The TUF 28 TUFtermath
After a two week hiatus for MLB playoffs, we’re back with week seven of The Ultimate Fighter Season 28! Team Whittaker will be hoping to take the lead from Team Gastelum as they send Juan Francisco Espino Diepa to take on Ben Sosoli. Will Team Whittaker pull ahead and finally take the lead over Team Gastelum? Let’s find out in this week’s episode of TUF 28.
The Big Three
#1) Loyalty Confirmed – After winning her fight against Bea Malecki in the previous episode, Lea Letson has decided to stick with the ones that brought her there. Hopefully this will be the end of this little bit of drama, since it had a happier resolution than the venomous split between Lauren Murphy and Eddie Alvarez in Season 26.
#2) Self-Reclamation Through Martial Arts – As hard as it may be to believe, Jaun Francisco Espino Diepa was bullied as a child. A chance encounter watching the wrestling of his home island, Gran Canaria, led him down the path of martial arts and helped him to rebuild his self-confidence.
#3) Fighting Heartbreak – Ben Sosoli has a different hope than most competing on The Ultimate Fighter. He has two sons from a previous relationship that his ex-partner has prevented him from seeing for four years. So now, he fights with the hope his boys will one day see him on TV.
The Stock Report
Stock Up: Juan Francisco Espino Diepa. How could his stock not go up? Diepa grappled his way to two 10-8 rounds against Ben Sosoli. Hard to argue otherwise.
The Fight
Round one of Juan Espino Diepa vs. Ben Sosoli started slow. Both men took their time, tryng to feel each other out. Diepa was the more mobile of the two, and circled around the cage to eventually launch takedown roughly a minute in. He managed to take Sosoli down and quickly move into half guard. This put Espino in his element, where he used pressure and a peppering ground and pound attack to stay on top. Sosoli tried to strike from the bottom, but wasn’t particularly effective as Diepa comfortably rode out the bulk of the round on top. With around 25 seconds left, Sosoli was able to escape as Diepa moved to mount, but was swiftly slammed back down to the mat. I scored the round 10-8 for Juan Espino Diepa based on dominance and the duration thereof.
Round two did not start off the same, as Ben Sosoli was able to defend an initial takedown attempt from Juan Espino Diepa and land some cracking uppercuts. It was not, however, enough to stave off a second attempt that saw him flat on his back before the round was a minute old. Sosoli was a little more effective at escaping this time, returning to his feet at around the 1:50 mark before being planted once more by Diepa 10 seconds later. Diepa would retain top position through the end of the fight, peppering him with enough strikes to keep the fight on the ground.
Juan Espino Diepa was awarded the unanimous decision.
Next week, Team Gastelum will be looking to even it up in the final preliminary bout, as they send Macie Chiasson to take on Larissa Pacheco of Team Whittaker. Keep it locked to MMASucka.com for the next TUF 28 TUFtermath!
