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

[wandshogun09]

Ha, 'X-Pac heat'. That's exactly what she's got with me. I'll have to watch this later.

 

In contrast to Magana, Joanne Calderwood and Aisling Daly are on Beyond The Octagon tonight. If you can put up with GAD News Brown.

[wandshogun09]

Speaking of 'X-Pac heat', my brother's got it with me now.

 

Apparently Direct TV in America has spoiled this week's two quarter finals. My brother looked up said spoilers and saw fit to send me a picture that's been floating around of someone's EPG for the episode that airs next week on December 10th. Which clearly tells you what the semi finals are. Fucking bastard of a cunt. He didn't even warn me, I opened the email and - bang - this week's episode ruined.

 

So be careful if you don't want tonight's episode spoiled. Don't go on places like Sherdog and don't read any emails from my shitbag of a brother.

 

However, if you can't wait and want to ruin it for yourself, here's the semi finals;

 

 

Carla Esparza vs Jessica Penne

Randa Markos vs Rose Namajunas

 

So obviously, on tonight's episode Esparza beats Torres and Namajunas beats Calderwood.

 

Out of that lot, hopefully the final ends up as Esparza vs Markos. No other combination would be as good as that, I reckon.

 

 

Just got to stress, if you do read the above spoiler, please be careful what you post in here and don't slip anything out (matron). And DO NOT post spoilers.

 

Just covering my arse there.

 

Now I'm off to cave my brother's head in.

[Noah Southworth]

Carla Esparza vs. Tecia Torres was kind of boring because it was Esparza going for takedowns over and over again and she couldn't do much whenever she was able to get Torres down. Disappointed to see JoJo lose to Rose, mostly because JoJo is so nice and Rose is an immature cunt. It was weird to see JoJo with her hair down and looking normal. And why was she subtitled? You could make out everything she said perfectly.

 

The full card for the final is, sort of, finalized;

 

Angela Hill vs. Emily Kagan

Alex Chambers vs. Aisling Daly

Angela Magana vs Tecia Torres

Joanne Calderwood vs. Seo Hee Ham (the only woman on the show not off the current season)

Heather Clark vs. Bec Rawlings

Felice Herrig vs. Lisa Ellis

Yancy Medeiros vs. Joe Proctor

Daron Cruickshank vs. K.J. Noons

Jeremy Stephens vs. Charles Oliveira

Loser of Carla Esparza vs. Jessica Penne against the loser of Randa Markos vs. Rose Namajunas

Winner of Esparza vs. Penne against winner of Markos vs. Namajunas to crown the first strawweight champion

[freaky]

That footage of Carla slithering into the cage after Tecia beat Felice was so awkward.  I thought she was pretty fortunate to beat Tecia too, as she didn't really do much after the takedowns she did manage to score - had Torres nailed one significant thing in each round she would have sailed it.

 

Jojo's loss to Rose was disappointing as I'm not keen on Namajunas' immature brattishness, but she's very exciting to watch.

[wandshogun09]

Rose is badass. She's immature but if you saw how I acted at her age I was probably somewhat of a little cunt as well. She'll hopefully mature over the next few years. She's nowhere near as bad as some of the older TUFers on this season like Esparza, Herrig and Magana. When you're around 30 years old and still acting like a bratchild then you're probably a lost cause.

 

Sadly, she hung around with mostly the twats on TUF. She didn't come across as well as I expected and I was disappointed to see her joining in with the bitchiness at times. What can you do? No-one's perfect, I guess. I'm still a fan though. She's fucking brilliant to watch in the cage, kind of a female Pettis vibe to her style, although obviously in the very early raw stages still. To be as good as she is already at her age, she could have a really bright future in the sport. She's one of the only ones I see real star potential in. There's a proper mean streak to her which I think could catch on because of the contrast with her look. I'm starting to think she might be the one Dana was talking about when he went hype mad with the "there is absolutely another Ronda Rousey on this season" stuff.

 

The Markos vs Namajunas semi final is very intriguing now for me.

 

All that said, I was gutted Calderwood lost. Although I was expecting it the closer it got. I just kept thinking Ronda kind of gave it away when she switched allegiance from picking Calderwood to win the TUF tournament, to suddenly backing Rose. It just felt like she'd got some inside info on how the tournament went down.

 

I hope Calderwood can bounce back from this loss. The fact the UFC are looking at Scotland next year, largely on the strength of her being in the UFC now, should be encouraging. I know they've been saying they'll go to Scotland for years but it sounds like it's really might happen this time.

 

I preferred mine and hbk4life's Finale card to the one they're doing.

