After what will no doubt be considered the biggest upset of the season, with Julianna Pena felling Shayna Baszler, happening in the last episode, it’s hard to know what to expect as we come into the 3rd installment of this season’s The Ultimate Fighter. All we know is that Team Tate is in control, and have matched up their #2 pick on the men’s side, Chris Holdsworth, with Team Rousey’s top choice, the injured Chris Beal.

TUF 18 Report: episode 3

The episode began with coaching staff of Team Tate coming to the house in celebration mode, to be greeted by the victorious “Venezuelan Vixen” – squealing like a child for “butter fat milkshakes.” Coach “Cupcake” provides the requested heart-attack inducement, and as a measure of reconciliation, brings a piece of chocolate cake for Shayna Baszler. They start talking, with Tate mentioning that it was difficult to corner against someone that she “idolized.” Baszler, in a cutaway, talks about how it was hard to hear everybody celebrating Pena’s win, but that business was business and she can separate it from personal life. We then see her telling Miesha about how Ronda pulled her aside after the fight and talked with her, winning her over. The camera focused on Tate, who appeared to be trying to hide some ill feelings at that notion. We get another aside, with Baszler stating that Ronda had her back, and that you really see who your friends are in defeat.

Later that evening, we are “treated” to Julianna talking in a British accent. Team Rousey’s resident playboy, Anthony Gutierrez says that Julianna’s is bothering him, but that her looks will allow her to get away with it longer. This is brought on by Pena’s attempts to spend the day talking in the aforementioned British accent. Outside and away from the victorious underdog, “Sharkbait” suggests that the entire group confront her and tell her to knock it off. Cody Bollinger then talks about how Pena, “has her days,” being good on some and unbearable for others. Eventually, she is confronted by everybody and asked to stop, which she takes as middle-school bullying,calling it (in a beautiful moment of the pot calling the kettle black) “very immature.” She then goes into the online troll fallback of, “I don’t care if you like me or not, it’s not gonna affect me at all.”

The next day, at Team Rousey’s training session, Ronda gives a motivational speech, urging her fighters to fight to in the present, not looking ahead or back, but to persevere and work to win every single second of the fight. She also refers to herself as a “Cold, calculating, confident, c–t,” in the cage, noting that she wants to make her opponents get overly emotional in order to force them into mistakes. She turns to Chris Beal, telling him that Team Tate’s choice to put him against Chris Holdsworth because of his hand injury is a sign that they are both afraid of Beal, and lack confidence in Holdsworth’s abilities. We cut to Beal, talking about how is hand is swollen, but he will still use it to beat Holdsworth, saying that it’s nothing compared to having to beat cancer. After Beal’s monolgue, we go back “Rowdy” Ronda, who expounds on how all fighters have competed while injured, and that you don’t feel it when you’re in the cage. Beal talks about his game plan, which is to keep the fight standing and prevent Holdsworth from utilizing his jiu jitsu. We see Beal’s training as he continues to discuss his plans, stating that he doesn’t feel anybody can handle his striking.

At the Team Tate training session, Cody Bollinger has a sitdown with Coach “Cupcake,” discussing concerns he has that there is a rat on the team. He reveals how “Team Armbar’s” Jessamyn Duke rattled off every planned female match-up – in order – to his teammate, Raquel Pennington. He then mentions that he suspects it to be Julianna Pena, noting that she no longer, “gives a f–k” about the match-ups as she has already won her first fight. Bollinger and Pena then discuss this in the van ride home, with the Washingtonian calling the assertions “ridiculous.” Bollinger stands by his accusations while Pena attempts to insult him. We cut to Louis Fisette, who mentions that Pena is the one girl who has already fought, who doesn’t care if the opposing team knows their planned match-ups, and has also been spent the two previous nights staying up late with the opposing team. We cut back to “The Venezuelan Vixen” trying to laugh it off as Fisette’s monologue continues, saying she will try to deny the accusations, but still looks guilty. Then, with a smile on her face, Pena turns her head and accuses Roxanne Modafferi of being the rat, as she sleeps in the same room with the Team Rowdy ladies. “The Happy Warrior,” who had her head down prior to this, pops up and states matter-of-factly that all five women had made a pact not to discuss training or match-ups. Bollinger chimes in to Modafferi’s defense, calling her a “f–king samurai” that he wouldn’t question. He then gets another aside, saying that after Pena tried to deflect the accusations onto Roxanne, that while he believes that his victorious teammate is the rat, he is done with her now, whether she’s guilty or innocent. This is done over footage of Pena saying he shouldn’t accuse her, and that he has no facts, despite the the circumstantial evidence pointing in her direction. Louis gets the last aside, saying that nobody likes a rat, especially because a rat can makes everybody’s lives a lot harder in regards to winning fights and maintaining control. This is before we cut back to Chris Holdsworth, who gets the last word by telling everybody to knock it off until after they’re back at the house.

