The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned (also known as The Ultimate Fighter 20) is the twentieth installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter. This season is the first to feature only female fighters and was used to determine the first UFC Women's Strawweight Champion.
The series was officially announced by the UFC in December 2013. The coaches were announced in February 2014 after Gilbert Melendez re-signed with the UFC and stated he would coach opposite the current UFC Lightweight Champion, Anthony Pettis. This move drew criticism from MMA critics and fans, as some felt it was establishing a significant delay in Pettis' first title defense.
This season aired on Fox Sports 1.
Cast
Coaches
Team Pettis Anthony Pettis, Head Coach Duke Roufus Daniel Wanderley Sergio Pettis Scott Cushman
Team Melendez Gilbert Melendez, Head Coach Jake Shields Anucha Chayaisen Nate Diaz Josh Berkovic
Fighters Eleven fighters were initially announced as already having been cast for the show in December 2013; however, Cláudia Gadelha, Juliana Lima, and Paige VanZant were eventually removed from the cast due to being unable to stay on weight throughout the program, not speaking English, and being too young, respectively. They got a direct contract with the UFC despite their removal from The Ultimate Fighter. Auditions were held in April 2014 to find the remaining eight contestants. The eight remaining fighters were announced on July 3, 2014.
Team Pettis Carla Esparza, Randa Markos, Joanne Calderwood, Alex Chambers, Jessica Penne, Felice Herrig, Justine Kish, Aisling Daly. Team Melendez Angela Hill, Tecia Torres, Emily Kagan, Rose Namajunas, Lisa Ellis, Heather Jo Clark, Bec Rawlings, Angela Magaña.
Episodes Episode 1: For The Belt (September 10, 2014) Dana White acquired 11 strawweight female fighters from Invicta Fighting Championships, an all-women's American MMA organization, with 8 fighters competing on TUF while the remaining 8 auditioned for the show when try outs were held at The Palace Station Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. All 16 female fighters prepare to compete for the UFC's new 115-pound Strawweight division title and will be crowned the champion. Both coaches split the women into two groups of eight to see what their strengths and weaknesses are during practice. Also, Melendez and Pettis will rank the women according to how well they train with them. The coaches had different evaluation styles: Melendez preferred to get to know the women one-on-one by asking them questions and asked them to do some striking drills in the cage. While Pettis straight out asked the women what team they wanted to be on and then ran them through fitness drills and aggressive grappling on the mat. The fighters are divided in two teams and are individually seeded or ranked and a coin was flipped (purple for Melendez, teal for Pettis). Pettis won the coin toss and chose to pick the first fighter and Melendez will pick the first fight. Since the fighters have been seeded by the UFC for the tournament (which was unknown to the coaches), as a coach makes a pick, the corresponding fighter based on seed will go to the other coach (e.g., if the #1 seeded fighter is picked by a coach, the #16 seeded fighter will go to the other coach). The eight coaches' picks (and corresponding seed sent to the other team):
Carla Esparza – Ranked #1 (Team Pettis – first pick) Angela Hill – Ranked #16 (Team Melendez)
Tecia Torres – Ranked #3 (Team Melendez – second pick) Randa Markos – Ranked #14 (Team Pettis)
Joanne Calderwood – Ranked #2 (Team Pettis – third pick) Emily Kagan – Ranked #15 (Team Melendez)
After this pick, an onscreen bracket graphic shows Randa Markos in a quarterfinal spot, prematurely revealing the first fight result.
Rose Namajunas – Ranked #7 (Team Melendez – fourth pick) Alex Chambers – Ranked #10 (Team Pettis)
Jessica Penne – Ranked #4 (Team Pettis – fifth pick) Lisa Ellis – Ranked #13 (Team Melendez)
Heather Jo Clark – Ranked #11 (Team Melendez – sixth pick) Felice Herrig – Ranked #6 (Team Pettis)
Justine Kish – Ranked #9 (Team Pettis – seventh pick) Bec Rawlings – Ranked #8 (Team Melendez)
Angela Magana – Ranked #12 (Team Melendez – eight pick) Aisling Daly – Ranked #5 (Team Pettis)
White explains that there are two performance bonuses of $25,000 each and the two fighters who are involved in the best fight of the season will also get $25,000 apiece. The fighter who wins this season of TUF will not only become the world champion, but will win a brand new Harley Davidson motorcycle. Melendez announces the first fight: #3 Tecia Torres vs. #14 Randa Markos. The fighters move into the TUF house and pick their rooms. Later, they start their first team practices. Some of the fighters, especially Torres and Markos, share their personal stories. Randa Markos defeated Tecia Torres via unanimous decision after three rounds. Pettis picked the next match up and matched Calderwood against Kagan.
