UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey’s squad evened the score with Team Miesha “Cupcake” Tate at 3-3 during tonight’s seventh episode of The Ultimate Fighter 18. Michael Wootten earned a Unanimous Decision victory over Team Tate’s “Gentleman” Josh Hill.
Only two quarterfinal bouts remain this season and both fights will take place in two weeks’ time. Peggy “The Daywalker” Morgan looks to pick up another win for Team Rousey when she faces Sarah “Cheesecake” Moras. Morgan’s teammate, Anthony “Sharkbait” Gutierrez, battles Cody Bollinger.
Hill immediately imposed his strong wrestling game upon Wootten in tonight’s bout and he slammed Wootten down to the mat. Hill struck from the top and threatened with a tight rear-naked choke, but Wootten managed to scramble back to his feet. Hill kept the pressure on and he bloodied Wootten’s nose with punches and a knee. He scored another takedown before the end of the round, but Wootten began to rally in the final minute.
Just seconds into round two, Wootten dropped Hill with a crushing knee and he followed with some solid ground and pound. Hill eventually got back to his feet and ate a front kick to the face for his troubles. Wootten scored with more strikes in the clinch, but Hill finished the round strong with some ground and pound of his own. The fight was ruled a draw and went to an extension round.
In round three, it was Wootten who worked for takedowns in the first two minutes. He cut Hill on the forehead with a slashing elbow strike and took advantage of an ill-advised spinning backfist from Hill by taking him down. For the remainder of the fight, Wootten scored with punches and elbows from Hill’s half-guard. The late-fight offence left no doubt in the judges’ minds and all three scored the final round 10-9 in Wootten’s favour.
Next week’s episode of TUF 18 will recap some of the action and drama from the season thus far. New fights return in two weeks when Team Rousey fighters Morgan and Gutierrez face off against Team Tate representatives Moras and Bollinger, respectively.
The Ultimate Fighter 18 airs weekly leading up to the finale on November 30th in Las Vegas, Nevada.