The Ultimate Fighter 18 Week 3 Notes: Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate Fued Escalates

The males took center stage on the third episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate with the first male fight, while the animosity between coaches Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate boiled over.

Team Tate gained matchmaking control with Julianna Pena’s submission win over Shayna Baszler and coach Tate opted to pit Chris Holdsworth against Team Rousey’s top male pick Chris Beal in this week’s match-up.

Drama in the Fighter House

Julianna Pena may have defeated Shayna Baszler in last week’s episode, but she is getting on her housemates’ nerves by talking in an English accent.  She is accused by teammates of telling Team Rousey the planned female match-ups.  Cody Bollinger confronted Pena about the allegations.  Pena denied them, but that did nothing to sway her teammates from believing she did.

“Logically speaking here, who is the one girl that has fought so far?  Julianna.  Who is the one girl that doesn’t care if the other team finds out who we’re matching up against? Julianna.  Who was up the last two nights hanging out with the other team?  Julianna,” said Team Tate’s Louis Fisette.  “She’s got a huge guilty look on her face.  She’s got ‘guilty’ written across her forehead.”

Rousey and Tate Rivalry Heats Up

The fighters were taken to the Red Rock Casino Resort to watch UFC on Fuel TV: Nogueira vs. Werdum.  They piled on couches and enjoyed catering and an open bar.  The attention quickly turned away from the flat screen television to the bar area where coaches Rousey and Tate were engaged in an argument.

Tate asked Rousey to move away from her boyfriend, Bryan Caraway.  Rousey’s distain for Tate is nowhere near her dislike for Caraway.  She tells Tate that Caraway doesn’t know how to hold pads and Tate responds by saying Rousey doesn’t know to hit pads or throw punches.  Rousey striking coach, Edmond Tarverdyan quickly entered the discussion and the situation escalated.

“She’ll beat you standing any (expletive) day.  I guarantee you that,” said Tarverdyan.  “And she’ll break your arm at the end.  You and your boyfriend, both of you together.”

Tarverdyan was led away and the situation was defused, but not before Traverdyan promised Caraway, “I’ll get you someday.  There’s too much cameras here, but I’ll get you someday.”

“I’m going to break this girl to the point to where she’s never going to be able to put a string of wins together again,” state Rousey.

Holdsworth vs. Beal Pre-Fight Hype

Beal and Holdsworth have similar personal background stories.  Both lost their older brothers to gun violence and used martial arts to keep from falling into the lifestyle that led to their brothers’ deaths.

Stylistically, the two couldn’t be more different.  Beal comes from a boxing background and likes to strike.  Holdsworth has a grappling base with a strong submission game.

Beal suffered a hand injury in his match to advance into the fighter house and that’s part of the reason Coach Tate chose him to fight.  Being a cancer survivor, Beal refused to let a swollen hand get in his way of winning.

“We’ve got to get this win back.  I want to put a smile on Coach Ronda’s face,” said Beal.  “I was the number one pick for a reason.”

“I’ve worked too hard for this and I’m not going to let him take it from me,” said Holdsworth.

The Fight: Chris Holdsworth vs. Chris Beal

Holdsworth established his jab early and was able to keep Beal on the outside.  His right hand found a home regularly.  Holdsworth would land and make Beal miss.  He mixed in takedown attempts and with a minute remaining in the round Holdsworth stepped in with a right hand the knocked Beal down.  He landed elbows and as Beal worked to get back to his feet Holdsworth applied a guillotine choke that forced Beal to tap out.

Fight Announcement

Team Tate moves to 2-0 in the competition and maintained matchmaking control.  Coach Tate decided to pit Roxanne Modafferi against Team Rousey’s Jessica Rakoczy.