The Ultimate Fighter 20.04: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

By Nathan McCarter

The Ultimate Fighter featured the #1 seed on the fourth episode of the 20th season, and it went about as expected for a #1 seed.

Carla Esparza, the former Invicta FC Strawweight Champion, took care of business quickly against up-and-comer Angela Hill to continue the streak for Team Pettis. Hill was the #16 seed in the tournament, so no one saw her doing well against Esparza. Now it remains to be seen how she will grow from her time in the house until the Finale.

With that said, the episode still gave us a few talking points. Here is a belated look at the good, the bad, and the ugly from this week. Expect more ugly next week as rivals Heather Clark and Felice Herrig do battle.

The Good:

Anthony Pettis had a prior commitment, and as such, Urijah Faber filled in as coach. This was no doubt beneficial for Team Pettis. Faber is a fantastic fighter and may be an even better coach.
After some nonsense romance talk with Esparza, they finally get to talk about the fight itself. This is where Esparza’s knowledge is valuable to the viewer. A good insight into her skills and the gameplan, and a brief look at how the fight might play out.
In spite of some of overall discussions and what the editors chose to include, it was nice to see the friendship between Herrig and Esparza. We have seen friendships blossom on the show before, but we have not really seen two really good friends end up on the same team and be able to share the experience.
Esparza’s performance was dominant and clean. Hill had a decent showing for such a young fighter, but Esparza was as advertised.
The staredown between Herrig and Clark was intense. These two do not like each other, it shows, and we will get to see a heck of a brawl next week.

The Bad:

There was a brief moment where the TUF editors had to put in that Herrig and Esparza commented on Faber’s looks. It served no purpose, and I’m not sure of the point of putting that in.
Heather Clark said she hyper-extended her knee in practice, and her teammates continued to be less than enthused with her. As the season continues this will be interesting, especially next week when she enters the cage.
Justine Kish is having trouble with weight. Will this be foreshadowing to the fighter who gets kicked off? It seems that way. It would be unfortunate. Kish is a solid talent, but if she can’t make 115 it will be interesting to see her end up in Invicta’s 125-pound division.

The Ugly:

Oh, there’s why the editors included Herrig and Esparza’s talk on Faber. To set up another segment where they continue to discuss Faber. How entertaining.

The Ultimate Fighter 20