The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned (TUF 20) took place on December 12, 2014 from the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The ‘TUF 20’ finale was headlined by the two finalists of this season as Rose Namajunas took on the former Invicta FC Strawweight Champion Carla Esparza. For the first time ever the winner of the tournament would immediately become a UFC champion. The inaugural UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion would be crowned in the 5-round main event between the two.
Check out our biggest winners and losers from the ‘TUF 20’ Finale below.
Winners:
(Esther Lin/Invicta FC)
Carla Esparza:
Carla Esparza entered the ‘TUF 20’ tournament as the #1 seed and was the reigning Invicta FC Strawweight Champion. Esparza made it to the finals by defeating Angela Hill, Tecia Torres, and Jessica Penne. At the finale she was set to take on the flashy Rose Namajunas to crown the first ever UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion. Esparza’s wrestling proved to be the difference and she was able to control the majority of the fight and ultimately picked up the rear-naked choke victory at 1:26 of Round 3. The ‘Cookie Monster’ proved why she was the first overall pick and looked dominant against a very tough opponent. Esparza did things the hard way by making it through the tournament, but ultimately reached her goal and reclaimed the championship in her division.
(Esther Lin/MMA Fighting)
Yancy Medeiros:
Yancy Medeiros entered the night coming off of a reverse bulldog choke against Damon Jackson back in August. Medeiros was set to take on ‘TUF 15’ alum Joe Proctor. In what was a very exciting fight, which is expected every time Medeiros enters the octagon, he was able to pick up the submission victory via guillotine choke at 4:37 of Round 1. The Hawaiian has only lost to Jim Miller and Rustam Khabilov in the UFC, both of which are currently ranked in the top 15. Medeiros looks great against everyone not in the top 15, but it is likely time for him to take on another top 15 opponent to see if he can make the leap into the best lightweights in the UFC.
Losers:
(Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports)
Jeremy Stephens:
Jeremy Stephens came into the night off of a loss to Cub Swanson back in June. Stephens was set to take on the submission specialist Charles Oliveira. In a very lackluster performance, Stephens lost via unanimous decision. ‘Lil Heathen’ was able to escape some very tight submissions that many would have tapped to, but he was unable to do much offensively. A clearly frustrated Stephens also refused to shake hands with Oliveira after the fight. This is Stephens’ second straight loss and it also drops him to 3-5 in his last eight fights.
(Dave Mandel/Sherdog)
Bec Rawlings:
‘Rowdy’ Bec Rawlings was one of the most marketed and most talked about fighters on this past season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’. There were high hopes for her entering the season, but she ultimately lost her very first fight against Tecia Torres and was eliminated from the tournament. Rawlings was set to take on a rival of hers in Heather Jo Clark at the ‘TUF 20’ finale. At the weigh-ins, Rawlings was one of the stars of the show as she immediately flipped Clark the bird as soon as they faced off. The fight was an entertaining one, but one where the very vocal Australian came up short. After losing the first two rounds, Rawlings came on strong in the third, but that was not enough and Clark was able to pick up the unanimous decision victory.
