We’re back, after taking a week off for a recap show that wasn’t worth reporting. This week, we’ve got the last two preliminary fights scheduled, with Cody Bollinger vs. Anthony Gutierrez and Sarah Moras vs. Peggy Morgan set for tonight’s episode. So, without further ado, let’s return to Vegas.
TUF 18 Report: Episode 9 Recap
We start off at the TUF house after the Wooten Vs. Hill fight from Episode 7, and find Miesha Tate and her coaching staff bringing cheeseburgers for her team, and for Michael Wooten. We cut to Coach Cupcake, discussing her team’s comfort with both impending match-ups, Moras Vs. Morgan and Bollinger vs. Gutierrez. We then cut to the guys outside, asking Cody Bollinger how he’s going to handle his weight cut. He responds that he’ll do it by crying out a pound and a half of tears. Michael Wooten, in an aside, notes how hard Bollinger’s weight cut of 15 pounds will be, while Bollinger comments that he’s happy to have made it to 143 lbs. that day, 8 pounds off his target weight. We hear Cody talking about his mental plans for the fight, and that he has nothing against Gutierrez, but will be going out to fight his “f–kin’ ass off.” Gutierrez echoes the lack of animosity, and notes that Bollinger is the toughest draw in the tournament. While talking with Jessica Rakoczy in the kitchen, Gutierrez discusses his expectations for the fight, knowing that his opponent will be looking for the takedown early, but anticipates he’ll have the cardio to outlast him, and will not pressure himself too much.
In the gym, we see Anthony working with his coaches while narrating his past. He first watched TUF during the show’s 5th season at 15, and became a Diaz brothers fan immediately. While he had set a goal to make the show, he notes that actually being on the Ultimate Fighter is “unreal.” We also see him telling assistant coach Marina Shafir that the fight will be a bloodbath. Coach Rousey is happy with “Sharkbait’s” progress, noting that he’s looking faster and more precise on his feet, and calls his style “annoying and squirelly,” which will cause problems for his opponent. We return to Gutierrez, who talks about how he’s due for big things after the hard work he’s put in over the last 7 years. After a test weigh-in, Manny Gamburyan tells “Sharkbait” that he’s weighing in between 143 and 144 lbs.
Back at the house, it’s weight-cutting time as Michael Wooten and Shayna Baszler tucks their teammate Gutierrez in with blankets and towels. “Sharkbait” says he’s ready to fight and ready to cut weight, and anticipates he’ll be at 139 lbs. on the day of the weigh-ins, cut the remaining 3-4 lbs. just before the weigh-ins then eat and re-hydrate his way back up to 155 lbs. The camera pans and we see Cody Bollinger, also beneath blankets, and the two discuss whether or not they’ll be able to sleep that night. Cody talks about being mentally strong in MMA, saying that you risk failing miserably if you’re not.
At the Team Tate training session, we see clips of “Bam Bam” Bollinger” working all aspects of his game, and eventually running on the treadmill with 6 hours to go before weigh-ins. Cody talks about his motivation, which is to not just be in the UFC, but also to support his young family. He says that for leaving his wife alone for 6 weeks to take care of their daughter, he is going to make the whole thing worth it. We cut to Bryan Caraway, who talks about how weight-cutting is “the worst experience in your entire life.” We see him encouraging “Bam Bam” until he all but falls off the treadmill, then helps him to the sauna, where he joins teammate Sarah Moras. He is later joined by Louis Fisette and Coach Tate, and reveals his weight, at last check, was 141 lbs. He continues to work in the sauna, with his coaches continuing to encourage him. Because of the difficulties of cutting weight safely, Caraway says that the coaches will stick with their top pick after the practice and at the house to ensure he drops the remaining weight safely. Weighing in at the gym after the sauna, it’s revealed that Cody’s weight is 141.5 lbs., which leaves him feeling distraught. Caraway assures him that they’ll be with him at the house to help him lose those last 5 lbs., but Cody’s not taking 2 hours of effort for no visible loss of mass very well.
As everybody’s packing up to go, Cody goes up to his coaches, a broken man, apologizing and saying, “I’m done.” Chris Holdsworth talks about how Bollinger’s fights before the house were at featherweight and heavier, and that he just broke mentally. Caraway tells him they’re going to try something different as they try to get him to keep going. Coach Tate tells him he’s not thinking straight, and to keep going or else he’ll hate himself. She even resorts to showing him pictures of his daughter in an effort to keep him going.
