for her. She beat Rose Namajunas and Felice Herrig in her last two fights, and considering she has had just 4 fights, she's already pretty good at everything. Like Namajunas, she's got an exciting style to watch as well.

 

She's one of my top two picks to win the whole thing. I think she probably makes the final anyway.

 

And here's my other pick...

 

Joanne 'Dr Kneevil' Calderwood:

 

 

She's got a few nicknames but I think she's going with Dr Kneevil because she's changed her twitter handle since TUF finished filming.

 

27 years old, 8-0 MMA record, 19-2 in Kickboxing. Fights out of Dinky Ninjas in Glasgow. Was a Scottish Muay Thai champion. Her striking is a joy to watch. She's lanky and uses kicks, knees, elbows, punches, the lot. Rare techniques like reverse elbows and shit. Improving ground game. And to top it off she seems like one of the nicest people in the sport. The producers are probably going to have to turn her mic right up though, because she probably has the pound-for-pound quietest voice in MMA (Matt Serra's has to be the loudest, right?).

 

Calderwood highlight;

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=MQgZRnagKiE

 

'Hurricane' Heather Jo Clark:

 

 

33 years old, 6-4 record. Don't know much else about her other than the aforementioned ongoing spat with Felice Herrig. She seemed quite outspoken in Helwani's post-TUF interview.

 

Aisling Daly:

 

 

26 years old, 14-5 record. Irish fighter from the Straight Blast Gym in Dublin. Team mate of Conor McGregor, Gunnar Nelson, Cathal Pendred etc. BJJ purple belt. Invicta, Bellator, Cage Warriors and Cage Rage veteran.

 

Lisa Ellis:

 

 

31 years old, 15-8 in MMA. Has fought in Invicta, Bellator, DEEP, Hook 'n' Shoot. Not a great record but pretty experienced and has fought Megumi Fujii (who was once thought the best female fighter on the planet, before the days of Ronda Rousey) twice. She used to be highly ranked but she took time out to have a baby and apparently she's not looked great since.

 

Angela 'Overkill' Hill:

 

 

26 years old, only 1-0 and fought at 105lbs (Atomweight) previously. Got to be one of the biggest underdogs on the show along with Alex Chambers. Probably the smallest cast member and has only one fight. You never know though. She's still young and who's to say her one TKO win won't be the start of big things for her? For someone like this starting out and getting to train with a Pettis, Melendez, Roufus, Diaz etc, it can only be a huge help.

 

Justine Kish:

 

 

Might be my darkhorse for the whole season, or at least someone worth keeping an eye on. 26 years old, trains at Black House. 4-0 in MMA, 18-2 in Muay Thai, 2-0 in Pro Boxing, 1-0 in Kickboxing. Muay Thai world champion, black-belt in Kenpo Karate, Golden Gloves champion in Boxing.

 

Quite a CV. She's the most decorated striker in the house easy. She'll likely come unstuck against a good grappler like Esparza or Penne or even Torres, but depending on the matchups she gets she could do some damage.

 

Angela Magana:

 

 

31 years old, 11-6 record. Was a top ten flyweight not too long ago. Has been living and training in Thailand to improve her striking.

 

Randa Markos:

 

 

29 years old, 4-1 MMA. Iraqi/Canadian. Three of her four wins are submissions. Not much else out there on her.

 

Jessica Penne:

 

 

31 years old, 11-2 record. Trains at Reign and Kings MMA. Former Invicta Atomweight champion. BJJ brown-belt. She had a cracking fight with Michelle Waterson in Invicta. But I'm not sure how she'll do at 115. Might be a better fit for her, or she could be too small.

 

That's your lot.

 

So yeah, I'm picking a Calderwood vs Torres final. But I wouldn't be at all surprised if Esparza fucks that up. And there's a couple of darkhorses there. I'm intrigued by this Justine Kish. I'd never heard of her before. Could be a one trick pony but we'll see.

 

I love the look of this. It has all the ingredients of a great season. You've got a title on the line, you've got a twat (Herrig and maybe others) to stir shit up, possibility of a grudge rematch between Herrig and Clark, possible rematch of the awesome Torres vs Namajunas fight.

