Ranking The Ultimate Fighter 18 Fighters: The Semifinals

Tonight The Ultimate Fighter 18 heads into the semifinal round. Four women and four men survived the quarterfinals and will now look to advance one step closer to being crowned “The Ultimate Fighter” and earning that six figure contract. Building off the previous rankings and the quarterfinal bouts the remaining eight fighters will once again be ranked prior to the semifinal round beginning.

Before we get to the latest rankings though lets first recap the quarterfinal round for those of you that may missed who actually advanced. Thus far it’s been the women who have outdone the men inside the Octagon, not to mention in the rates as well.

Fight #1: Julianna Pena [#4] defeated Shayna Baszler [#1] by 2nd round Submission

Fight #2: Chris Holdsworth [#2] defeated Chris Beal [#1] by 1st round Submission

Fight #3: Jessica Rakoczy [#7] defeated Roxanne Modafferi [#3] by 2nd round KO

Fight #4:  David Grant [#7] defeated Louis Fisette [NR] by 2nd round Submission

Fight #5: Raquel Pennington [#5] defeated Jessamyn Duke [#6] by Decision

Fight #6: Michael Wootten [#8] defeated Joshua Hill [#7] by Decision

Fight #7: Anthony Gutierrez [#5] advances due to Cody Bollinger [#3] missing weight

Fight #8: Sarah Moras [#8] defeated Peggy Morgan [#2] by 1st rd Submission

As you can see above my previous Ultimate Fighter 18 rankings didn’t hold up to well. Of the eight fights, all but one of them saw the “underdog” (according to the ranking) came out victorious. I’ll offer up no excuses, only a new batch of rankings in their place.

The Ultimate Fighter 18 Women’s Semifinal Rankings:

#1 – Julianna Pena [Previously #4]

• Pena defeated the fighter many figured would be in the finals. She wore Shayna Baszler down, should good all-around skills and forced at second round tap.

#2 – Sarah Moras [Previously #8]

• I’ll admit, I was completely wrong in rankings Sarah Moras at the bottom entering the house. She’s a beast in practice and defeated the biggest female in the house with ease. Moras not only showed a great ground game but held her own standing as well.

#3 – Raquel Pennington [Previously #5]

• Pennington has some solid boxing skills but her slow starts could prove troublesome. Once that fire got turned on though she looked great on here feet. She gets a favorable matchup this round but I have to question her ground skills moving forward.

#4 – Jessica Rakoczy [Previously #7]

• Rakoczy finished her opponent to advance but was nearly finished by submission in the first round. Give credit for escaping the submission but it was more strength than skill and considering the strong grapplers at the top she could be a in trouble.

The Ultimate Fighter 18 Men’s Semifinal Rankings:

#1- Chris Holdsworth [Previously #2]

• Holdsworth dominated his quarterfinal bout. He out boxed the striker in Chris Beal and quickly finished things on the ground. He’s the clear front running on the men’s side just needs to stay away from the food and getting cocky.

#2 – David Grant [Previously #7]

• He showed a lot more in his quarterfinal bout than he’s elimination bout was a good sign.Grant is a big fighter for the weight class and took full advantage of that to advance.

#3 – Anthony Gutierrez [Previously #5]

• He advance without fighting due to his opponent missing weight and giving up. going back to his elimination bout Gutierrez showed that he has the skill but didn’t finish the fight, maybe that was due to playing it a bit safe though.

#4 – Michael Wootten [Previously #8]

• Wootten didn’t show much in his elimination bout and nearly got submitted in the quarterfinals. He has a big heart and good wrestling but he’ll need to bring more to the table to advance into the semifinals.

At the end of last weeks episode the semifinal but were announced and here’s the fights and the order in which they will take place:

Fight #1: Chris Holdsworth [Team Tate] vs. Michael Wooten [Team Rousey]

Fight #2: Julianna Pena [Team Tate] vs. Sarah Moras [Team Tate]

Fight #3 David Grant [Team Tate] vs. Anthony Gutierrez [Team Rousey]

Fight #4: Jessica Rakoczy [Team Rousey] vs. Raquel Pennington [Team Tate]

I will return one last time following the semifinals to rank the remaining two men and women, along with giving you my predictions on who will be crowned the winners of The Ultimate Fighter 18. The TUF 18 Finale will take place on November 30th in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Tags: Anthony Gutierrez, Chris Holdsworth, Christopher Beal, Cody Bollinger, David Grant, Jessamyn Duke, Jessica Rakoczy, Joshua Hill, Julianna Pena, Michael Wootten, MMA, Peggy Morgan, Rankings, Raquel Pennington, Roxanne Modafferi, Sarah Moras, Shayna Baszler, The Ultimate Fighter 18, Tim Gorman, UFC

Category: Exclusive, MMA, Opinion, Rankings, UFC, Ultimate Fighter