Episode 2: We All Came Here to Fight! (September 17, 2014) Pettis and his assistant coaches pay a visit to the TUF house to celebrate Randa Markos' win with fast food. Herrig makes a friendship bracelet for Pettis' younger brother, UFC fighter Sergio Pettis, as the ladies tease her for having a small crush on him. Jessica Penne gets frustrated for being stopped in the middle of training to be critiqued and brings it to Pettis' attention. The rest of the teal team also feels like they are getting "over-coached" by the assistant coaches as they are nitpicking their techniques way too much. Heather Jo Clark's constant whining and complaining is getting on the nerves of Team Melendez, who see her as wanting to be the "ringleader" of the group. Rose Namajunas does not see eye-to-eye with Clark's demands and during grappling practice, they accidentally butted heads while rolling on the mat, leaving Namajunas' eye bruised and Clark needing stitches. Felice Herrig calls a team meeting with Pettis and the assistant coaches and speaks for the ladies about them feeling overwhelmed and stopping their drills to run another drill; it is an "information overload." Pettis assures he and his staff are passionate about training them and have their best interests at heart. Joanne Calderwood defeated Emily Kagan via majority decision after two rounds. Pettis picked the next match up: #4 Jessica Penne vs. #13 Lisa Ellis. Dana White stated that Jessica "beat the living shit" out of Lisa when they previously fought. Pettis noted that it was one of the bloodiest fights in women's MMA history.
Episode 3: Don't Fight Fate (September 24, 2014) Bec Rawlings gets called in to Dana White's office and receives the news that her stepfather died from Parkinson's disease. Angela Magana leads the rest of the team in a prayer for Rawlings. Melendez and his assistant coaches (especially Jake Shields, who can relate since he lost his own father leading up to a fight) bring flowers to Rawlings at the TUF house to comfort her. Heather Jo Clark is feeling more like an outcast when her team ignores her annoying ways while playing a trivia game. Team Melendez is worried that Ellis' heart is not confident going into her rematch with Penne since it was her first fight in two years since her pregnancy. Plus, she misses her 1-year-old daughter back at home. In answer to Team Pettis' "panty wall" in their locker room, the ladies on the purple team pull their first prank when they take a pair of oversize "granny panties" to add to the collection. Penne and the rest of the team do not take kindly to the new addition and stretch the panties on Melendez's portrait, which he takes lightly and is amused by. Jessica Penne defeated Lisa Ellis via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:14 in round 1. White commented that Penne had her back, and there was no doubt, in his mind, that Ellis gave up that choke because she wanted out of the fight. Still in control of the picks, Pettis chose the next match up: #1 Carla Esparza vs. #16 Angela Hill.
Episode 4: Make A Big Strike (October 1, 2014) Former World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion, Urijah Faber, steps in as Team Pettis' temporary coach for the day due to Pettis having a prior engagement, making the ladies "crush" on him during wrestling practice. Angela Hill's comedic actions are heightened when she "gas attacks" her teammates at the TUF house. Justine Kish, who only fought in the strawweight division once before, struggles with her weight and hopes her team keeps on winning to help lose the weight, giving her more time. After Heather Jo Clark hyperextends her knee during practice, she complains about it so much her teammates lash out, especially Angela Magana who has had it with her attitude. Having not fought in a year and a half, former Invicta Strawweight Champion, Carla Esparza, is worried about "ring rust" against her upcoming fight with Hill. Carla Esparza defeated Angela Hill via submission (standing rear naked choke) at 1:18 in round 1. Winning four fights in a row and still in control, Pettis matches #6 Felice Herrig against #11 Clark.
Episode 5: Coming To Get You (October 22, 2014) When Melendez calls a team meeting, his team turns on Clark after she constantly complains about her injuries, and how she only wants to train with the coaches and not with them. After hurting her knee in a previous practice, Justine Kish receives some bad news from the doctor—she has a torn ACL injury, and she is advised to have reconstructive surgery. She won't be able to continue to compete for the Strawweight title. White gives #3 ranked Tecia Torres, who lost her match with Randa Markos, a second chance and has her change to Team Pettis to fight former teammate Bec Rawlings. Melendez disagreed with White because he spent time coaching her and thought a "bye" was in order for Rawlings. The switch is much to the disappointment of Team Pettis who doubt that Torres deserved another chance since she lost her fight unanimously, and they refuse to train with her. Two days before her fight, Herrig feels the pressure to win because her team is 4–0, since nobody from Team Melendez likes Clark, and does not want to let everyone down. Yet, she has no idea where all the "bad blood" came from with her and Clark in the first place. Felice Herrig defeated Heather Jo Clark via unanimous decision in 2 rounds. After the fight, Clark said she did some "soul-searching" and apologized to Herrig, saying she was not going to judge her anymore, squashing their feud. With his team winning five fights in a row and maintaining control, Pettis picked the next match up: #5 Aisling Daly vs. #12 Angela Magana.
Episode 6: Give It All You Have (October 29, 2014) Angela Magana shares details about her difficult childhood with Rose Namajunas, saying "I was born addicted to heroin, and I had to fight just to survive my first few weeks of life. My parents were drug addicts; my mom was a drug addict. I was grazed by the same bullet that shot my mother in the neck. She was so high I had to tell her she was high. I've eaten out of trash cans. I was there when my mom had to prostitute just to make money." Tecia Torres continues to struggle to get along with her new teammates, however a few come around, including Alex Chambers. After throwing up the night before, possibly due to heat exhaustion, Daly took the day off of training due to sickness and ability of adjusting to the Las Vegas heat, but is not looking for a way out of her fight. Daly also mentions that she was recently diagnosed with anxiety and depression. She expresses difficulties with depression and the fact that she takes medication to deal with it. White later calls Daly into his office at the gym to let her know that she has support if needed.