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

[Ross18]

Was a long day at work for me yesterday and I must of fazed out for a bit because I never seen any spoiler, haha.

 

Enjoyed the first episode though. Definitely wasn't expecting Torres to go out so early. But then again I didn't know much about Randa going in. Calderwood was great with her carrots. Shame Pettis got her name wrong as well when picking her.

 

Im in two minds about the seeds. I hated it at first and then I thought it was a good idea and now im back hating it. Maybe because Calderwood, Namajunas and Chambers (3 of my more liked) are all in the same side and have to faced each other and only one of them can make the finals, haha.

 

Looking forward to next week. Hopefully JoJo can pick up the win. Would be great to see a Calderwood v Esparza final. As im sure that would have been the next fight for the Invicta belt.

[wandshogun09]

Good points on the last page, weevil. It's definitely tough to rank the women because there's so much less known about a lot of them. TUF 18 was an example of that with Juliana Pena going in as an unknown and coming out as the winner and beating some favourites like Shayna Baszler.

 

Would be great to see a Calderwood v Esparza final. As im sure that would have been the next fight for the Invicta belt.

I might be wrong but I think Esparza vs Claudia Gadelha was the next title fight in the pipeline. And Gadelha is the frontrunner to get the next shot at the winner of TUF. Although she'll most likely have to fight again before that. I've got a feeling Gadelha is the champion in waiting. She'd have been my pick if she was still on the show. But the old Nova Uniao weight cutting issues might've fucked her up and it's actually why she pulled out (she was worried about having to make weight three times in such a short period). Unless there's some absolute murderer on the show who can offset Gadelha's grappling, I think she probably ends up with the belt by this time next year. I'd be really interested to see how Calderwood would deal with Gadelha, with the contrasting styles, they're both strongest at each others weaker areas. It'd be a very intriguing fight, especially if they both remain undefeated and then fight.

[Ross18]

Oh yeah. Esparza v Gadalha was supposed to go down at Invicta 7 but Gadalha pulled out with some infection or something on the Friday night. So yeah. Suppose Invicta would have tried to re-book the fight at some point.

 

I really hope she does fight again though. As the winner of TUF will of fought 4 times during the process. So to just sit waiting for that seems a tad unfair.

 

She is dangerous though. Don't know what it is about her, but I've never seemed to like her. However bad it sounds im hoping she somehow falls short of the title. Would rather a long Calderwood reign.

[wandshogun09]

Oh yeah I'd definitely rather Calderwood take the gold, but I've just got a feeling Gadelha's going to spoil the party for whoever wins TUF.

 

Apparently Carla Esparza has been accusing Tecia Torres of taking PEDs. Torres posted this on Instagram;

 

I'm going to do this once and leave it alone! I have NEVER and I repeat NEVER put any illegal substance in my body in any way shape or form. I have never even had a sip of alcohol in my life, let alone a cigarette, or any drug! I am true to my word about being straight-edged 100 %. I can't help it that I am genetically gifted & my 20 years of hard work, martial arts, and dedication shows! SideNote: And to you Carla @carlaesparza1 who consistently has something to say about my body. I lived with you for 6 weeks and nothing about my body changed! So keep your comments to yourself. The End.

Does anyone else think Esparza looks like BJ Penn in a wig?

 

 

My wife pointed it out and now I can't shake it. She looks even more like him when she's fighting and has her hair tied up.

 

[Big Benny HG]

Some absolutely shocking haircuts on display in this series.

[JNLister]

Between Ms "I'm a girly girly with massive long nails" and Ms "I sleep in the gym, wake up and head to the cage without showering", I wonder how they find training partners.

[Egg Shen]

are we gonna be chatting TUF Latin America in here as well? its a Fight Pass exclusive i think but it's upto episode 3 or 4 already.

[wandshogun09]

Ronda Rousey on Dana's "there's another Ronda Rousey on TUF 20" line;

 

"I definitely think it’s Rose Namajunas."

 

"I called it from the very beginning. As soon as I saw her, I saw this girl is special. I've been following her for two years. I only finally got to meet her. I’ve been stalking her on Instagram for year. It was so great to be able to meet her, and I wish her all the luck. I can’t wait to see how she does in the season."

 

"She’s got an amazing skill set, she’s an exciting fighter. She takes risks, she’s gorgeous, and she’s charismatic. I really think she has all the tools that are needed in order to be the next really influential champion."

