The 20th season of The Ultimate Fighter came to a close on Friday night with the TUF 20 Finale: A Champion Will Be Crowned. It emanated live from The Pearl at the Palms Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and featured Carla Esparza vs Rose Namajunas in the main event to crown not only the TUF 20 winner, but the first ever UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion. Below are the TUF 20 Finale results:
UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship
Carla Esparza def. Rose Namajunas via submission – rear-naked choke (Round 3, 1:26)
In the main event, takedowns paved the way for Carla Esparza’a rode to victory over Rose Namajunas. In round one, Esparza looked a bit flustered by the offensive attack from Namajunas, but she still managed to land three takedowns. Esparza’s round one ground-and-pound was rather ineffective, but that was not the case in the second. Esparza landed two more takedowns in the seconds, and with 30 seconds left in the round, Esparza unloaded with some vicious shots from the mount. But Namajunas showed her heart and survived to see round three. It was short lived, however, as Esparza took Namajunas down again ten seconds into the third, and Namajunas gave up her back to avoid more ground-and-pound. Esparza sunk in the rear-naked choke, and despite her best efforts, Namajunas was forced to tap, and the number one seed in the TUF house, Carla Esparza, ran the table and became the first UFC women’s strawweight champion, just like she was supposed to.
Charles Oliveira def. Jeremy Stephens via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
In the co-main event, the grappling wizardry of Charles Oliveira and the grit and determination of Jeremy Stephens were on full display. In the first round, Oliveira pulled guard right away and locked up a super tight armbar. Stephens hit a big slam, but it only appeared to make the armbar tighter. Just when all hope looked lost for Stephens, he somehow managed to squirm out and survive the round. Round two was similar, with Oliveira scoring a takedown right away and locking up another tight armbar. Stephens was able to survive again though, but Oliveira was far from done, attempting a gullotine choke and another armbar before the round ended. Round three had a completely gassed Oliveira continually having his takedown attempts shrugged off by Stephens. Oliveira finally managed to pull guard with one minute left, but it was Stephens who produced the offense tis time. He unleashed some heavy ground-and-pound to finish off the round, but it was too little, too late, and all three judges sided with Oliveira.
KJ Noons vs Daron Cruickshank ruled a No Contest – unintentional eye poke (Round 2, 0:25)
An exciting lightweight contest between KJ Noons and Daron Cruickshank came to a premature and disappointing close. Round one was all action, with the boxer Noons surprisingly matching Cruickshank’s kicking game with kicks of his own. Cruickshank was forced to try some other things, and he scored two takedowns on Noons with his underrated wrestling attack. At one point in the round, Noons accidentally poked Cruickshank in the eye. He was able to fight on, but less than thirty seconds into round two, Noons got him again with antoher poke, and Cruickshank told the cageside doctor that he couldn’t see, and therefore could not continue. The fight was called off, and ruled a no contest.
Yancy Medeiros def. Joe Proctor via submission – guillotine choke (Round 1, 4:37)
There was no controversy in the other lightweight fight on the main card between Yancy Medeiros and Joe Proctor. After a long feeling out period to open up round one, Medeiros finally started finding his range and started landing some hard shots. With less than one minute left, Medeiros dropped Proctor with a spinning back kick to the body, and he jumped onto the guillotine choke right away. He put the squeeze on, and Proctor had no other choice but to submit, giving Medeiros his second straight submission win inside the octagon.
Jessica Penne def. Randa Markos via split decision(28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
In the de facto third place bout in the TUF 20 tournament, Jessica Penne and Randa Markos put on a show. Round one featured a furious pace, with multiple positional exchanges on the ground and the constant trading of dominant positions. At one point, Penne opened up a cut just below Markos’ right eyebrow. The second round was much heavier on the stand-up, with Markos winging hard shots as Penne stalked her from the center of the cage. Late in the round, Markos landed a takedown and briefly mounted Penne before Penne was able to reverse position to close out the round. Round three started the same as round two, with Markos controlling the fight by landing powerful strikes. Halfway through the final frame, Penne managed to score a takedown, and with 90 seconds left, she nearly wrapped up a rear-naked choke. In the end, two of the three judges sided with Penne in this excellent fight.
Preliminary Card Results:
Felice Herrig def. Lisa Ellis via submission – armbar (Round 2, 3:05)
Heather Jo Clark def. Bec Rawlings via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Joanne Calderwood def. Seohee Ham via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Tecia Torres def. Angela Magana via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Aisling Daly def. Alex Chambers via submission – armbar (Round 1, 4:53)
Angela Hill def. Emily Peters Kagan via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
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