TUF Episode 10 Recap: Jessica Penne, Aisling Daly Battle to a Decision

The Ultimate Fighter is in the quarterfinals now, and this week's fight was between No. 4 seed Jessica Penne and No. 5 seed Aisling Daly.

Penne defeated Lisa Ellis in the first round, and Daly beat Angela Magana to advance.

When the referee started the action, the fighters came out to the center of the cage to get to work.

Penne took a finger to the eye early on, and Herb Dean halted the bout long enough for her to clear her vision. Penne decided to stop fighting at a distance soon after and put Daly's back against the fence. Daly reversed the position and attacked the body well. Penne landed a few nice strikes herself, but she was more concerned with positioning. Daly got a takedown late in the round but did not want to test Penne's guard.

It was a close first round, but it appeared that Daly had a slight edge.

Penne was more successful on the feet at the start of the second. She then went back to the clinch game. Daly got another takedown but again let Penne right back up. Penne's reach was a factor on the feet. After being touched up, it was Daly who closed the distance. The fight hit the floor, and Penne managed to take top position. She got full mount and then back mount as Daly tried to stand.

Penne ended the second round in dominating position to even the fight.

Penne got a takedown early in the third round. Daly tried to work back up, but Penne got her back. Penne slid off and was on her back but actively working for a submission. Penne got back into a better position and fired off good ground-and-pound. Penne got back into Daly's half-guard. She spent the majority of the third trying to get to a better position with no offense. She got back to her feet with 40 seconds remaining but couldn't do anything with the time.

It was a solid third round for Penne, who took the unanimous decision to advance to the semifinals.

Next week will feature both remaining quarterfinal bouts—Carla Esparza vs. Tecia Torres and Joanne Calderwood vs. Rose Namajunas.

No. 1 Carla Esparza	No. 3 Tecia Torres
No. 4 Jessica Penne	No. 5 Aisling Daly	Penne d. Daly by Decision
No. 2 Joanne Calderwood	No. 7 Rose Namajunas
No. 6 Felice Herrig	No. 14 Randa Markos	Markos d. Herrig by Submission

Note: The highlighted matchup is the fight that will air next week. Tecia Torres replaced Justine Kish on Team Pettis following an injury that forced Kish out of the competition.

• Jessica Penne is seen working on a puzzle of the TUF logo. These poor fighters can't even get a regular puzzle in the house.
• As Daly and Penne are on the same team, Team Pettis, they are still training in close quarters to each other. Pettis says he is taking a step back and letting them dictate how they'll train. Penne works closely with Justine Kish.
• A portion of the show was spent with an in-program advertisement for Harley-Davidson. The fighters had a “Harley Boot Camp” to learn about the bikes and how to ride them.
• Daly expressed concern that the coaches may have more a personal connection with Penne and wonders if that will come in to play with how they handle this fight. It is tough to know from the editing how legitimate this concern is, but it would be difficult to handle mentally entering a fight in this environment.
• Conor McGregor showed up to surprise Daly. He spoke to her one-on-one and then addressed the rest of the team. He noticed a tension in the room of Team Pettis. He seemed to boost Daly's mood.
• With this being a quality fight, there was not much time for anything else in this episode. The fighters made their walk to the cage about halfway through the episode, and this week's offering was all about a high-level fight between two of the best competitors on the show.