It’s been a long road, but we’re finally at the last episode of this latest season of the Ultimate Fighter. Chris Holdsworth and David Grant are the two male finalists, and now Team Rousey’s Jessica Rakoczy and Team Tate’s Raquel Pennington will square off to determine who takes on house pariah Julianna Pena in the women’s final this Saturday. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at what this week brings.
TUF 18 Report: Episode 13
We start at the UFC Training Center with Raquel Pennington, who goes more in-depth on her background. A tomboy from a young age, Pennington was always looking for athletic pursuits, even earning scholarships before breaking her back and losing out on taking advantage of them. After rehabilitating herself, she and her mother eventually round themselves doing MMA conditioning work, and “Rocky” then just got bitten by the bug. As we see more of her training, we witness Pennington injuring her hand taking down Louis Fisette. It’s thankfully not broken, but the injury – a dislocation of one of the small bones in the hand – throws a monkey wrench into the initial game plan of standing and trading before going for the takedown. Now, the key words are “get it to the ground.” This leaves her with two things to worry about, between the cuts from her war with Jessamyn Duke, and now this hand injury.
Team Tate isn’t the only group with a fighter affected by the injury bug. Team Rousey’s Jessica Rakoczy has been dealing with a shoulder injury the entire season, and it hasn’t been getting much better. She is game though, even after absorbing a shot from Chris Beal in sparring causes a nerve pinch, sending numbness down her injured shoulder and through her arm. “Ragin'” Rakoczy lays off the sparring, but continues to work technique and ground defense with her coaches. Edmond Traverdyan’s marching orders are “stick and move,” which means taking the Canadian single mother back to her amateur boxing roots in order to keep distance and avoid Pennington’s takedowns.
We move quickly next to the weigh-ins. Peggy Morgan acknowledges that while her teammate Rakoczy is the smallest girl in the fight, she has the ability to win this fight with her striking, while Chris Beal praises Jessica’s heart. Josh Hill and Chris Holdsworth, though, are firmly on the side of their Raquel Pennington, who they feel will take it to the ground and pound out a win. Roxanne Modafferi, true to form, can not choose between friends, and simply predicts an exciting fight as both women make weight.
It’s Fight Day at the house, and Jessica Rakoczy is enjoying breakfast with David Grant, teaching him the finer points of eating bacon the Canadian way (with maple syrup, if you’re curious). Raquel Pennington is getting her cornrows in, and details a dream she’d had the prior night, where she was fighting in a park. We move back to Rakoczy, who after getting her hair done for the fight, details her motivation: Her 4 year old son, Jesse. She left him in the care of her aunt in Canada in order to undertake this effort, and the TUF training camp has been the first one she’s gone through without him around. She hopes that when it’s all over, he won’t be angry or hate her, but that he’ll have looked at the past few weeks as a fun vacation.
At the UFC Training Center, we watch as both women go through their final preparations. Jessica Rakoczy knows that she’s the underdog, but doesn’t let the deter her in her quest to be a champion in MMA. Coach Rousey then details their preparation, working on popping up after being taken down, and how she doesn’t feel that the lack of sparring due to her charge’s shoulder injury will have an effect on her going in to the fight. Coach Tate also discusses Raquel Pennington’s lingering injuries, but says their plan is to go out, get the fight to the ground, and finish it quickly. Rakoczy’s last words are that while her foe has some boxing experience, it doesn’t match up to her’s, and that while Raquel may have told her that, “she gets high off of pain,” then “Ragin'” will have to make her high. Pennington’s final thoughts are that fighting is what she loves, even if it means she may have a few screws loose. She also states that boxing isn’t MMA, and that she plans to dominate.
Jessica Rakoczy (Team Rousey) Vs. Raquel Pennington (Team Tate)
Round 1 starts with quick movement, feints, and jabs from Jessica Rakoczy. Raquel Pennington would try to fire back, but Rakoczy’s footwork and timing took her out of her rhythm. As the round drew towards the middle, “Ragin'” was able to land with regularity, until “Rocky” went for the takedown with 2:08 left in the round. Pennington pressed the single mother against the cage, but had to work for over a minute before finally scoring the takedown. Seated against the cage with Pennington on her legs, Rakoczy was able to get to her feet, giving up her back but landing some strong elbows in return for it. “Rocky” continued to work for a takedown from there, with Rakoczy stymieing her first two attempts before finally being forced down at the 4:42 mark. It didn’t last long, as Rakoczy managed to re-guard, throwing strikes the whole time until the end of the round. 10-9 round for Jessica Rakoczy.
Round 2 was more of the same, with Jessica Rakoczy introducing jabs to the body and more hooks into the proceedings. Despite coach Miesha Tate’s pleas, Raquel Pennington was drawn into her opponent’s game and couldn’t mount much more offense than a few kicks and some counter-punches. With 40 seconds left in the round, “Rocky” again went for the takedown, but couldn’t get it as the round drew to a close. Another 10-9 round for Rakoczy.
