‘TUF 20’ Recap: Episode 7

---

This week’s episode features a preliminary matchup between Team Melendez’s Rose Namajunas and Team Pettis’ Alex Chambers.

Bec Rawlings expounds upon the growing divide in the house caused by Heather Clark and Lisa Ellis spending more time with Team Pettis than their own teammates. Team Melendez is suffering from a lack of training partners because of injuries and Tecia Torres being sent to replace Justine Kish on the other squad. Melendez’s remaining fighters refer to themselves as the “Skrapettes,” while they call the others the “Chumpettes.”

Gilbert Melendez feels as if his team’s current losing streak is causing a fair amount of the tension. Namajunas is well aware of the slump and wants to pick up the victory, not only for her team, but for her professional future. Namajunas trains jiu-jitsu with Kron Gracie, but she becomes quite frustrated at the end of the session, resulting in her breaking down emotionally.

Anthony Pettis sits his team down to discuss how training is going to be when the next round comes. With his team is undefeated up to this point, there are bound to be some awkward situations when teammates are forced to fight one another, and Pettis wanted to address that.

A doctor notifies Clark that she has a full ACL tear and will be out for at least nine months. Angela Magana apologizes to Clark for accusing her of faking the injury.

Namajunas opens up regarding her past, which includes being sexually abused throughout her upbringing. She credits her fiancé, former UFC heavyweight Pat Barry, with giving her the confidence to be open about it. “Thug Rose” feels as though, ever since she has been open about what she has endured, her career has blossomed.

Soccer players Megan Rapinoe and Sydney LeRoux of the U.S. Women’s National Team come to speak with both teams. The fighters ask questions regarding what it’s like being a woman in professional sports, while the soccer players try out some mixed martial arts maneuvers.

The penultimate preliminary fight opens calmly, with both women throwing kicks and jabs from a distance. Suddenly, Namajunas opens up with a flurry of punches that forces Chambers back against the cage. Namajunas scores with a head kick, answered by Chambers with a two-punch combination. Namajunas shoots for a takedown, but Chambers manages to defend.

Namajunas seems to be growing more confident as the fight progresses, piecing together kicks and punches to keep her opponent off-balance. Namajunas parlays her striking into a trip takedown, but they aren’t on the ground for long, as Chambers pops back upright. The Aussie shoots for a takedown of her own, but Namajunas overpowers her and takes Chambers’ back. With 30 seconds remaining, Namajunas sinks in a rear-naked choke, and Chambers wastes no time tapping to the submission.

With that, Team Melendez has its first victory. Next week’s episode will feature the final preliminary scrap between Rawlings and Torres.