Hmmmm. Interesting.

 

Joanne Calderwood vs Emily Kagan on tonight's episode.

[Dzeko10]

I'm not sure if you can post spoilers in this thread but....

 

Good episode again and I'm happy with who won but I think Gil is carrying himself better as a coach so far, I may be biased but he seems to want to help them more than win.

[Magnum Milano]

I'm not sure if you can post spoilers in this thread but....

 

Good episode again and I'm with who won but I think Gil is carrying himself better as a coach so far, I may be biased but he seems to want to help them more than win.

 

You're fine mate as long as the show has already aired.  We all know the score here and it's their own fault if they come into a thread and not expect the event to be being discussed.

 

[Noah Southworth]

Pettis showed a remarkable lack of awareness when Heather Clark tried to explain they were getting too much information in too short a time. His "we're just trying to give you advice; if you don't want to take it, don't", was face palm-level ignorance as well. Great fighter but his coaching leaves a lot to be desired.

[wandshogun09]

 

I'm not sure if you can post spoilers in this thread but....

 

Good episode again and I'm with who won but I think Gil is carrying himself better as a coach so far, I may be biased but he seems to want to help them more than win.

 

You're fine mate as long as the show has already aired.  We all know the score here and it's their own fault if they come into a thread and not expect the event to be being discussed.

Yeah once it airs, spoilers in here are fine/expected. And considering our air time here is at the same time as it goes out in America now, there's no excuse for people to be getting arsey about spoilers.

 

Glad Calderwood won. Wasn't that good a fight though. Whether it was a combination of Octagon jitters or her holding back a bit because of the tournament format, Calderwood didn't look that impressive in this fight to me. She almost seemed too relaxed and laid back. But she did enough to get by and appeared to take very little damage, so job done. Bit worrying that she had completely the wrong grip when going for the kimura though, that's basics. Kind of makes me nervous about her ground game.

 

Definitely had Calderwood winning though. I don't know what Kagan was on about after, acting all hard done by and going "what did she do to beat me?" But what did Kagan do in the fight? Landed a couple of punches in round one but got mostly outstruck. Then she got taken down in round two and spent the whole round in an inverted triangle and her whole offence in the round consisted of trying to sit on Calderwood's face.

 

Unless I was looking at the bracket wrong, Calderwood is fighting the winner of Namajunas/Chambers in the next round. I'm guessing it'll be Calderwood vs Namajunas. My two favourites. Shame they're in the same half of the bracket because that could've made a cracking final.

[Guy Bifkin]

Agree with you on the fight Wand, a disappointment and to be honest, there hasn't been much skill on display across both the fights so far. Maybe that will improve as the show goes on but I was expecting better given most have been around a bit. You are right about the brackets, should be Calderwood vs Namajunas next round. You'd think Carla Esparza should make it through from the other half of the draw. 

[wandshogun09]

Yeah I think they're all kind of going to fight a bit conservative in the early rounds, because they've got to fight three times in six weeks or whatever it was, and they don't want to go into the semis too banged up. As the tournament draws to a close we should get the better fights because the best fighters will be paired off and they won't be so worried about letting shit go because they'll have time to heal up for the finals in December.

 

I think it'll be an Esparza vs Calderwood final.

 

But Ronda's recent bigging up of Rose Namajunas is interesting. Ronda was picking Calderwood to win the whole thing before, now she's on the Namajunas bandwagon. Makes me wonder if she's heard something.

 

Conor McGregor visits the house at some point by the way. To see his team mate Aisling Daly. Got a feeling that won't be the last time we see McGregor on TUF. How perfect a fit would he be as TUF coach down the road. TUF: McGregor vs Swanson? Or TUF: Ireland vs Mexico with McGregor and Bermudez or something. I'd watch.

[mickfan]

Good second episode, as it was shorter seemed more digestible and got straight to the fight. I was entertained by the fight tbh. Calderwood managed the fight well although, I'd have gave Kagan the 2nd round for her superior position. Pettis seems a rubbish coach between this episodes shenanigans and asking everyone how much they wanted to be Team Pettis. Hope Gil (who showed a nice touch getting emotional when Kagan was crying). Lisa Ellis up next week, hoping she can beat someone whose beat her (to a pulp) before a joprfil matchup between her and Ais Daly in the next round (two faves!)