411’s Ultimate Fighter 26: Alvarez vs. Gaethje Report 11.01.17

The Ultimate Fighter 26: Alvarez vs. Gaethje – EPISODE EIGHT (Sink or Swim)
INTRODUCTION: The Ultimate Fighter 26 will see 16 women’s flyweights descend on the Las Vegas desert in hopes of becoming the first female 125-pound champion in UFC history (and of course they get a contract). Coaches Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje put the contestants through a grueling tryout prior to selecting their teams. TWO WEEKS AGO (we were off last week), #10. Rachael Ostovich (3-3) vs. #7. Melinda Fabian (4-3-1) via RD1 submission. THIS WEEK Lauren Murphy’s strained relationship with Coach Alvarez reaches a tipping point. Eddie and Justin go head to head in the coaches’ challenge. In this week’s fight, #9. Christina Marks (8-8) faces #8. Emily Whitmire (2-1).

– We start at the UFC Performance Institute, as Team Alvarez trains and plans for their next fight. They are drilling Christina Marks; standup, they don’t know much about her opponent. We see clips of Marks in action, working in smaller regional shows, and she’s 4-0 at 125. Alvarez likes her standup and explosiveness. But worries that she has no ground game to speak of. Alvarez is working to keep her on the feet and fight off takedowns instead of ground defense, which he has no time to really drill

– At the house, Lauren Murphy can’t stand Alvarez and wishes she was on the other team. Emily Whitmire talks about her issues with her mother, and leaving home at a young age and living out of a backpack and then spending her 16th birthday in a juvenile detention facility. We get home video from Emily Whitmire, she had a dog and not a lot of friends. She basically trains and spends time with her dog. She saw MMA at a bar, and ended up grappling that night and that’s how she got into MMA. She moved out of her house and packed it into a storage unit prior to the show.

– Lauren Murphy tells her team that she’s going to talk with Alvarez and wants to train with Team Gaethje from now on. Murphy arrives at training with Gaethje, and she gets a warm welcome. Miesha Tate is helping Whitmire work through her rib injury, and Whitmire wants Tate to corner her in her fight. They have been friends for years and Whitmire even lived with Tate for a bit. We get some fight footage of Whitmire. Gaethje is a bit worried about her injury, and says she just has to deal with the pain if she wants to win.

– Murphy finally meets with Alvarez, and she explains that she wants to train with the other team going forward. Alvarez thinks she has a bad attitude and that he’s done his best. He says if she can’t see what he’s offering then she can fuck off. He calls her Barb and she gets all pissed. Alvarez comes off like a complete asshole here.

– We head to the coach’s challenge, where they will swim 800 meters. The winner gets $10,000, and the fighter get $1500 (they actually got a bit extra because they split Murphy’s $1500 between the 7 left). Alvarez says he’s worried about finishing, not so much about Gaethje. Gaethje took an early lead, got VERY tired and Alvarez quickly caught up and took the lead over and smoked Gaethje.

– Christina Marks talks about her 9-year-old son, who is quite the little athlete. They do everything together, and he even attends all of her fights. She teaches fight fit classes at a UFC gym. She was a collegiate runner, and eventually burned out and got into muay thai.

– WEIGH-INS: #Christina Marks (125.25), Emily Whitmire (125.25).

– FIGHT DAY: They go through the usual pre-fight prep.

#9. Christina Marks (8-8) faces #8. Emily Whitmire (2-1): ROUND ONE: Marks has the experience advantage, is taller and has a very slight 0.5-inch reach advantage. Whitmire is 5-years younger. They come out firing and Whitmire gets the takedown. She pushes her to the cage, working from half guard and then gets the back, but Marks looks to escape, but Whitmire catches her with an scored with an arm bar for the win. OFFICIAL RESULT: Emily Whitmire via RD1 submission

– Team Gaethje is up 5-3 after eight fights.

– That was the best-case scenario for Whitmire. Marks is devastated after the loss, and says she didn’t see the arm bar coming.

– The quarterfinals are…

* #1. Roxanne Modafferi (21-13 MMA, 1-0 TUF) vs. #8. Emily Whitmire (2-1, 1-0 TUF)
* #4. DeAnna Bennett (8-3, 1-0 TUF) vs. #12. Sijara Eubanks (2-2, 1-0 TUF)
* #2 Barb Honchak (10-2, 1-0 TUF) vs. #10. Rachael Ostovich (3-3, 1-0 TUF)
* #6. Montana Stewart (7-4, 1-0 TUF) vs. #14. Nicco Montano (3-2, 1-0 TUF)

– NEXT WEEK: The fighters get a boat party and we get 2 fights: #1. Roxanne Modafferi (21-13 MMA, 1-0 TUF) vs. #8. Emily Whitmire (2-1, 1-0 TUF) & #4. DeAnna Bennett (8-3, 1-0 TUF) vs. #12. Sijara Eubanks (2-2, 1-0 TUF); they tease more weight cutting issues for Sijara Eubanks.

Team Alvarez
* #2 Barb Honchak (10-2, 1-0 TUF)
* #3. Lauren Murphy (9-3, 0-1 TUF)
* #4. DeAnna Bennett (8-3, 1-0 TUF)
* #7. Melinda Fabian (4-3-1, 0-1 TUF)
* #9. Christina Marks (8-8, 0-1 TUF)
* #11. Ariel Beck (4-4, 0-1 TUF)
* #12. Sijara Eubanks (2-2, 1-0 TUF)
* #16. Shana Dobson (2-1 MMA, 0-1 TUF)

Team Gaethje
* #1. Roxanne Modafferi (21-13 MMA, 1-0 TUF)
* #5. Maia Stevenson (6-4, 1-0 TUF)
* #6. Montana Stewart (7-4, 1-0 TUF)
* #8. Emily Whitmire (2-1, 1-0 TUF)
* #10. Rachael Ostovich (3-3, 1-0 TUF)
* #13. Karine Gevorgyan (3-2, 0-1 TUF)
* #14. Nicco Montano (3-2, 1-0 TUF)
* #15. Gillian Robertson (3-2, 0-1 TUF)

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”