History was made during the premiere episode of The Ultimate Fighter 18 Wednesday, as women competed on the UFC’s popular reality show for the first time.
UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and her rival Miesha Tate, the first two females to coach on the show, will be in charge of both male and female 135-pound fighters competing for six-figure UFC contracts.
Watch The Ultimate Fighter 18 every Wednesday on Sportsnet 360 and get weekly episode recaps on sportsnet.ca
In episode one, 32 fighters — 16 men and 16 women — fought with the winners earning a spot in the infamous TUF House.
Five Canadians had the opportunity to get into the house and three did.
To find out which Canucks will be featured on TUF 18 and to see who will be jointing them, here are the full results from the TUF 18 premiere:
WOMEN
Jessamyn Duke (2-0, 1 NC) vs. Laura Howarth (4-0)
In the first-ever women’s fight in TUF history, Duke, 27, submitted Howarth, 26, with a triangle choke late in the first round. The two scrambled back and forth throughout the fight, but Duke’s long frame and her aggressiveness was the difference in the bout.
Jessica Rakoczy (1-3, 1 NC) v.s Revelina Berto, (3-1)
Hamilton, Ont.’s Rakoczy, a former pro boxing champ, displayed tremendous resolve and submission defence as she fought off an early attack from Berto, 24, whose brother is star boxer Andre Berto and whose father Dieuseul fought at UFC 10.
After weathering the storm, Rakoczy, who has lived and trained in Las Vegas since 2000, gained a dominant position, inflicted powerful ground-and-pound and pulled off a modified omoplata to force the tap.
Tara LaRosa (21-3) vs. Sarah Moras (3-1)
In the biggest upset of the Moras of Kelowna, B.C., picked up a huge decision win over La Rosa, 35, who is one of the pioneers of women’s MMA and has been the top-ranked 125-pound female in the past.
Moras, 25, has trained with Tate, who says she shouldn’t be underestimated.
Roxanne Modafferi (15-10) vs. Valerie Letourneau (4-3)
Modafferi, one of the most experienced contestants on TUF 18, landed an early takedown on Quebec’s Letourneau, who trains at the Tristar Gym with the likes of UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre.
Modafferi quickly locked in a body triangle and secured a rear-naked choke to earn a spot in the house.
Shayna Baszler (15-8) vs. Colleen Schneider (4-3)
Baszler, who holds wins over the likes of Modafferi and UFC bantamweight Alexis Davis, showed her veteran savvy in a submission win over Schneider. Baszler has the skill and resume to already warrant a spot on the UFC roster.
Peggy Morgan (2-0) vs. Bethany Marshall (4-1)
Morgan, 33, had a tremendous size advantage and used it well in a quick TKO of Marshall.
Raquel Pennington (3-3) vs. Tonya Evinger (11-6)
Pennington, 24, submitted Evinger, 33, with a second-round guillotine choke after Evinger was able to implement her wrestling to no avail.
Gina Mazany (3-0) vs. Julianna Pena (4-2)
Pena, 24, used a ground-and-pound and strike-heavy attack to pick up a unanimous decision over Mazany.
MEN
Josh Hill (9-0) vs. Patrick Holohan (9-0-1)
Hill, 26, is one of Canada’s best bantamweights and controlled Ireland’s Holohan for two rounds en route to a dominant decision win.
UFC president Dana White was not overly impressed with the Stoney Creek, Not., native’s performance, but Tate saw potential in his skill set.
Louis Fisette (6-1) vs. Chris Holdsworth (4-0)
Winnipeg’s Fisette, 23, pressed the action early and landed a big takedown. Once on the ground, Holdsworth, a Team Alpha Male teammate of Urijah Faber, worked some rubber guard and locked up an armbar before transitioning to a triangle.
The two battled in the triangle position for several minutes before Fisette finally slipped out and began landing punches. After another scramble, Holdsworth, 25, got into mount where he locked up an arm-triangle that forced a tap from Fisette.
White was impressed with both fighters.
Daniel Martinez (18-4) vs. David Grant (8-1)
In the first round, the shorter Martinez came out throwing a hard left hand that backed Grant up. As Martinez, a teammate of UFC bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz, attempted a takedown along the cage Grant landed a downward elbow to the spine of his opponent. He was issued a warning by the referee.
In the second round, England’s Grant landed a big right hand that dropped Martinez. As Martinez was getting to his feet he landed an illegal knee and was deducted a point. When action resumed Grant went into desperation mode and locked up a fight-ending armbar to secure a spot in the house.
Michael Wootten (6-0) vs. Emil Hartsner (4-0)
One of the U.K.’s top prospects, Wootten, picked up a decision win over Hartsner, a former hockey player.
White said the fight “sucked” and that it wasted 15 minutes of his life.
Tim Gorman (9-2) vs. Lee Sandmeier (9-0)
Gorman, 30, used a strong wrestling base to control Sandmeier. He secured back mount then full mount, inflicting devastating ground-and-pound en route to a TKO stoppage.
Christopher Beal (7-0) vs. Sirwan Kakai (9-1)
Cancer survivor Beal picked up a three-round decision win over Kakai where he displayed a strong striking attack and composure when the fight went to the ground.
Matthew Munsey (4-1) vs. Anthony Gutierrez (4-0)
In an uneventful bout, Gutierrez topped Munsey in a decision.
Cody Bollinger (14-3) vs Rafael Freitas (6-0-1)
In the most exciting fight of the evening, Freitas used a series of leg kicks and submission attempts to get the best of round one.
However, in round two, Bollinger, 22, attacked his opponent’s body with kicks and began landing a plethora of damaging punches and elbows to Freitas’ head and eventually the ref stepped in to stop the bout.
TEAM SELECTION
After the fights to get into the house, Rousey and Tate selected their teams. Rousey won a coin toss and had the option to either select the first fighter or the first matchup. She chose the option of selecting the first matchup and Tate got the top pick.
Here is what the teams look like:
TEAM ROUSEY
Women – Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke, Peggy Morgan, Jessica Rakoczy
Men – Christopher Beal, David Grant, Anthony Gutierrez, Michael Wootten
TEAM TATE
Women – Julianna Pena, Sarah Moras, Raquel Pennington, Roxanne Modafferi
Men – Cody Bollinger, Chris Holdsworth, Josh Hill, Tim Gorman
On the next episode of TUF 18…
With the first bout selection, Rousey decides to fight fire with fire and put her top pick, Baszler, up against Tate’s top pick, Pena.
Also, the fighters move into the TUF House and the rivalry and drama between the coaches starts to heat up.
