Although Jessamyn Duke and Peggy Morgan lost their first round bouts during The Ultimate Fighter 18, both were paired off in a bantamweight bout at tonight's (Sat., Nov. 30, 2013) Finale at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Because they might as well scrap, right?
The action was slow early but picked up quick when Duke jumped a guillotine and spent a solid 45 seconds working to finish the fight with it. Unfortunately for her, that finish never came and her tired arms were forced to find something else to do.
So she threw her legs over for an armbar, then a triangle. Incredibly enough, though it was on the wrong side, she locked it in and while Morgan defended as well as she could, this was dangerously close to a 10-8 round.
At least she got out of it.
The second round was slow rolling, as the two stood and traded punches and kicks. The volume was there, on both sides, but nothing appeared to be doing much damage.
So what did Duke do? Late takedown FTW!
The third round opened with Duke showing far more aggression. In fact, she was smelling the blood in the water and instead of sitting back and playing it soft, she was pushing forward with heavy shots.
Then, out of nowhere, Morgan managed to take Duke's back and get one hook in. With just over two minutes remaining in the bout, that gave her some time to work with to make a comeback.
All Duke had to do was survive.
That's exactly what she did.
So while an incredible come from behind win seemed close, Duke played it just right and survived to the final horn, where she was awarded the unanimous decision win (30-27, 30-27, and 30-27).
Joy.
For complete TUF 18 Finale results and blow-by-blow coverage of all the night's action click here.