Having returned to the TUF House, we see Holdsworth discussing the fight with Roxanne Modafferi, who is giving him a (platonic) massage. Holdsworth believes it will be a clash of styles, but that he’ll come out on top. This precedes Chris detailing his background, talking about watching martial arts tapes with his father, enrolling in jiu jitsu after watching the first UFC with Royce Gracie. He also talks about his older brother George, who he says was an inspiration to his sister and he. Unfortunately, George, a brown belt in American freestyle kickboxing, was gunned down when he was hanging out with the wrong crowd. The elder Holdsworth was awarded his black belt posthumously, and his surviving brother still has it to this day.

At the next training session, we see Chris Holdsworth shadowboxing in the cage, with Coach Tate urging him to throw in some blocks to avoid the left hooks that Chris Beals will undoubtedly throw. In a cutaway, Miesha discusses how she feels Holdsworth can defeat his Team Rousey counterpart in every aspect of the fight, going into a gameplan that ends with a takedown and as submission victory. We see Holdsworth training next, talking overtop about how he is working on his striking, and will see his hand raised.

Back at the house, we see some tense, awkward flirting at poolside between Julianna Pena and Holdsworth, with each person discussing the other’s positive traits in individual asides. The Team Alpha Male member discusses how he hasn’t been in any long relationships due to his fighter lifestyle, while Pena urges him not to worry about it, as it will happen organically. In his last aside, Holdsworth mentions how that it’s a lonely 6 weeks in the house, and that he likes not only flirting with girls, but flirting with Pena specifically. He makes a crack poolside about being friends with benefits, to which she chuckles and agrees.

Later, see Pena giving an apology for trying to deflect the “rat” accusations onto Modafferi, who in keeping with her good-natured ways, accepts it. We then get Julianna recapping the situation that brought us to this point, and then “The Happy Warrior” talking about wanting to keep peace and harmony in the house while claiming not to have been bothered by the accusations as she did nothing wrong. We then go to Raquel Pennington in the Team Armbar ladies’ room, as both “Rocky” and Jessamyn Duke describe the situation in cut-aways. Pennington believes that somebody leaked the information on their matches to Duke, while “The Gun” states that she simply pulled the matches and their order out of thin air. Duke also states, while in conversation, that she told Cody Bollinger that she came up with the match-ups on her own, and that Pena had nothing to do with it, but that “Bam Bam” stated he did not care and would still use it as ammunition against Julianna. Duke finishes off with one last aside, discussing how she thought Pena’s team would have been happy with her for getting the big win over Baszler, but that she apparently done something to really irritate them. The segment finishes back in the Team Tate women’s room, with Pena finishing up her talk with Roxy saying there should be team unity, but then getting a cut-away and saying that she doesn’t need her team to like her, and “To Hell with them all.”

The next morning, we see Chris Beal jogging around the block as he starts to narrate his life-story over the footage. He talks about not liking to run before getting his cancer diagnosis, then finding out that he might lose his leg to the sarcoma tumor. Since beating the disease, he now loves to run, trying to jog a few miles every day. “The Real Deal” also talks about losing a brother to gang violence, talking about getting the call from his mother and learning that he had been shot 13 times before passing away. Beal talks about having been tempted to go down the same gang-banging road as his elder brother, but resisting the urge as he now has a son, and doesn’t want his child to grow up without a father like he had. He then talks about wanting to show his son that hard work is how you achieve your goals. We see Beals next in the UFC Training Centre, working out while Rousey discusses his athelticism and striking. She feels he only needs one hand to beat Holdsworth, but will still use both. Over more training footage, Beal discusses wanting to have been the first fight and getting that first win, and wanting to put a smile on Coach Rousey’s face. Ronda says that her team has the utmost faith in her lead pick, and full confidence he’ll win the fight.

The whole TUF crew now gets a night out, to watch the TUF: Brazil Season 2 finale at a suite in the Red Rock Casino. The fighters all appreciate the chance to get out of the house and relax, with Josh Hill and Louis Fisette both speaking to that fact. We see everybody eating, drinking, and being merry – Excepting Chrises Holdsworth and Beal, who had to settle for simply being merry since they still had to make weight. “The Real Deal” mentions how it was nice to be able to watch the fights on a big screen TV, and has really missed having the entertainment over the past couple of weeks. Then, we hear one of the codewords for “guaranteed trouble” as Ronda Rousey gets up to get some wine. Previous seasons of The Ultimate Fighter have proven that alcohol is guaranteed to be responsible, in one way or another, for some form of conflict. This was no different, as due to the tight bar space, Rousey had to go directly beside Bryan Caraway in order to get her drink. Of course, Miesha Tate would have absolutely none of that, demanding Rousey move away from “The Lightning Kid.” Rousey of course, responded, saying she wasn’t trying to be beside him, and she doesn’t understand why anybody with half a brain would want be with him. Jessamyn Duke described the situation as being akin to the posturing one would see in the animal kingdom. We then see Tate trying sidle up close to her boyfriend, and at the same time remove as much space as possible for her nemesis. At some point, Ronda tells Tate that she should get someone who can hold pads properly, and Tate has to take it that one step further by saying that Rousey doesn’t even know how to hit pads. Ronda responded to this by calling over her head trainer, Edmond Taverdyan, who as the Godfather of the Armenian mafia that Ronda has been adopted into, was deeply offended by this insult to his coaching ability. While the back and forth is going on, with Tate claiming that it all started with Rousey getting too close to her man, Ronda explains the back story of her antipathy with Caraway, telling the story of how he threatened – over Twitter – to knock her teeth out after her first fight with Miesha. Taverdyan references this, telling Caraway that he wouldn’t even be able to knock his pupil’s teeth out as “The Lightning Kid” and walking PR disaster tries to beg off. Doing some digging, Bryan indeed issued a half-hearted apology on Twitter after the incident, claiming he doesn’t hit women and only said that because he was provoked, which is still placing the blame on Rousey for his outburst. Regardless, as the whole scene ended with Caraway accusing Rowdy of trying to act tough, to which Ronda responded, “We act tough always. You act tough on Twitter,” followed by Taverdyan stating that his charge can beat both Tate and Caraway at any phase of the fight, and will break both their arms. Back on the couch, Rousey alludes to the fact that Caraway engages in “bitch behaviour,” and states that she’ll beat Tate so badly she’ll never be able to put a string of wins together again. The segment ends with Ronda getting another drink at the bar while Tate, from a distance, jokingly encourages Caraway to grab her rival’s ass and “give it a good squeeze.”

Finally, we get to the weigh-ins, with both fighters making weight. Ronda feels that Chris Beal is a real fighter, as he wanted the first fight regardless of her injury. Miesha thinks that Chris Holdsworth will take the fight in the 1st or 2nd round by submission. Dana White finally rears his head and talks up Beal’s striking ability and athleticism, noting its contrast with Chris Holdsworth who, “looks like a jiu jitsu guy.”

One last trip to the house, as Chris Holdsworth shows some of the guys a letter of encouragement he received from Julianna Pena. Anthony Guitierrez reads the letter in a feminine voice as Holdsworth and the others make cracks about portions of it. Holdsworth, however, is hoping that Pena will make him some enchiladas, give him “the whole enchilada,” and back with the guys, says he’ll give her, “the best 2 minutes of her life.” Meanwhile, Chris Beal is off by himself, going through visualization exercises. Holdsworth discusses the history of tragedy that both men share but that he has worked too hard to lose this opportunity, while Beal talks about how this is his chance and that he is too fast, too skilled for his opponent.

Chris Beal (Team Rousey) vs. Chris Holdsworth (Team Tate)

On fight day, Chris Holdsworth talks about why he fights, how it’s for his family, while Chris Beal talks about how everything in his life has prepared him for this moment. Each man speaks their final piece, and then head for the Octagon. Beal says that he has overcome every challenge in life and will continue to do so, while Holdsworth says he has worked too hard for the moment and plans on winning both the show and the bantamweight strap.

