The Ultimate Fighter Season 18 aired its final episode on Wednesday night, and it went out with a whimper.
The first season of TUF with female contestants consistently delivered quality fights, as well as surprising results. Unfortunately, the final semifinal bout also offered a bit of a shock, leading to a less-than-interesting finale.
Here is a look at the good, the bad and the ugly from a lackluster episode.
The Good:
- For what felt like the first time this season, we got to see Miesha Tate‘s emotional reaction to one of her fighters losing. She has always showed that she cared, but it was nice to see how close she had become to her team, much like the show had shown with Ronda Rousey.
- I know last week I mentioned that perhaps we were reaching the tipping point of the Rousey/Tate feud. However, their intense staredown moved it right back up to the top of the list. I am excited for their rematch, and you should be too.
The Bad:
- The show may have foreshadowed a lackluster bout by showing that both fighters were struggling with training injuries. Raquel Pennington hurt her hand, and Jessica Rakoczy was still battling her shoulder injury.
- The season ended on a down note, which doesn’t signal a good finale on Saturday. The men’s final was set by a fighter missing weight, and the women’s final was set with a rather boring fight. That won’t excite fans for tuning in on a holiday weekend.
The Ugly:
- The fight itself was poor. It wasn’t the worst fight any of us have ever seen, but it just did not deliver. Pennington didn’t show up, Rakoczy was unable to put together consistent meaningful offense, and it was just boring. It couldn’t have been how the producers of show wanted to end the season.
The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale takes place on Saturday night. Gray Maynard and Nate Diaz will main event the card, with Team Rousey’s David Grant and Jessica Rakoczy taking on Team Tate’s Chris Holdsworth and Julianna Peña respectively in the Men’s and Women’s Bantamweight finals.
The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate
Raquel Pennington vs. Jessica Racozky: Jessica Rakoczy def. Raquel Pennington via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
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