Episode No. 11 recap: ‘The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate’

Episode No. 11 of “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate” opens with Miesha Tate discussing the upcoming women’s semifinal matchup between Sarah Moras and Julianna Pena.

The two women fought once before in July of last year with Moras winning by doctor’s stoppage after damaging Pena’s arm with a submission. Despite their history, Moras and Pena co-existed as teammates on Team Tate throughout the entirety of the season, but now they’ll fight.

As both fighters prepare, Moras is upset because she believes the coaching staff is biased toward Pena and feels she is not getting the same quality of training as her teammate. The coaching staff consoles Moras over the situation and coach Tate decides to remove herself from the situation and splits the remaining coaches up between the two fighters.

Back at the “TUF” house, Ronda Rousey visits to spend time with the female fighters from both teams.

The next day, Pena becomes extremely irritated with her housemates. She feels her roommate Raquel Pennington and others are treating her unfairly and she feels the need to act out but does not.

At the pre-fight weigh-in, Pena and Moras successfuly tip the scale under the bantamweight limit, making their semifinal contest official.

TEAM TATE’S JULIANNA PENA (4-2) vs. TEAM TATE’S SARAH MORAS (3-1)

Round 1 – Moras opens with two hard outside leg kicks. Pena rushes forward with combinations while Moras attempts to keep distance with the jab. Pena lands a clean overhand right and clinches Moras into a takedown. Pena postures up and has difficulty passing Moras’ guard. Moras scores points with punches and elbows from her back while Pena throws little in the way of strikes. Pena passes to half guard but is still being hit by Moras, who recovers back to guard. Pena stands up and lands a big strike as she dives back into the guard of Moras. Pena has Moras stunned, passes to side control and begins to reign down with ground-and-pound. Moras briefly gives up the back and the round comes to an end.

Round 2 – Moras again lands two hard leg kicks to start the round but is put on her heels by a charging Pena. Pena presses her opponent against the fence and works for a takedown. Moras briefly breaks away from the fence but is taken down from a body lock. Pena quickly advances to side control and holds position. Moras exerts a great deal of energy trying to scramble to her feet but is unsuccessful on multiple attempts. Pena connects with slicing elbow while on top that causes a large cut above Moras’ eye. Moras panics to get out of position, leaves an opening for Pena to grab the neck for a guillotine choke and seconds later the fight is over.

Julianna Pena def. Sarah Moras via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2

UFC President Dana White raves about Pena’s performance and is very impressed with the victory from the 24-year-old American.

Pena becomes the first female to advance to the tournament final at The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale on Nov. 30 in Las Vegas and will face either Raquel Pennington (Team Tate) or Jessica Rakozy (Team Rousey).

Next week’s matchup will see Team Rousey teammates David Grant and Anthony Gutierrez compete in the second men’s semifinal affair.

Catch new episodes of “The Ultimate Fighter 18: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate” every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) on FOX Sports 1. MMAjunkie.com recaps each episode of the reality series.