On episode eight of The Ultimate Fighter 20, 14th seeded Randa Markos once again proved her doubters wrong by earning a first-round submission victory over the sixth seed, Felice Herrig, to advance to the semifinals. For the 29-year-old Canadian, it was a nerve-racking affair as she doesn’t like to see her opponents prior to competing.
“I was more nervous for this fight because I’ve never been in this position before,” Markos explained to Sportsnet. “In this situation where I’ve been training with my opponent, living with my opponent and then having her on my team at the same time, it was kind of awkward. But I had my head straight, I wanted to continue doing what I’ve been doing the whole time. Just take it just as another fight because eventually we all fight each other.”
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Markos earned the submission victory with an unusual modified armbar. It’s a move that she learned from her team at the Maximum Training Centre in Windsor, Ont.
“(I have to give credit to) Phil Navarro and Toan Lam my amazing grappling coaches here in Windsor. I’ve been with them since I first started jiu-jitsu when I didn’t know anything at all. They showed me everything I know and everything I’ve been doing I owe it all to them.”
Post-fight, the narrative surrounding this episode should have been about the underdog Canadian emerging victorious. But instead, this was overshadowed by drama involving fellow Team Pettis teammates Carla Esparza and Herrig towards Markos. While the Windsor native is aware that this storyline undoubtedly creates buzz in the MMA media, it doesn’t make the situation any less disappointing.
“I know the drama took over because it wasn’t a normal situation as professional athletes, the way they were towards me. (I mean) you can’t really ignore that because it was pretty bad (but) it’s like c’mon! Let’s talk about my submission I did. I felt like that was a great submission and I never thought in a million years that I would actually get that in a fight. Let’s focus on us as fighters, instead of the drama.”
The drama started prior to her fight with Herrig — which was the first matchup between teammates this season — where seven of the eight quarterfinal spots were filled up by Team Pettis. With the women knowing they would eventually face teammates later in the competition, this created a tricky situation in regards to training. Members of Team Pettis felt uneasy about this, primarily Esparza and Herrig. Initially it was agreed among the team to train at different times but that tune quickly changed once members of the team realized there would be too much downtime in between training. One of the women who pushed for this change was Markos.
“You get two hours to go to practice and the rest of the day you’re supposed to sit at home? There is absolutely nothing to do, no TV, no radio. This is for the [UFC strawweight] belt; nobody should tell you what can and cannot do. If you need to train you should be able to go and train.”
Rather than understanding Markos’ point of view, Esparza and Herrig immediately went on the attack, calling her a “coward” and acting extremely unprofessional.
“When I went to practice I wasn’t with [the rest of my team].” Markos explained. “There was no reason for [Esparza and Herrig] to treat me the way they did. I warmed up with them because [the coaches had] asked me to warm up with them. Then when the warm-up was over we took our stuff and we went outside in the parking lot. The doors were closed I didn’t see them. [What] they didn’t show in the episode [was] when we were driving back home, they had nothing to say to me at all, because they knew they were in the wrong.”
The aftermath of the episode took a turn to social media, where TUF 20 cast member Angela Magana posted hurtful messages towards Markos last week on Twitter. But the former PFC champion has kept her focus primarily on fighting and doesn’t involve herself in any of the drama involving her cast members.
“Honestly, when I got out of the house, I blocked [most of the cast] off of my social media. I don’t have time for that. I have a full time job, I train full time, I’m married, and I have a really busy life. I don’t have time for pathetic people like that. If they want to rant and rave and act that way, it just shows what kind of people they are. If they want to talk, they can meet in the cage and talk then. I have nothing to say to them.”
For now the world awaits her next opponent which will be the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between Rose Namajunas and Joanne Calderwood. Regardless of how the tournament unfolds, the entire cast — except Justine Kish who is recovering from ACL surgery — have guaranteed spots on the TUF 20 Finale card next month. Overall, Markos said she was pleased with the level training she had on the show, despite some recent controversy involving the coaching staff on Team Pettis and Roufusport.
“I was really happy with the way Duke Roufus trained us. I really learned a lot from him, he’s an awesome coach. I like the way he teaches and shows you different things. I’m hoping to go [to Milwaukee] and train with them in the future. Everyone’s got their own way of learning, but I didn’t see anything wrong with the way they were training.”
When she officially makes her UFC debut next month, Markos will be sporting a new nickname “Quiet Storm” which she picked up during her tenure on the reality show.
“Actually [cutman Jacob “Stitch” Duran] gave me the nickname. He kept saying ‘You’re the quiet storm’ I was like you know what; I’m going to keep that. Who better for it to come from than Stitch? I owe it all to him.”