 

I was really hoping for Calderwood vs Torres. And I was sure they'd go with Clark vs Magana, with all their arguing at the house. Seems kind of odd matching up Aisling Daly against Alex Chambers as well, with them both becoming friends in the house. There were better match ups to make IMO. Daly vs Rawlings or Hill would've likely been fun stand up battles.

 

I know nothing of Calderwood's finale opponent, other than she's Korean and her nickname is 'Hamderlei Silva'. I'm instantly on the bandwagon. After she loses to Calderwood.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Carla couldn't have looked more desperate to takedown Tecia. She almost looked like a dog trying to hump her leg, continually crawling and grasping at ankles. And as Noah said, she did absolutely nothing. I bet Jake Shields loved it. Disappointing for me, I thought it could have been a war, but Carla wanted none of Tecia standing.

 

Now, JoJo vs. Rose, that was a freaking fight! Both fighters are so dynamic. I confess a lot of time in women's fights, my mind drifts to pervy thoughts (being single for 3 years will do that to you), but this time I was fully invested in the fight and the fighters, regardless of gender. Rose is so well rounded, I loved how she rushed out with a front kick, and was working an armbar practically in mid air as she got taken down. Glad to see a member of Team Melendez progressing, I like both fighters and think they could both be at the top of the division in the UFC. I'd like a Carla vs. Rose final, just because of how active Rose is on her back and Carla's reliance on takedowns. Mad to think Pat Barry's girlfriend has such a great ground game.

[hbk4life]

Sad to see Calderwood and Torres lose, probably my two favourite fighters on the show and both went out on the same episode   I hope we do get an Esparza/Markos final, I think Markos might be the one who can handle the wrestling of Esparza and maybe even catch her with a submission. I think it will end up being Esparza/Namajunas though, I don't even know who I'd support in that one. I want Randa to win it now.

 

Hamderlei Silva   I'd imagine and hope Calderwood will destroy her, but with that nickname I hope we see her back again after it. A couple of wins and Jo could be fighting for the title in the first ever UFC card in Scotland...fingers crossed.

 

The finale card is a bit of a weird one, there were much more logical fights they could've made but at least Magana is a bit of a lock to be beaten. The only problem with her facing Clark is she might have won that, I can't see her doing much to Torres.

[wandshogun09]

Seo Hee Ham AKA 'Hamderlei Silva';

 

 

She's fucking tiny. 5'2" former Atomweight. Has some pro kickboxing experience. 15-5 MMA record.

 

She's probably getting fucked up against Calderwood. Might be a fun fight but she's probably going to struggle with the range. You get the feeling this is a fight they're expecting Calderwood to shine in, so they can book her a bigger fight on a Scotland card next year. Wonder if she'd headline that. That'd make her the first ever non-title womens fight to main event a UFC, wouldn't it? I'm guessing she'd more likely be co-main to more of a name fight though. Maybe under a Bisping headliner or something.

 

Unless they give Calderwood a title shot in Scotland, if she beats Ham (that sounds delightfully rude. 'Beats Ham'). I wouldn't have thought so though. The upcoming Gadelha vs Jedzeydysfvxjyk (can't be arsed to look up the correct and ridiculous spelling) will probably determine the next challenger after TUF.

[firstnameunknown]

Erm... so does anyone have a clue when the last episode is airing on BT Sport?!

[wandshogun09]

Should be same as always.

 

Wednesday night/Thursday morning at 3am

Repeated Thursday night at 10pm

 

Seems slightly weird there still being one more episode when we've already seen the coaches fight.

 

EDIT -

 

Yeah just checked. It's those days and times and on BT Sport 2. Seems they're repeating a load of episodes the Wednesday night but it'll be the 3am or 10pm ones you want.

 

Then the finale starts from midnight Friday night on BT Sports 1.

[mickfan]

Good last episode. Rose is a bit of an immature diva but god, can she strike. Feel bad for JoJo as she hasnt really shown the best of her yet. Maybe the bright lights of the UFC affect her performance. Would like to see the winner of Rose or Randa win the whole gig now.

 

Carla vs Tecia was ok. Never really tapped into Tecias story or fights. Bores me a little. Carla continally going for the takedown compounded this for me but suppose Carla (despite being a bitch) deserved it more.

 

Hope Lisa and Aisling can pull of victories in there Finale matches.

[Noah Southworth]

It’s Carla Esparza against Rose Namajunas in the finals. Esparza against Penne was better than Esparza against Torres, but that was all down to Penne being more aggressive and more able to land strikes. Esparza used the same wrestling-heavy, play it safe style she used last week, which won her the fight but sapped the enjoyment out of it, and does nothing to make you want to see her fight or win. At least Namajunas, whilst being a cunt, brings it in the cage and from bell to bell tries to win emphatically and in the process, makes you want to see her fight again. You don’t necessarily want to see her win again, because she’s a bitch, but you want to see her fight again. Based on their performances, I think Namajunas takes this. The only reason Namajunas doesn’t win is because either Esparza smothers her or because Esparza finally decides to kick things up out of first gear.

