The Good, Bad and Strange from the Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale

That was the official tag line for the 20th domestic installment of The Ultimate Fighter, and indeed the case when finalists Carla Esparza and Rose Namajunas stepped into the Octagon for the main event of Friday night's seasonal finale. Any time there is history to be made in mixed martial arts, the stakes go up significantly, and with a new title in a brand new division under the UFC banner up for grabs, the battle for the inaugural UFC women's strawweight title crown certainly warranted all the intensity it created in the build up.

While both Esparza and "Thug Rose" made their respective runs through the tournament look easy, their matchup in the finals was figured to be a hard-fought affair. With the "Cookie Monster's" power-wrestling attack being polar opposite of what Namajunas slick, "finish from anywhere" style, their collision in the finals of TUF 20 was projected to be a stylistic chess match inside the cage.

With Esparza being a former champion with three times as many fights as her opponent, the California native's experience was a big advantage Esparza held coming into the fight. Yet, with UFC President Dana White tagging Namajunas as "the next Ronda Rousey" there was a lot of expectation surrounding the Team Grudge fighter coming into the finale.

Any lingering questions would be settled inside the Octagon on Friday night, and it was all Esparza once things got underway. The former Invicta champion used her wrestling to dominate the action and finally a rear-naked choke to become the first women's strawweight champion in UFC history.

In addition to a main event that delivered on all fronts, there was plenty of additional action of various qualities that went down Friday night at The Palms in Las Vegas. Let's take a look at the good, bad and strange from The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale.


Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2298455-the-good-bad-and-strange-from-the-ultimate-fighter-20-finale