#1 Carla Esparza – #3 Tecia Torres. #2 Joanne Calderwood – #7 Rose Namajunas.
What are the odds of a Team Melendez member winning this thing?
Pretty high actually, after last night.
Welcome back to The Crossfire.
MMA Crossfire Expert Cassie Wiseman is away, so Kenai Andrews checks in with his thoughts on the matchups.
Team Pettis fighter Carla Esparza gets her hands wrapped before facing team Pettis fighter Tecia Torres in the quarterfinals during filming of season twenty of The Ultimate Fighter on August 6, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)Andrews: Torres utilized good takedown defence to keep the fight on the feet for the first half of the round, but was unable to land much.
Team Pettis fighter Tecia Torres punches team Pettis fighter Carla Esparza in the quarterfinals during filming of season twenty of The Ultimate Fighter on August 6, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)Meanwhile, Esparza kept trying and did get the fight to the ground twice. Tough break for Torres, who could have stolen the round if not for the takedowns.
Team Pettis fighter Carla Esparza controls the body of team Pettis fighter Tecia Torres in the quarterfinals during filming of season twenty of The Ultimate Fighter on August 6, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesIn the second round, Torres landed more strikes on the feet and used good takedown defence again. But Esparza keeps driving through and works the ground game.
Carla Esparza wins via majority decision.
Calderwood vs Namjunas. Now this was the fight I thought would be the fight of the series. Both fierce and aggressive. Namajunas said before the fight she had more tools to beat JoJo and she was right.
Team Melendez fighter Rose Namajunas kicks team Pettis fighter Joanne Calderwood in the quarterfinals during filming of season twenty of The Ultimate Fighter on August 6, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)An impressive kimura submission in the second round after a back-and-forth affair.
Team Melendez fighter Rose Namajunas attempts to submit team Pettis fighter Joanne Calderwood in the quarterfinals during filming of season twenty of The Ultimate Fighter on August 6, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)Rose has to be the favourite to win the whole thing, which would certainly save Team Melendez a lot of face after losing the series so lopsidedly.
Team Melendez fighter Rose Namajunas celebrates he submission victory over team Pettis fighter Joanne Calderwood in the quarterfinals during filming of season twenty of The Ultimate Fighter on August 6, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)Next week, it’s #7 Namajunas vs #14 Canadian Randa Markos and #4 Jessica Penne vs #1 Carla Esparza.
Should be a dandy.
The finalists meet December 12th on the TUF 20 Finale show.