Back at the house, Cody’s team rallies around him. With 3 hours till weigh-ins, Miesha is trying to get him into an ice bath, with Cody still distraught, saying he can’t make the weight. We cut to Miesha, who talks about how it’s impossible to gain weight after going into a sauna without ingesting something. We cut back to her and her charge, who apologizes again, and has given up completely. Tate tells Caraway to turn the hot water off as Bollinger begins to get dressed and grabs a pack of coconut juice to start rehydrating. Raquel Pennington refused to believe it upon hearing that “Bam Bam” was giving up, and did her best to encourage him as well, along with Roxanne Modafferi. “Rocky’s” words prove to be more inspirational than their coaches, and gets Bollinger to jump back into the ice bath. Looking back, via narration, Cody talks about how he checked out mentally, and says that he was given the time and everything he needed, and should have been able to make the weight, but just couldn’t do it, and admits that he quit. Tate talks with the group about how she’s upset with Bollinger for quitting, not for missing weight. She also reveals that UFC President Dana White has received word of this, and has called for a meeting at the UFC Training Center.
We return from break at the UFC Training Center, with Dana White rounding up Team Rousey from their locker room. Dana has done this in order to make sure Bollinger faces the music, admitting to everybody that he had issues with the weight cut. Bollinger does so, with out excuses, simply stating that he “f–ked up,” and had broken mentally. Dana then begins to tear a strip off of him, telling him that he effectively stole and ripped up someone else’s lottery ticket. Bollinger still wants to be a fighter, but still owns up to the fact that he was weak mentally during this weight cut. He admits to quitting, and apologizes to everyone. White continues, telling Bollinger that fighters missing weight is one of his biggest irritants, and points to Anthony Gutierrez’ hard work on bringing himself down to the 135 lbs. limit. Dana then shows Cody the door, and summarily kicks him off the show. Bollinger accepts his punishment like a man, and leaves without complaint. We cut to Julianna Pena, who normally fights at flyweight, talking about how he embarrassed the entire team. Dana then tells everybody that whether he admits it or not, the real reason Cody didn’t make weight was because he didn’t want to fight. Anthony gets a chance to speak, and says that while he feels sorry for Cody and his family, he still wishes “Bam Bam” would have tried harder to make the weight and hopes he can learn from this error. After one last shot of Dana reiterating how pissed he is, Cody Bollinger is given one last chance to speak his piece. He breaks down one last time, agonizing over letting the opportunity slip through his fingers and how he’s going to tell his wife and daughter.
Now the one part of the situation is dealt with, Dana is now looking for solutions. He considers Chris Beal as a replacement, which was nixed by the Athletic Commission not just due to Beal’s lingering hand injury and beating he took against Chris Holdsworth, but also the prospect of making poor “Sharkbait” Gutierrez cut weight twice in such a short time span. Dana talks to the coaches, and notes that while he wants to see guys fight to advance, the NSAC may just declare a forfeit and move him along, effectively giving Team Rousey a bye. Miesha apologizes again for Bollinger’s weight-cutting failure, which White says is not her fault. White then promises to have an outcome for them in 10 minutes. While they wait, Tate notes that Chris Beal will be the most likely candidate to be slotted back in against Gutierrez, since her other two male fighters are still on medical suspensions. Back in her locker room, Ronda is once again not happy with Miesha’s behaviour, feeling that instead of taking responsibility for properly supervising every stage of Cody’s weight cut, she just sold him out. She’s frustrated as she feels it is a head coach’s duty to ensure their fighter is 100% ready for their fights, and should blame themselves for any failure in their charges. She’s also frustrated that Bollinger’s weight-cutting issues have created uneasiness in her own team as far as what’s going to happen next. As it turned out, the commission gave Team Rousey the option to have Anthony rehydrate, then cut weight the coming Monday to fight Chris Beal the next day, or to accept a forfeit. Coach Rowdy left it up to her fighter, who made the wise choice of accepting the forfeit. Dana’s not thrilled about the choice, but accepts it, because “Sharkbait” held up his end of the bargain.