[wandshogun09]

Added a poll for the final and updated the first post with the full card, which looks like this;

 

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

At least Namajunas, whilst being a cunt...

 

You don’t necessarily want to see her win again, because she’s a bitch...

 

 

The finale card's pretty good. There's better fights they could've made but it's got the feel of the UFC trying to build some of the more promising fighters like Calderwood and Torres by giving them fights they should do well in. Which makes sense in a young division where these fighters will need to build some momentum.

 

Bit disappointed Daly vs Chambers is on Fight Pass, to be honest. I'd rather see that than Clark vs Rawlings.

 

I'm not upset at all that they're feeding Magana to Torres though. That should be a satisfying beatdown. Hoping Ellis beats Herrig as well.

 

Aside from that, Markos vs Penne should be excellent. Esparza vs Namajunas could be either a boring Esparza takedownandstallfest, or maybe Rose can put some heat on her early and get her out of there with some nifty strike or sub. Hopefully.

 

In the mens fights, Stephens will probably batter Oliveira. I hope I'm wrong because I like Oliveira and I've never warmed to Stephens, but I don't see Oliveira standing up to Stephens' power and I think he'll have problems getting the fight to the ground.

 

Noons vs Cruickshank could be a fantastic striking masterclass. Noons' boxing vs Cruickshank's ninja moves. I'll take Cruickshank via 'Jackie Chan shit'.

[Egg Shen]

my TUF viewing dropped off after i missed a couple of weeks and saw spoilers, whats the deal with Rose then? she was coming off ok up until the time i was watching, what happened?

 

I like the main card here though, that's my Saturday evening viewing sorted. Noons/Cruickshank is the standout for me, i hope Noons continues his run.

[wandshogun09]

I don't think Rose has come off that bad at all.

 

Looking for negatives, all I've got is;

 

1) She hung around with the cunts, the 'skrapettes'. She didn't seem to really give anyone shit though like a Magana or Herrig or Esparza did. Even one of the women who didn't get on with the 'skrapettes' (god I hate even typing that) said something like 'at least with Rose, whatever she says about you behind your back, she'll say to your face. The others are two faced.' I forget who said it but it was fairly recent.

 

2) There was a clip recently (I think on Beyond The Octagon when Calderwood was on) where they showed that bit when Heather Clark was fighting and her own team booed her. They showed a bit that I don't think made the show, where Calderwood says to them 'hey, there's no need to boo'. And they just sat laughing, Rose included.

 

3) The Roufus stuff recently, Duke Roufus fired back saying Rose beat up a training partner in the gym or something. If that's true then that's bad. Is it true though or was Roufus just trying to get back at her for bringing more attention to that video of the young kickboxer dying on a Roufus run show?

 

I can't think of anything else. She's been awesome to watch in the cage, finished all three of her fights. I'm convinced now that she's the one people were on about being 'the Ronda Rousey of this season.' She's beat good fighters as well. It's not like she's had an easy route. Calderwood was unbeaten. Randa was looking great in her previous fights. Rose submitted both without too much bother.

 

The only other thing I could think of as a possible negative is she cries all the fucking time. That's pretty minor though. And that's something we won't see much in the proper UFC.

 

I don't know why people would hate her. She hasn't come off as likable as I expected, granted. In her interviews and stuff with Pat Barry before all this she came across really cool and likable to me. Not so much on the show but whatever. It wasn't like she was anywhere near as bad as some of the others in there.

 

Plus she's still really young. Give her some slack. Herrig and Magana were 10x worse and they're both around 30.

 

She's something to get excited about IMO. She's shown on TUF that she's way better than her 2-1 record suggests. And she's got loads of time to improve. I said before she reminds me of a female, early Anthony Pettis. High praise, I know but I mean in the way she's so creative and a threat on the feet and the ground. If she's this good as a rookie, imagine her in another two or three years?

 

Esparza vs Namajunas might be a bit like Melendez vs Pettis in a way. Esparza is probably going to have to just keep switching shit up and trying to land punches and takedowns that are disguised in flurries. If she just stands too long she probably gets fucked up, and if she just wrestles I could definitely see her getting subbed.

 

I'm not sure. If Esparza can wear on her early, maybe she can grind out the later rounds and take the decision. But she's got to dodge bullets on the feet AND on the ground for 25 minutes. It's a tall order.

 

Fuck it, I'll go Rose by submission, round 2.