 

Plus they've all got history with each other. So many of them have crossed paths before. Esparza has beat Rawlings and Herrig. Torres has beat Herrig and Namajunas. Namajunas has beat Kagan. The Herrig-Clark beef.

 

I think that element could make things very awkward/interesting. Like the Leben-Swick situation on TUF 1, but worse.

 

Discuss.

 

Who do you think will win?

 

Who do you want to win?

Play Fuck, Marry, Kill.

 

Whatever.

[Egg Shen]

yeh im on board for this!

[DarloKid]

are bt sports showing this ?

[wandshogun09]

Yeah. Episode 1 is on next Wednesday night, well Thursday morning, at 3am on BT Sport 1. If it's like last season they'll repeat it on Thursdays at 9 or 10pm.

[Magnum Milano]

I noticed Jo had changed her twitter handle and wondered if it had anything to do with what's gone down in the season, still I'll miss 'Bad Mofo Jojo'. She's absolutely adorable on twitter, always replies and chats and seems genuinely surprised by all the attention she's been getting.

 

I think Herrig was on the Fight Girls reality show that Gina Carano coached. I've had a copy of it for years, but as it's Muay Thai just never got round to watching it.

[Ross18]

I think she was told to change it... Something to do with the 'MoFo' part. Seems a bit harsh though.

 

Anyways really excited for this one. Becoming quite a big fan of WMMA. Calderwood is also one of my favourites. She is my pick for the whole thing. But expecting some tough competition from Esparza, Torres and Namajunas. Sure they'll be a couple of dark horses in there too. 

 

Can't wait. 

[Egg Shen]

I think she was told to change it... Something to do with the 'MoFo' part. Seems a bit harsh though.

 

Joe Soto was introduced as Joe 'one bad mofo' Soto last weekend.

[Ross18]

Ah yeah. I actually noticed that. 

 

I just presumed that was the reason since it sounded like she had been told to change the name and not because she wanted to change it and saw others suggest the same.

[wandshogun09]

Really? I missed Buffer's introduction of Soto. That's awful if that's his nickname. Total shit. Almost as bad as Corey 'Beastin' 25/8' Anderson off TUF 19. Terrible.

 

The UFC are funny about 'mofo' sometimes though. Even back on TUF 4, Matt Serra named the blue team 'Team Mofo' and either the UFC or Spike told them to change it. Ended up as 'Team Mojo'. Weak.

 

And just to hammer home just how likeable Joanne Calderwood is, even Grumpy Ronda finds her "adorable";

 

"I think (Calderwood) has the best chick's striking that I've seen of anyone out there. She's adorable but when she gets in there she's gnarly."

Ronda picked Calderwood to win as well.

[wandshogun09]

Anyone see the preview for this season on last night's Fight Night?

 

This isn't spoiling anything major, but just to cover my arse...

 

 

Few things of note from the preview that I found interesting.

 

From the clips, we are definitely getting a rematch of Felice Herrig vs Heather Jo Clark, like I mentioned being possible in the OP. They showed the face off, presumably from the weigh in on the show.

 

Rose Namajunas is on Team Melendez, which I was a bit surprised at given Pat Barry's history at Roufusport and as a former team mate of Pettis. Melendez must just pick her before Pettis gets chance.

 

Calderwood is on Team Pettis.

 

And Bec Rawlings was heavily featured. Throughout the preview and then afterwards, the little graphic advertising TUF had just Rawlings on her own, plastered all over it. Interesting. Showed her crying in Dana's office as well. Something biggish must go on with her for her to be featured so prominently in the preview, I reckon. Because she's nothing special record wise and she isn't one of the favourites to win or even go particularly far. I could see it being a case of her losing but showing a ton of heart and becoming a favourite of Dana's. Like I said, she is tough and brings the fight.

 

We'll see what happens. Really looking forward to this even more now.

 

 

After the preview, even Luke Thomas is into this TUF...

 

Luke Thomas @SBNLukeThomas

I don't think I've said this in over 6 or 7 years, but this season of TUF is going to rock.

Anyone who listens to his chat or watches MMA Beat knows he's not been into TUF for years.

