Can Team Pettis keep their winning streak? So far his fighters are 5-0 and Aisling Daly is the front runner to keep the winning streak going since she is ranked #5 while Magana is ranked #12.
TUF 20 Episode 6 Recap
Prior to this episode, and excluding the first ep where all fighters were introduced, these two women have mostly flown under the radar on the show, or in the editing room. This episode was very smart to focus solely on Magana and Daly, barely even showing any of the other women in the house.
Magana has mostly been known so far for being the most annoyed and angered against her teammate Heather Clark. This episode let us in to her very dark past, from birth until just a few years ago. Born to heroine addicted parents, to breaking her back, to the death of her fiance and finally a car accident that left her in a coma. She does not call herself a fighter but rather, a survivor. Rather accurate given her past but her endless soliloquies were extremely cocky, leaving one to wonder what her strength and/or weaknesses were.
Meanwhile, Daly was annoyed at her striking coach who, after learning that she had been throwing up the night before, seemed to imply to her that her illness came from psychological weakness rather than Daly’s reasoning that, coming from Ireland to the desert of Las Vegas, she had gotten heat stroke. Daly remained focused on her goal however, even when Dana himself came to check on her after learning she had been sick. She assured him that she was fine and asked if they could watch the UFC Dublin event in the house. A wish White was happy to grant the 26 year old veteran and his kindness might have just breathed new life into this fighter. Watching her see her teammates dominate the card, her face was lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. It is quite possible that she was even more eager to fight and represent her hometown team properly on the show after watching the event.
The first round belonged solely to Magana who took Aisling down from the start and kept her there for the majority of the round however, all she did was try to get a rear naked choke. It was not happening, Daly was defending extremely well but Angela never changed strategy to try to move to a different submission until the referee finally stood the two fighters up. Against the cage, Magana once again immobilized Daly, on the feet this time, but instead of using this time to do some damage, it was Aisling that grabbed Angela’s arm and was trying to get a kimura. The ref once again separated them and the round ended in the midst of a flurry of punches from Daly and a take down.
In the second round, Daly really came alive. She came out strong from the start, even though she had trouble taking her opponent down. The fight moved from the ground to the feet seamlessly throughout the round but Aisling dominated her opponent throughout. At the very end of the round it really seemed like the Irish fighter’s rear naked choke was deep enough to finish the fight but the round ended and a third round was, unsurprisingly, announced.
The third started a bit more evenly but Magana really seemed drained of energy when she went to her corner between the second and the third and it showed. Aisling was able to get her down and put her hooks in to get in some punches. She eventually even flattened Magana completely out on her stomach but wasn’t able to finish her at that point. She kept control as Angela turned to face her and pummeled her with punches to the face until the referee finally called a stop to the beating.
Daly might have been slightly underwhelming in the first round but she showed her experience and dominance throughout the 2nd and 3rd, it will be very interesting to see how she adapts going forward to wrestlers especially given her trouble defending and performing take downs. She will now face Jessica Penne in the next round.
Following the fight Magana complained that the first stand up was a mistake as she was apparently working on an armbar which are apparently her specialty. Her team stands behind her but a call is a call and whether this armbar would have worked or not we will never know.
Team Pettis moves to 6-0 as Alex Chambers is set to face Rose Namajunas, a fight fans of Invicta are surely looking forward to!