The first round starts with Holdsworth pumping the jab, as Beal lunges in for strikes. The much longer Holdsworth accidentally catches Beal with a low kick to the groin as “The Real Deal” lunges in to strike. Beal tries to drive forward, but Holdsworth is avoiding his strikes, and landing with the jab. Soon, Holdsworth is finding his rhythm in the face of Beal’s forward blitzes, landing jabs and low kicks. At about 1:19, the Team Rousey member finally lands a solid hook on his opponent, but it barely fazes him. Holdsworth continues to land, almost at will, and is growing more confident with his striking. Right straights from the Team Alpha Male member are finding their home, stunning Beal briefly, but allowing Holdsworth to shoot in and catch a takedown up against the fence. “The Real Deal” gets back to his feet quickly, and manages to whizzer out of another takedown attempt and end up in the guard of the Marc Laimon black belt. Beal attemps some to get control from the top but is fended off by an armbar attempt from Holdsworth, forcing him back up to his feet. Both men back on their feet as Holdsworth is starting to fire off more 2 and 3 punch combos, while Beal is head-hunting with blitz attempts. They clinch, and mohawked cancer survivor lands a knee strike before the grappling ace backs off. Chris H. shoots in for a takedown, but Chris B. stuffs it and lands an uppercut before both men separate. Both men exchange strikes until Holdsworth knocks Beal down at around 3:55 left in the round, diving on his opponent from Team Rousey with elbows, before cinching in an arm-in guillotine choke and getting the tap at 4:19.

Chris Holdsworth def. Chris Beal via Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 4:10 of Round 1

Holdsworth celebrates as Team Tate enters the cage, while Ronda’s on the outside, muttering profanity. Post fight, Holdsworth is happy, having earned $5000 for the finish, and for winning his first fight. He’s also excited to be getting enchiladas from Pena and other nice things, but says he’s not taking a break. In the Team Rousey lockerroom, Chris Beal is weeping quietly. He feels horrible, as this is first loss, is disappointed that he couldn’t throw his right hand as much as he had hoped, but notes that Holdsworth was the better man. He also says that this is one of those lessons he wants to teach his son, to get right back up after you get knocked down, but that this is still a moment that has scarred him for life but that he will still learn from. Coach Rousey then instructs her girls to be ready, no matter what happens.

It’s time for the fight pick selection, and Team Tate pairs up crafty veteran Roxanne Modafferi with Team Rousey’s last pick, Jessica Rakoczy. Tate believes this will be a “gimme” fight for her 10 year veteran 2nd pick, while Rousey believes that while Rakoczy’s best skills are her stand-up, she will be ready no matter where the fight goes. Rakozcy goes up to Coach Rousey after the initial staredown and tells her, “I got this, I got this.” Once again, we have striker vs. grappler, as Rakoczy is a champion boxer, while Modafferi is one of the craftier grapplers in the game. As the teams walk off and the episode ends, Julianna Pena walks up to Coach Tate and tells her, “I’m so proud of you,” to which Miesha responds in kind. A slightly odd end to the episode, but surely foreshadowing of something.

3 episodes in, and I can see that Rousey giving up first pick of fighters has somewhat bitten her in the butt. While yes, she did get Baszler, Duke, and Morgan out of the deal, it really decimated her choices on the male end of the talent pool. Tate has the two fighters I see going into the men’s finals in Chris Holdsworth and Cody Bollinger, and I’m not sure if any of Rousey’s boys will be able to counter them. However, we did see some of what I expected to see out of Miesha Tate, in the “Mean Girls” style stunt she pulled at the bar. I’m not saying, by any stretch of the imagination, that I believe Rousey is handling things the right way, but I can see what she is reacting to. Again, that could come from a place of sympathy due to my own background, but I don’t feel that either party is innocent here. I’m also unsurprised to see Pena put herself on the outs with the majority of the house, as there was something about her that rubbed me the wrong way since episode one. Still, it will make the next few episodes very interesting to watch as we see the house dynamics develop further. So, with all that said and done, let’s look at the standings.

Team Tate (2-0)