Bobby Maximus gives Chandler Cole some good-natured ribbing to kick off The Ultimate Fighter 30‘s latest episode. “Where did that Taekwondo sh*t come from?” After pre-fight talk about wrestling, Maximus says Cole looked more like a ninja.
The rest of the TUF house seems to agree. “I respect Chander a lot, he’s a tough kid and it was a dog fight,” last week’s winner, Jordan Heiderman, says of the fight.
This week, Brogan Walker is up against Hannah Guy, of Bellator fame. Walker is dealing with a knee injury. Not an opportune time to be hit with the injury bug. Coach Amanda Nunes believes Walker can win where ever she wants.
Walker, fighting out of Guam, is 32, and an Invicta FC veteran.
Julianna Pena has brought in Brady Hiestand to help with her team. She’s a training partner of Hiestand, who appeared on The Ultimate Fighter 29. Her fighter, Guy, gives her breakdown of Brogan Walker. She questions Walker’s black belt prowess, and her standup.
Guy also reveals that she’s living in a converted 1991 ambulance. “The gas isn’t great, but it’s been amazing to go where I want and always have everything with me.” The 26-year old is obviously a free spirit.
One of the factors that Guy loves about MMA? “I love that you can’t hide who you are.” She says The Ultimate Fighter is the reason she started training in the first place.
“Welcome to the pre-fight staring contest,” Forrest Griffin jokes ahead of the weigh-in. Both fighters make weight without issue.
The Ultimate Fighter 30: Walker vs. Guy
Walker opens this week’s fight with a left hand. Both girls are throwing, but Walker is a little busier, and a little more accurate. Guy is hitting air more often than not, thanks to Walker constantly moving. When Guy finally lands, a cheer erupts from her corner. Coach Pena calls for her to follow that up. Through the first half of the round, there’s no thought of wrestling, and nary a kick to be seen. When the kicks do happen, it’s Walker throwing them. With about 90 seconds left in the round, Walker drops Guy! Walker gets on top, looking for the finish, but Guy recovers and gets back to her feet. Walker still has her in a clinch, and fires knees to the body, just rag-dolling Guy at the end.
Between rounds, Pena tells Hannah Guy to “make it ugly,” which also happens to be the title of the episode. She does just that at the start of the round, quickly tying things up. But when they go down, it’s Walker on top; she quickly backs off, only to wind up in a clinch again moments later. Guy looks to defend with a whizzer, goes to her back, gets back up, and eats a few punches for her troubles. Walker is in the driver’s seat again, pressing Guy into the fence. As the round wears on, Guy reverses, and manages to get some control time. She drags Walker down, then transitions to the top, and takes the back. With one hook in, Guy looks to get under the neck, but Walker fights her off. Guy re-positions, gets the back with both hooks in, and hunts for the rear-naked choke some more.
Everyone, including UFC President Dana White, seems surprised when the fight goes to a decision after two rounds, rather than to a third frame.
Official Result: Brogan Walker def. Hannah Guy by majority decision
“I think pretty much everyone was expecting the fight to go to the third round, especially after Hannah got the takedown,” White says after the fight, adding “here we go again, judges didn’t see it that way.”
“You won that second round, I don’t understand what happened,” Julianna Pena tells a clearly upset Hannah Guy. This might have been the best argument yet to drop the two-round exhibition bout format.
The last section of The Ultimate Fighter 30 episode 8 has the coaches and Dana White looking at the playoff match-ups. Not surprisingly, the coaches don’t agree. “Do the right thing, Dana,” Pena tells the UFC President, who might as well be on his own in booking the match-ups.
After making his picks, White announces the semifinal matches. They are:
- Jordan Heiderman vs. Zac Pauga
- Brogan Walker vs. Laura Gallardo
- Eduardo Perez vs. Mohammed Usman
- Kaytlin Neil vs. Juliana Miller
