Welcome back, fight pals! This week on The Ultimate Fighter 20, we’ve got a 15 minute Harley Davidson commercial, yay! Maybe I’m a goober, but I always find it weird that the winning coach and fighter get motorcycles when the history of fighters and bikes is really poor.
From one bout of promotion to another as Conor McGregor shows up to give Aisling a boost of morale. Daly introduces Conor to Team Pettis, or at least her friends on Team Pettis.
The fight – #4 Jessica Penne vs #5 Aisling “Ais the Bash” Daly
The first round starts and stops briefly for an accidental eye poke on Penne. The round continues with Penne taking Daly’s back standing, pushing her into the cage and getting a body lock. Daly manages to reverse position about halfway through the round, but it doesn’t last as both fighters exchange putting each other against the fence. They break apart, reset in the center of the octagon and exchange strikes. Daly clinches up, gets Penne against the fence and dumps her to the floor twice in the final minute, but can’t do anything with it. I’d give the first round to Daly because she had better clinch work and that’s what the bulk of the round was.
Round two begins with a brief striking exchange before the fighters go back to cage clinching. Daly sends Penne down again, but nothing comes of it and they’re back to throwing hands in the middle of the cage. Daly manages to close in and clinch Penne with about 90 seconds left, but Jessica ends up on top and she gets mount. Penne takes Daly’s back, but can’t finish. I’ll give the second to Penne, and the judges seem to have agreed, since we are heading to round three!
The third sees Penne get a hip toss very early and get into Daly’s guard. Daly manages to reverse, but gets caught in a triangle. Daly escapes, but Penne ends up on top and in side control. Daly gets back to her feet, takes Penne’s back, but runs out of time. I’d score that third round to Penne, as do the judges, giving Jessica the decision victory.
Come back next week as #1 Carla Esparza takes on #3 Tecia Torres and #2 Joanne “Dr. Kneevil” Calderwood vs #7 “Thug” Rose Namajunas!
Quotables:
“I frequently ride on the back of Harley Davidsons” – Felice Herrig (NO SURPRISE, HUH?)
Highlights:
– Aisling being happy as heck when Conor showed up. She’s spent so much of this season (What little screen time she’s had, anyway) sounding super depressed, so it’s great to see her enjoying things
