The quarterfinal round of The Ultimate Fighter 18 concluded during tonight’s ninth episode, but only one of two planned fights took place as scheduled. Team Miesha “Cupcake” Tate fighter Sarah “Cheesecake” Moras submitted Team “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey member Peggy “The Daywalker” Morgan.
A quarterfinal bout between Team Rousey’s Anthony “Sharkbait” Gutierrez and Team Tate’s Cody Bollinger was scrapped when Bollinger was unable to make weight at 135 pounds. Gutierrez received a bye to the next round. Following the Moras-Morgan bout, the semi-final fights were announced.
Moras countered early jabs from Morgan by targeting her much taller opponent’s legs with kicks. She ducked under a one-two from Morgan and tried for a takedown, but Morgan stayed on her feet against the cage. Morgan landed a knee and a nice left hand, but Moras shot in for another takedown and this time she managed to drag Morgan down to the mat.
For close to two minutes, Morgan tied Moras up from the bottom and occasionally looked to secure a guillotine choke as Moras inched her way up into full mount. In the final 60 seconds, Moras mounted Morgan and punished her with punches and elbows from the top. Morgan held on, but Moras spun into an armbar and wrenched back on Morgan’s left arm for the tapout win at the 4:39 mark of round one.
As a result of Gutierrez’s forfeit win, Moras’s impressive submission victory kept the team score even at 4-4. The tallies will mean little in the next round, however, as the semi-finals feature a pair of teammate versus teammate matchups. In one, Moras takes on fellow Team Tate fighter Julianna “The Venezuelan Vixen” Peña in a rematch from April 2012. Moras won the first fight by doctor stoppage after breaking Peña’s arm with an armbar. Peña advanced to the TUF 18 semi-finals by upsetting Shayna Baszler.
The second clash of teammates pits Gutierrez against Team Rousey ally Davey Grant. Elsewhere, Raquel “Rocky” Pennington represents Team Tate against Jessica “The Ragin'” Rakoczy of Team Rousey, and Team Tate’s Chris Holdsworth battles Team Rousey’s Michael Wootten.
The Ultimate Fighter 18 airs weekly leading up to the finale on November 30th in Las Vegas, Nevada.
(Photo Credit: UFC)
All guys on the show are nice. Such a shame Cody was mentally broken… he could have won the tournment.
As to the girls, from Ronda’s Team, I only like Peggy Morgan and Jessica Rakoczy.
I like all fighters from Tate’s team.
I am feeling we will see Julianna and Raquel in the finals, though.
Can anyone explain why is Peggy Morgan ranked that high at 145. I mean, she’s only been fighting for a year couldn’t last one round with vs an unranker 135er.
*unranked*