Nearly two years after the September 24, 2010 Ultimate Women Challenge competition took place in St. George, Utah, results for the six professional bouts have been released at last. Among the reality show’s winners were Invicta FC competitor Kaitlin Young and flyweight veteran Angela Magana.
MMARising.com first obtained a copy of the results in January 2011, but the show became shrouded in legal controversy and the results were placed under an embargo by the Pete Suazo Utah Athletic Commission. Director Bill Colbert officially approved the release of the results this week.
Original plans called for the UWC competition to be filmed in Las Vegas using a similar format to the UFC’s long-running show, “The Ultimate Fighter.” However, after numerous delays and changes to the contestant roster, competitors were loaded into vans and driven across state lines to a secluded filming area in Utah. What followed was a disastrous series of events, which were documented by MMAHQ’s Yael Grauer in a series of articles listed below, wherein the contestants dealt with inadequate food and lodging and were forced to use minimal, substandard training equipment.
In addition, fighters alleged that they had not been paid in full for their participation. As a result, fighters refused to allow their likenesses to appear on the show. When much of the footage was later lost – or possibly destroyed by unpaid crew members – the producers were forced to abandon plans to take the UWC to television.
Ultimate Women Challenge saga: Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six
Following a lawsuit filed on behalf of some of the show’s participants, in which partial results from the show were revealed, producers countersued for breach of contract due to the release of confidential trade secrets that were perceived to have diminished the show’s value. MMARising.com and other media outlets were contacted by UWC attorney David M. Adler and were instructed not to release the results under threat of legal action.
On May 29th of this year, the Pete Suazo Utah Athletic Commission held a meeting and voted to remove the embargo that had been placed on the results. After review from the commission’s attorney, results were officially approved for release this week.
The results are as follows (all bouts contested over three 3:00 rounds):
– Kaitlin Young defeated Julie Kedzie by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29).
– Angela Magana defeated Barb Honchak by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29).
– Casey Noland defeated Colleen Schneider by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).
– Angela Hayes defeated Brandi Hainey by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 2:37 of round two.
– Patricia Vidonic defeated Martha Benavides by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
– Michelle Ould and Karina Taylor fought to a No Contest at 2:39 of round one when Ould was poked in the eye and was unable to continue.
The Ultimate Women Challenge is not expected to make it to air on television despite an aggressive PR campaign this past year and fighters remain partially unpaid for their participation on the show, including $25,000 bonuses that were to be paid to Young and Magana for winning their divisions. However, with the release of the show’s results, one big chapter in the UWC saga has at last come to an end.