Back at the house, Bollinger continues to be the hot topic of discussion. Peggy Morgan – a featherweight herself – feels it’s his loss, and that it was a series of bad decisions that carried him to that point. Gutierrez admits that while his decision may not have been “sexy,” but that it was smarter to take the easier road to the next bracket. Up in the Team Tate Ladies’ Room, Sarah Moras is discussing how much easier these fights are feeling for her. She thinks that it may be because it’s “her time.” They cut to Moras, who says she thinks her opponent Peggy Morgan is “pale, a ginger… And really tall. Like a giraffe.” She continues her conversation with Pena, talking about her desire to fight for huge crowds, and to be able to say she’s a UFC fighter, instead of just an MMA fighter.
It’s time for Sarah’s training session, over which she details how she got into MMA. Initially, she was dating a fighter at the time and had merely wanted to get in shape, then fell in love with the sport. She feels that she deserves this, and that all the tears and work have brought her to this point. We move to Coach Cupcake, who says that while Peggy Morgan is the biggest girl in the house, her charge is the second biggest. She also notes that “Cheesecake” trains with much larger men on a regular basis at her home gym, Kelowna’s Toshida MMA. Tate believes that Sarah’s aggression and grappling acumen will win the day for her over the much taller “Daywalker.” We see clips of Moras grappling with Pena in training, coached on by Miesha as the narration goes on. Sarah is “stoked” for her fight, and while she isn’t familiar with Morgan, or even fighting with anybody that much taller than her, but is confident that she will smash her opposition on the ground. Moras confidently states that the fight will be hers once it hits the ground, and that she won’t hesitate to break an arm if it’s given to her.
Back at the house, we see Peggy Morgan with her team, filled with excitement over her impending fight. She was feeling down the previous week, missing her son, but is happy to have the distraction of a fight to focus on. We cut to Morgan talking about her 3 year-old son, Oliver, and says that he’s seen her train and has a “pretty good” idea of what she does. She admits that being away from him is the hardest part of the competition, but knows it will be worth it for the future it can give him. We jump to the UFC Training Centre, as Morgan continues to tell her story over training footage. After making the jump to MMA from doing kickboxing to stay in shape. Morgan is also a professor of literature, and has to show pictures of herself in the cage before people will believe she’s a fighter. After being unable to find amateur bouts, Morgan jumped in with both feet, starting her career as professional when the opportunity arose. She reveals she spends a lot of time visualizing situations in the cage, practicing mentally. We see her working with Edmond, who is telling her to be aggressive after stuffing takedowns. We move to Coach Rousey, who agrees that keeping the fight standing, using her range and steady volume striking to keep her foe at bay. Ronda’s only concern is Peggy’s takedown defense against the cage wall, but says they’ve been working with “The Daywalker” on that part of her game the most. Morgan feels prepared for this fight, and feels that while Sarah’s ground skills are “legitimate,” so is her own takedown defense. She knows she’ll have to keep it standing to win, and that she’ll need to take a “bull and matador” approach to this fight. She feels she’s being underestimated, but looks forward to surprising Moras with her punching power.
At the weigh-ins, both women are on point. Roxy Modafferi believes this fight will be “a supernova,” while Dana White finds the striker-versus-grapper wrinkle interesting.
It’s fight day, and we see both women getting ready. Coach Ronda feels that Peggy has all the tools to win the day, while Coach Tate says that her charge is looking “strong as an ox,” and is “super-super-excited” for Moras to finally fight. Before the walkout, “Rowdy” tells her fighter to “be first, be constant,” and keep up the pressure. Peggy’s give her last pre-fight words, stating that she is a composed fighter who picks her shots and hits them accurately. We cut to Sarah, who says that she feels sorry for the people who have to fight her, “because it’s not going to go very well for them.” If she does everything right, Moras asserts her opponents will not have fun.
