‘TUF 20’ Recap: Episode 3
Episode three opens with UFC President Dana White breaking the news to Bec Rawlings that her stepfather has died. Rawlings hoped he would live to see her fight at least once in the Octagon before succumbing to Parkinson’s disease.
Back at the house, Gilbert Melendez and Jake Shields bring Rawlings some flowers out of respect for losing her father. “Rowdy” appreciates the gesture.
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Melendez speaks about how important it is for his team to not lose three straight fights. “El Nino” says if they earn a win it will really turn things around for morale, which still remains surprisingly high even after the two defeats.
Shields works with Ellis before her fight and expresses that he is
“a little worried about her.” He understands that it’s hard for
Ellis to be away from her young daughter, but explains that if she
wants to stay on the show, she must get past it.
Anthony Pettis wants to keep the momentum going. He requests that his team enjoy themselves while they train and don’t injure one another. After training, Rose Namajunas, Tecia Torres, Emily Kagan, Angela Magana, Angela Hill and Rawlings are playing a game when Heather Clark again becomes too bossy. The rest of the group shows more resentment towards her, and Clark notices, but she doesn’t know how to fix it.
Penne explains her insecurities regarding her nose to Justine Kish. She says the insecurity comes from childhood, when classmates would pick on Penne for it. Penne expresses that she fights in honor of the people who have picked her up from her lowest points.
Pettis feels that Penne isn’t aware of how good she really is on her feet. “Showtime” wants Penne to use her boxing to take the fight to the mat and work for a submission.
The next segment focuses on how much Ellis misses being at home with her daughter. Ellis speaks about her husband, Eddie Ellis, and how much he told her about “The Ultimate Fighter” experience. Coach Melendez also speaks about Ellis’ mental state heading into her rematch with Penne. Melendez feels that Ellis had no issues taking Penne to the ground, but once the fight was there, Penne was able to reverse the position.
The women of Team Melendez play a prank on Team Pettis by hanging unflattering panties on their underwear shrine. Felice Herrig and Penne take offense, remove the underwear and hang them in their locker room.
The fight opens with Penne touching Ellis with jabs from the outside. After eating a few shots, Ellis shoots for the takedown. Penne manages to sprawl on the attempt and presses the fight up against the cage. Ellis explodes off the cage and attempts a trip, but Penne manages to wind up on top -- just as Melendez had feared. After a frantic sequence, Penne takes Ellis’ back and earns the submission win via rear-naked choke. The ending was somewhat anticlimactic as Ellis’ tap wasn’t quite visible.
After the bout, Dana White says he felt Ellis gave up the choke because she wanted out of the fight.
The next episode will feature Carla Esparza against Angela Hill in a battle of No. 1 seed against No. 16 seed.
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