Two members from Ronda Rousey's team will get some main card time on the live season finale of The Ultimate Fighter 18 this weekend. The UFC confirmed today that ex-Invicta bantamweight Jessamyn Duke and Peggy Morgan will be on the Fox Sports 1 televised event:
Duke (2-0, 1 NC) was in (what will inevitably be called) the season's best fight, losing a wild, back-and-forth three round decision to Raquel Pennington in the quarterfinals. Her pro MMA career is still in its early stages, with all of her fights taking place under the Invicta banner. Duke's last fight with the promotion saw her KO'd by Miriam Nakamoto, but she successfully appealed and had the loss changed to a no contest when replays showed Nakamoto clearly illegally kneed her while he was "downed".
Morgan (2-0) made short work of Bethany Marshall in the season opener, winning via 1st round TKO after relentless and hard ground-and-pound forced a stoppage. The 33-year-old then fought Sarah Moras in the quarterfinals, losing by 1st round armbar and eliminating her from the competition. Morgan is otherwise unbeaten in her amateur and professional bouts.
Also occupying the main card is a main event between Nate Diaz and Gray Maynard plus the men's and women's bantamweight finals.
SBN coverage of The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale