Three episodes into season eighteen and we are on a roller coaster ride when it comes to ratings for this season. However, that won’t stop the season in its’ tracks and it’ll be interesting to see how it continues to unfold. With that, here’s my review of episode three of this season:
TUF Episode 3: Stick and Move
Following Julianna Pena‘s first round victory, Coach Miesha Tate came to the house later that night, bringing Pena’s favorite butter-fat milkshake. At the same time she brought looser Shayna Baszler a piece of cake as a way of making peace with her. The next day at practice, Cody Bollinger accused Pena of having revealed the women’s match ups for the rest of the first round to Team Rousey, after rumors started going around of the match ups.
When confronted about it Pena feeling cornered pointed the finger at teammate Roxanne Modafferi because of the fact that she shares a room with the rest of the Team Rousey women. Christ Holdsworth is the one who finally stops the conversation for the rest of the drive back to the house. Back at the house Jessamyn Duke told Raquel Pennington that she is the one who revealed the list simply by making accurate predictions.
She also revealed that when she revealed the truth to Bollinger, he decided to continue using it as an excuse to continue hammering on Pena as he’s not happy with her antics in the house. Meanwhile Holdsworth and Pena took time to tan in the back and talk about various things. It becomes obvious the two have some special chemistry.
It becomes even more apparent when the term “friends with benefits” is brought up. Later the group are brought to a private suite at the Red Rock Casino to watch an UFC fight in Brazil. During that time a confrontation develops between Tate and Ronda Rousey, when Rousey gets a little too close to Tate’s boyfriend, and team coach Bryan Caraway.
Things heat up further when Tate remarks that Rousey doesn’t know how to hit pads. Rousey’s coach Edmond Tarverdyan gets into the argument and threatens Caraway. Tarverdyan and Rousey walk away with the former yelling at Tate in the process. Finally Holdsworth and Chris Beal fight. Surprisingly, Holdsworth holds his own in the stand up game against striker Beal. It’s later in the first round that Holdsworth actually drops Beal and goes in the for the take down, then gets a submission.
After the fight Team Tate celebrates Holdsworth’s victory while Beal apologizes to Team Rousey for not getting the win. With Team Tate still in control, Tate announces that the next women’s fight will be between veteran Modafferi against boxing champion Jessica Rakoczy.