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By: Yael Grauer, MMATorch Guest Contributor
Episode six of The Ultimate Fighter 20 focuses on a matchup between Angela Magana and Aisling Daly.
The episode begins by delving into Angela's rough background; she was born addicted to heroin and had a pretty awful childhood. She talks about other setbacks in her life, including breaking her back when she fell off a building as she tried to slide down the balcony while drinking, dealing with her boyfriend cheating on her, her new boyfriend dying after the day she got engaged, the death of her mother, and a car accident. MMA helped give her focus so she wouldn't turn to drugs
In the episode, we also see poor Tecia Torres adjusting to a new team of very territorial fighters. Luckily, Alex Chambers is psyched to train with her, but she may be the only one.
Aisling Daly is having trouble adjusting to the heat (Vegas is as hot as hell compared to Ireland), and one of the Team Pettis coaches seems to think it's a mental issue - possibly because Ais has struggled with anxiety and depression in the past. She seems to adjust somewhat to the heat, and Dana White is nice enough to pull her aside to discuss this with her. We get to see Ais watch four of her teammates fight when the house gets to watch UFC Fight Night "McGregor vs. Brandao" in the house, and Ais even gets a shout out from teammate Patrick Holohan.
It's fight time, and round one is all Magana, who bullies Daly against the cage, takes the fight to the ground, and works for a rear-naked choke. Daly is great at positional defense, and the referee stood up the fight while Magana was working for an armbar. Daly makes it a fight in the last minute of the round, scoring some scrappy punches. Magana lands another takedown at the end of the round, but Daly fishes for a kimura.
In the second round, Daly pushes forward with punches and works in the clinch, but Magana looks for takedowns. It is Daly who takes the fight to the ground, landing elbows and punches, and she ultimately attempted a rear-naked choke in the last seconds of the round.
It's time for a third round, and Magana looks gassed. Sure enough, Daly comes in strong with flurries of punches. Magana grabs one of Daly's kicks and lands a takedown, but Daly takes her back, flattens her out, and throws punches until the ref had seen enough. Daly via TKO.
Not a lot of drama to report this week, but a good solid episode nonetheless.
Team Pettis is now 6-0, but may not be for long, as Rose Namajunas will be fighting Alex Chambers next episode.
Yael Grauer is a freelance writer, you can find more of her at yaelwrites.com/blog
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