While we saw a lot of recognizable names from the world of WMMA at the start of this TUF season, many of them were culled early as hungry young talent seized the stage. In addition to the two fighters who made it to the finale, this season has yielded 4 new female fighters for the UFC’s Women’s Bantamweight division in Jessamyn Duke, Peggy Morgan, Roxanne Modafferi, and Raquel Pennington. In fact, 6 of the 8 women who made it into the TUF house are appearing on the finale card.
The UFC is hoping that this crop of young new fighters do for Women’s Bantamweight what the first TUF season did for the UFC, and I feel like some of these girls have what it takes to rise to the top of the division and stay there.
On the men’s side only the two finalist, Chris Holdsworth and David Grant, appear on the card, fighting for the title of 18th Ultimate Fighter and a UFC contract. While we don’t really know all that much about Grant and what he can do, I feel like Holdworth should have the tools to get this one done.
The main even also features two TUF alumnae, as Gray Maynard takes on Nate Diaz for their tie-breaker bout.
I’m calling Diaz on this one. He’s quicker than Gray, he’s not easy to bully around the ring, and after his head kick TKO defeat at the hands of Josh Thomson, I feel like he’ll be coming into this fight hungry. Gray looks like he’s been slowing down recently, making tomorrow night’s performance all the more important. Expect a hard-fought contest, either way.
That’s all for now, fight fans. Main card picks for the night are Diaz, Pena, Holdsworth, Duke, and Pennington. Check back in the days after the event for recap and reaction to both tomorrow night’s card, and the 18th season of The Ultimate Fighter in general. And I promise, a UFC 167 reaction is still in the works.
Until then, keep those hands up and protect yourself at all times. This has been the Rabbit Punch!
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