Peggy Morgan (Team Rousey) vs. Sarah Moras (Team Tate)
Round 1 starts off fast, with Sarah Moras coming right out pumping the jab, then going for a leg kick. Peggy Morgan lands a 1-2 counter off of a Moras jab, but the Team Tate representative is landing early. “Cheesecake” slips a jab from “The Daywalker,” and lands a hard kick to the body as she eats another 1-2 combo. Moras rushes in with a jab-leg kick-hook combination. Morgan lands a 3-punch bunch as her Team Tate foe goes for another body kick. Peggy is starting to establish distance with her long jab, keeping “Cheesecake” at bay. Both women are exchanging occasional strikes in the center of the cage, still feeling each other out. The tallest woman in the house wades in for another 1-2, but Moras changes levels and goes for the double leg takedown. Morgan sprawls on the Canadian fighter, but is pushed back against the cage. Sarah Moras taking over now, controlling the Team Rousey fighter against the cage. Moras gets admonished for grabbing the fence, but is then able to get a body lock from an over-under clinch. With 3:04 left in the round, Morgan forces the fight back to the center of the cage, and begins to take over with her rangy striking. Sarah goes for another takedown, and Morgan stuffs it with a whizzer, only to have Moras duck under her arm and finish the takedown. “Cheesecake” has her foe pressed up against the cage and on her butt, and figure-4s her legs. Moras starts to subtley turn Peggy parallel to the cage and push forward. Morgan is starting to threaten with a choke, but Moras escapes with ease before there’s any real danger, moving into half-guard. “Cheesecake” explodes forward and takes mount, landing some hard ground and pound until she forces Morgan to give up her arm. After that, Sarah turns her hips and snatches up the armbar, forcing the tap with just 0:22 left in the round.
Sarah Moras def. Peggy Morgan via Submission (armbar) at 4:38 of Round 1.
Post-fight, Tate says that the fight went mostly how she expected it to, while Dana White found Sarah Moras’ leg kicks to be impressive. Ronda felt that her fighter did well on the feet, but that Morgan was in trouble once she got taken down. Now that all the quarterfinals are done, we move quickly to the semi-final matchmaking. Ronda Rousey has 1 woman and 3 men moving on, while Miesha Tate has 1 man and 3 women.
As we get down to business, Dana asks both coaches who the best woman in the competition is. Ronda feels that it’s a tie between Jessica Rakoczy and Raquel Pennington, while Miesha stands by her friend and says it’s Julianna Pena. White then brings the ladies in one by one, with Julianna, Raquel, and Sarah all saying they want to fight Jessica Rakoczy. “Ragin’,” on the other hand, just doesn’t care, stating that she’ll fight anyone. When it comes to the men, Chris Holdsworth wants to fight Anthony Gutierrez next and give him payback for eating his food and keeping him up at night, and hopes for a finally pitting him against Davey Grant. Grant and Gutierrez, however, say they’ll fight anybody. Finally, Michael Wooten says he’d like to fight Anthony as well. Finally, the coaches have their say, with Ronda hoping to see Rakoczy vs. Moras and Pena vs. Pennington. Much to the shock of Dana, and I’m sure everyone at home, Tate and Rousey were close on how they wanted the matches made. In the end, “Uncle” Dana decided that the full-length semi-final fights would pit Michael Wooten vs. Chris Holdsworth, Sarah Moras vs. Julianna Pena, David Grant vs. Anthony Gutierrez, and Jessica Rakoczy vs. Raquel Pennington. White said that he’s been impressed by Pena, but hasn’t bought into the Moras hype yet. He also notes that both coaches wanted Grant vs. Gutierrez. So, the semi-finals are set, and we move one step closer to the finals.
I’m going to be honest, as soon as I saw the Moras Vs. Pena match-up, I burst out laughing. I don’t think Dana White was aware of the fact that Sarah Moras beat Julianna Pena so bad in 2012 that the doctor had to stop the fight. I expect the fight to go in a similar fashion when it happens. I also will not be surprised if we see some favoritism in the coaching for that bout… As for the rest of the match-ups, I have no issues. They should all be entertaining, and I’m looking forward to them. I’m still picking Moras and Holdsworth to take it all home, though.
Team Tate (4-4)
- Julianna Pena (1-0)
- Sarah Moras (1-0)
- Raquel Pennington (0-1)
Roxanne Modafferi (0-1)Cody Bollinger (0-1)*- Chris Holdsworth (1-0)
Josh Hill (0-1)Louis Fisette (0-1)*Forfeit due to failed weight-cut
Team Rousey (4-4)
Shayna Baszler (0-1)Jessamyn Duke (0-1)Peggy Morgan (0-1)- Jessica Rakoczy (1-0)
Chris Beal (0-1)- David Grant (1-0)
- Anthony Gutierrez (1-0)*
- Michael Wooten (1-0)
*Gutierrez moved on due to forfeit caused by a failed weight cut from Cody Bollinger.
