The Ultimate Fighter 18 Recap: Obviously Julianna Pena was going to win!
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to guess the outcome of first women’s quarterfinal fight on last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter 18.
After the elimination round and the teams were picked, Team Rousey looked to take out Team Tate’s #1 pick and friend Julianna Pena, with the most experienced female in the house, Shayna Baszler. The quick decision was a bold move yet seemed more driven by the UFC women’s bantamweight champions hate for Meisha Tate then what was smart for her fighter. Nevertheless the fight did favor the veteran of the sport and could have been a crushing blow for Team Tate.
Leading up to the fight, the editing showed the two fighters on different ends of the spectrum. Shayna Baszler was the over-confident one claiming she did everything better than her opponent, who really shouldn’t even be in there against her. Julianna Pena slid right into the underdog role as she was unsure of herself and sort of star struck by her opponent. Even Pena’s own team chimed in to further hammer the nail into the coffin.
With all the bright neon lights pointing in favor of Shayna Baszler winning the fight easily, it wasn’t that difficult to actually see the misdirection the viewers were being led on by the editing.
As the show neared the time for the two fighters to step into the Octagon the confidence of Pena began to turn around. The last thing shown is Julianna Pena telling the camera that she will not be bullied around by Baszler and that she is going to beat her up! The transformation was complete; Pena was torn down and built back up as someone the viewers want to like, want to win. Mission accomplished!
Julianna Pena went on to defeated Shayna Baszler via second round rear-naked choke submission that not only give Team Tate control but sent Ronda Rousey into a borderline psycho frenzy.
The upset wasn’t shocking if you were able to read the writings on the wall but hey maybe I’m just smarter than the average bear. While the outcome might have been an easy one to guess it’s clear that this season is going to be different from any of the previous seasons on The Ultimate Fighter.
In other new from last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter 18:
Tim Gorman of Team Tate revealed that he was nursing an injury and after an MRI showed he had suffered a torn hamstring he was unfortunately unable to continue. UFC President Dana White knew exactly who he wanted to bring back and that was Louis Fisette, who was defeated by Chris Holdsworth in the elimination round.
On next week’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter 18, Chris Beal will face the above mentioned Holdsworth in the first men’s quarterfinal bout.
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Category: Exclusive, MMA, Opinion, UFC, Ultimate Fighter
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