The 3rd round greatly resembled the 2nd, though Raquel Pennington was at least able to land a couple of 1-2s early on. Jessica Rakoczy’s footwork and fast hands kept the fight squarely in her control, with Pennington almost looking lost when unable to impose her will. “Ragin'” opened up a cut on her foe at around the 1:30 mark, and continued to control the majority of the round. Pennington went for one last takedown near the end of the round, and was able to complete it with 16 seconds left. It still didn’t stop Rakoczy from battering her with shots till the end, though. Once again, 10-9 Rakoczy.
Jessica Rakoczy def. Raquel Pennington via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
After the fight, Dana White expressed surprise at how the fight went down. He did not expect Jessica Rakoczy’s strategy to affect Raquel Pennington the way it did, causing the heavy-handed counter puncher to freeze up starting in the 2nd round. He also expressed his appreciation for Rakoczy’s striking, footwork, and takedown defense. Coach Rousey, however, was far from shocked by the outcome. In fact, she noted that Jessica remained focus and was “The capital letter and the period of every exchange,” and that it had a visible effect on Pennington. Shayna Baszler joined in with praise for Rakoczy, stating that she looked awesome while “Rocky” looked flat. Miesha Tate – whose cornering during this fight consisted of little more than shouting lines like “Get after it, Rocky! Go!” – wasn’t listening or following their game plan.
After the official announcement, Jessica discussed her pleasure with the TUF training, saying it has made her a better fighter. Despite missing her son, she is still happy beyond words. Coach Rousey then calls her the most improved fighter on the show. Shayna Baszler backs up this assessment, and then says that she’s “riding the Rakoczy train all the way to the end,” even though she feels bad for her friend Raquel Pennington coming up short. Back in the Team Tate locker room, “Rocky” asks Coach Miesha to take a walk with her. We hear Tate talk about how she feels like she failed as a coach because she was unable to help her charge get over the mental block she had faced. Outside, Pennington and Tate both break down into tears and embrace as Raquel apologizes for her performance. We also hear “Rocky” after this occurrence, calmed down, discussing the mental block and how MMA tends to throw you curve balls.
So now, the match-ups for the finals are set with Team Tate vs. Team Rousey, and it’s time for staredowns. First, we get Julianna Pena and Jessica Rakoczy. Dana says that Pena is a beast and hits hard, but that Rakoczy may just have the tools to beat her. Next, it’s Chris Holdsworth and David Grant, with Dana unable to give an edge to either of the gritty, well-rounded fighters. Finally, it’s time for the coaches, as Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey and her nemesis, Miesha Tate step into the cage. Once again, White notes that Rousey hates Tate, and Tate loves to push Rousey’s buttons. This continues in the cage, as Tate thinks it would be cute to give “Rowdy” a pair of socks with hands flipping the bird on them. Predictably, Rousey throws them down to the ground and looks about ready to kill “Cupcake” as White has to step between them. After the champ leaves the Octagon, Tate throws the socks back at Rousey before making her way out. Rousey picks them up and brandishes them at Tate, before getting a cutaway talking about how Miesha can “pull out her socks and snicker with her little boyfriend” before saying she wants to win the fight in as devastating a manner as possible. Back at the Training Center, Rousey is sure to get the last word in, telling “Cupcake,” “Get used to wiping your ass with your other hand, you f—–g b—h!” before storming off with her team.
Well, that ended about the way we all expected, didn’t it? Maybe not the fight, but the last interaction between the coaches. The fight, to me at least, was exciting because of how beautifully Jessica Rakoczy was able to stifle Raquel Pennington with her footwork and fast hands. It was a great display of technical striking, the kind of which I’m sure made folks like noted fisticuffical expert Jack Slack a happy camper. I’m looking forward to the finals, and I’m hoping we’ll see great efforts from everyone involved. I think going into a fight not being the underdog may end up being Julianna Pena’s undoing, and I suspect that Rakoczy will be able to pressure her and break her en route to a decision victory. I also expect a war from Chris Holdsworth and David Grant, but before I give you my prediction, I must preface it by telling you two very important things I’ve learned this year: 1) Never bet against the guy from Dagestan, and 2) Always bet on the guy with Duane Ludwig in his corner. Duane “BANG” Ludwig will be in Chris Holdsworth’s corner and England’s own David Grant is not a Dagestani, so Lesson #2 applies here but Lesson #1 does not. I have been fairly successful with my picks this season, so you may want to trust me on this. So, without further ado, here are the final standings.
Team Tate (4-4, 2-2)
- Julianna Pena (2-0)
Sarah Moras (1-1)Raquel Pennington (1-1)Roxanne Modafferi (0-1)Cody Bollinger (0-1)*- Chris Holdsworth (2-0)
Josh Hill (0-1)Louis Fisette (0-1)
Team Rousey (4-4, 2-2)
Shayna Baszler (0-1)Jessamyn Duke (0-1)Peggy Morgan (0-1)- Jessica Rakoczy (2-0)
Chris Beal (0-1)- David Grant (2-0)
Anthony Gutierrez (1-1)Michael Wootten (1-1)
