The Ultimate Fighter Season 20 Finale went off last night, and in the main event Carla Esparza was crowned the inaugural female strawweight champion with her submission win over Rose Namjunas.
The card had six other women strawweight fights, consisting largely of match-ups made from the cast of the TV show. In those bouts, none of the underdogs were able to break through.
Felice Herrig and Lisa Ellis fought a heated fight that saw Herrig finish with an armbar in the second round.
Joanne Calderwood defeated Seo Hee Ham by unanimous decision.
Ireland’s Aisling Daly defeated Alex Chambers with an armbar in the first round. Daly is part of the team that brought the UFC Conor MacGregor, so her winning impressively sure will keep her on the radar.
Heather Clark and Bec Rawlings fought the full three rounds, with Clark emerging with a unanimous decision.
Tecia Torres defeated Angela Magana by another unanimous decision. Torres remained undefeated at (5-0) officially, but she lost twice on the TV show, so look for Torres to get a step up fight for her next outing.
There were three men’s bouts on the card that went without surprises. The fight between Daron Cruikshank and KJ Noons ended in a no contest. Cruikshank was the favorite going into the fight, and he won the first round despite receiving an eye poke from Noons. The second round opened up pretty much the same, with Cruikshank on offense, but a second eye poke by Noons resulted in the fight being called a No Contest.
Charles Oliveira won a unanimous decision over Jeremy Stephens, and he was favored. Oliveira has show promise, but he has once again failed to make weight and a move to Lightweight may be in order.
Yancy Medeiros took out Joe Proctor via guillotine to end their fight in the opening round. Medeiros was the favorite at the books, but this performance finishing in the opening round will likely see Medeiros get a step up in competition in his next outing.
Here is the post-fight interview, which starts off with Dana White handing out the $50,000 bonuses: