Hello again, fight fans! The Ultimate Fighter 20 is back again with another exciting episode.
We start with Magana talking about how tough Daly is, but then goes into how she was born addicted to heroin. She ate out of trash cans and has basically had a terrible childhood. Things for Team Pettis are going well, except for Tecia Torres being seen as of an interloper. There’s also an issue with Aisling Daly being unfamiliar with the desert conditions of Las Vegas and her body not acclimatizing well.
Daly’s had a rough go in general, having been diagnosed with anxiety and depression. Dana takes her aside to ask how she’s doing, and thankfully Aisling is persevering. She even manages to finagle an opportunity to watch UFC Dublin in the house. We go back to more of Magana’s tragic story, including breaking her back in 2007 after falling over three stories from the top of a balcony and getting into a car accident that left her in a coma.
Magana mentions that she’s faced a who’s who of female fighters, including Invicta flyweight champ Barb Honchak and WSoF strawweight champ Jessica Aguilar, with Magana going a combined 2-2. The entire house is gathered around to watch UFC Dublin, and Aisling is THE MOST EXCITED. It’s kind of awesome to see her so hyped up for her teammates.
The fight – #5 Aisling “Ais the Bash” Daly vs #12 Angela “LALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU” Magana
Daly spent a lot of the first round defending against rear naked choke attempts from Magana. After a brief stalemate with Magana on Daly’s back, the ref stood them back up, which seemed like an odd choice to me. There’s a bit more grappling to close the first round. I’d say Magana won that round based on her numerous submission attempts.
The second round begins with good striking exchanges, including Daly throwing some interesting standing hammer fists. The fight moves to cage clinching for a while before Daly gets Magana to the ground and attempts to take her back. Magana rolls free, but Daly ends up on top. A brief scramble results in both fighters standing, and we are back to cage clinching. Daly tries to take Magana’s back standing, but can’t lock both hooks in, and ends up on top of Magana in half guard. Daly nearly gets reversed in a scramble, but manages to take Magana’s back and look for a rear naked choke as the round comes to a close. Second round to Daly.
Round three begins and Daly quickly takes Magana’s back standing. Daly gets both hooks in, flattens out Magana and lands some ground and pound. Daly grabs Magana’s arm and locks it around her neck, taking away half of Angela’s defense. Some more ground and pound forces the referee to call the fight. Daly wins by third round TKO.
Come back next week as #7 “Thug” Rose Namajunas takes on #10 Alex Chambers.
Quotables:
“My intention is to get the belt, but I believe the belt is a bit of a superficial thing. I’m a champion every f*cking day” – Angela Magana, making me think she should use this song for her next walkout.
“Oh, Gil, yeah, my mom and dad were heroin addicts and I lived on the street and I ate out of trash cans, and I was a heroin baby” – Magana, again, detailing her super-rough life from the get go.
Highlights:
– Anthony Pettis in skin-tight training clothes parading around the gym, mostly for Felice Herrig’s benefit
– Pettis being unable to decipher Daly’s accent and mishearing “throwing up” for drinking Patron all night.
– Paddy Holohan giving a shout out to Aisling on the UFC Dublin card