[hbk4life]

This is the most I've looked forward to a TUF for a long time. It's good to know that we are going to have 16 of the best in the division fighting on the show, which of course is never usually the case with the men who appear. After the dullness of the last season it really needed something like this to follow up.

 

I'm going to be supporting Calderwood, Markos, Daly and Torres. I like Heather Jo Clark as well, but that's mainly because of the feud with Herrig who I just can't stand, she really is going to be an annoying fucker in that house.

 

As for who I think will win, I'd say Torres, followed by Calderwood and Esparza. I think Namajunas will be one to watch, I could see her going far. I'd really like to see her rematch with Torres at some point.

 

Wand could be right about Kish, I've only seen her fight once against Markos, but she totally dominated the stand up, didn't look as great on the ground, but if the match ups are kind she could pick up a couple of wins.

 

I'll predict a Torres vs Namajunas final, a lot of good fighters in there though so I'll probably be totally off and neither of them make it.

 

Also, Calderwood did say she didn't want to change her Twitter handle but she had to do it, does seem a bit silly but it could only be because of the mofo part of it?

 

Forgot to mention the preview, it really did make the season look like it's going to be entertaining. You could make out pretty much what I'm assuming are all the first round fights, as it showed footage of all bar a couple of the girls fighting - so if you'd rather not know a thing about the season you probably shouldn't watch it.

[Ross18]

When about in the card did the preview air last night? 

 

Wasn't able to watch live and just catching up on the fights now and sounds like I need to see it.

[hbk4life]

When about in the card did the preview air last night? 

 

Wasn't able to watch live and just catching up on the fights now and sounds like I need to see it.

It was shown after the Overeem fight.

[wandshogun09]

It aired twice during last night's show but I couldn't tell you when exactly.

 

 

I think Namajunas will be one to watch, I could see her going far. I'd really like to see her rematch with Torres at some point.

Yeah I really hope they fight again at some point. I think it's inevitable really, either during TUF or in the UFC. They're bound to cross paths and the first fight was so good there's a good chance of a rematch.

 

You could make out pretty much what I'm assuming are all the first round fights, as it showed footage of all bar a couple of the girls fighting - so if you'd rather not know a thing about the season you probably shouldn't watch it.

Yeah, I think I know all the first round matchups after that. I don't really care myself. It didn't spoil anything important. But yeah. Anyone who wants to go in knowing nothing about the teams or first round matchups, I'd avoid the preview.

 

Another sort of spoiler from the preview I forgot to mention;

 

 

I might've been seeing things but it appeared that Angela Hill (the 1-0 rookie and a striker) had Carla Esparza (Invicta champ and probably the best wrestler in the house) on her back at one point. Interesting.

 

I could see a few unheralded underdogs emerging as legit on this show. Like Juliana Pena on the Rousey-Tate season.

 

[hbk4life]

It aired twice during last night's show but I couldn't tell you when exactly.

 

 

I think Namajunas will be one to watch, I could see her going far. I'd really like to see her rematch with Torres at some point.

Yeah I really hope they fight again at some point. I think it's inevitable really, either during TUF or in the UFC. They're bound to cross paths and the first fight was so good there's a good chance of a rematch.

 

You could make out pretty much what I'm assuming are all the first round fights, as it showed footage of all bar a couple of the girls fighting - so if you'd rather not know a thing about the season you probably shouldn't watch it.

Yeah, I think I know all the first round matchups after that. I don't really care myself. It didn't spoil anything important. But yeah. Anyone who wants to go in knowing nothing about the teams or first round matchups, I'd avoid the preview.

 

Another sort of spoiler from the preview I forgot to mention;

 

 

I might've been seeing things but it appeared that Angela Hill (the 1-0 rookie and a striker) had Carla Esparza (Invicta champ and probably the best wrestler in the house) on her back at one point. Interesting.

 

I could see a few unheralded underdogs emerging as legit on this show. Like Juliana Pena on the Rousey-Tate season.

 

Yeah there's no major spoilers in it, I wasn't bothered, it just made me want to watch the show even more.

 

 

Yeah I noticed that. I also saw Torres mounted by Markos, I'd imagine Torres still won the fight, but who knows!