Previously on The Ultimate Fighter…
Laura Gallardo joined Team Pena as an alternate and earned a place in the semifinals with a dominant win over Kathryn Paprocki, while Team Nunes’ Brogan Walker navigated through a knee injury to collect a hard-fought victory over Hannah Guy.
Now Walker and Gallardo face off with one another in the first flyweight semifinals, to determine which one of them will advance to the live final.
This is The Ultimate Fighter: Team Pena vs. Team Nunes!
Adrenaline Mountain…
A Sprinter van pulls up in the desert at Adrenaline Mountain, where Team Nunes gathers for a little bonding and break from life in the house, hanging around the fire, hiking the hills, and moving in the fresh air a little.
All Things The Ultimate Fighter
Walker showed some of her teammates how to sling, explaining to Eduardo Perez that she used to hunt with this weapon and that it’s something she did for fun back home in Guam, calling it therapeutic for her.
Four Days Until the Fight…
Gallardo goes through her fight prep at the UFC APEX, explaining in a confessional interview that she knows she has to be the best version of herself in order to defeat Walker and advance to the finals. She wants to stick to what got her here, rather than shifting any part of her game.
Pena sings the praises of her charge, while recognizing that Walker presents some problems with her right hand, insisting that Gallardo needs to shut down the right hand by working with her jab and upping the pressure.
Back at the house…
Walker gets her pre-fight call with her sister, Mackenzie, acknowledging afterwards that it made her both emotional and confident. She shows her sister the journaling she’s been doing in the house to fill her time, explaining that it has helped her reflect and gain a sense of peace as she progresses in this journey.
“With all of the emotions that I had going on, today, I feel at peace,” Walker says. “Walking into that cage, I’m going to feel at peace. The cage is my home — I’m realizing that more and more. It’s what I was born to do, so all emotions settled and aside. I feel like I’m ready to step in — mentally, physically, and spiritually
“I’m ready.”
Three Days Until the Fight…
Now it’s Walker’s turn to go through preparations with the members of Team Nunes, with the focus being on allowing Walker to use her slightly unorthodox southpaw striking to keep Gallardo guessing and unable to implement her game plan.
Walker explains she’s still a little limited because of the knee injury she suffered earlier in the season, but is confident that she’ll be able to push the pace and be the one applying pressure in the fight.
RECAP TUF 30: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8 | Episode 9
The expectation is that Gallardo is going to want to wrestle, and the plan is to work to defend those shots and give her different looks and attacks to deal with on the way in. Team Nunes seems to think that Gallardo is one-dimensional and going to have blind spots heading into this contest, so it will be interesting to see if that is how things shake out.
Back at the house…
Gallardo calls home and is greeted by her boyfriend and her dog, crying as soon as she sees their faces.
She praises his willingness and commitment to letting her be obsessive about her MMA pursuits, and they laugh about how needy and clingy the dog is being, with Gallardo showing her boyfriend his picture over her bed and thanking him for the notes from him she brought with her into the house.
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“Wait ‘til you turn your phone on,” he tells her, drawing out a wonderful laugh while she explains in a confessional interview the challenges and adjustments that come with being in the house, isolated from the outside world.
“I’m feeling a lot of emotions,” says Gallardo. “One, I’m feeling excitement. I’m ready to get in the cage, I’m ready to perform, I’m ready to literally give myself 100 percent and just give it all in the cage.
“I gotta f*** someone up soon,” she adds. “I gotta stay ready, I gotta stay healthy because I’m going to war.”
Flyweight Weigh-In…
Walker is first on the scale, coming in at 126 pounds, while Gallardo follows and weighs in at 124 pounds.
The two face off and the fight is official.
Fight Day…
Each athlete packs up and heads to the UFC APEX, getting locked in for what’s ahead of them.
They get taped up, go through a shake out, and get dialed in. All that remains is to do the damn thing.
Gallardo takes Walker off her feet with the first shot she throws, faking a level change and landing a lead right to the jaw that stumbles her. Walker recovers well and both settle in, with the fight turning into the clash of styles both sides expected, with Gallardo looking to wrestle and Walker focused on keeping it standing.
The Team Pena fighter is a little quicker with her movements, but Walker’s experience shows in her ability to corral Gallardo and keep her on the back foot. Despite that, Gallardo continues landing the better shots, sticking Walker as she comes forward and forcing clinch exchanges along the fence.
Walker is a little more aggressive to open the second, pressing forward with more urgency, but she continues throwing single shots and eating return fire from Gallardo. Walker finally lands a clean left hand that stumbles Gallardo for a split second, but the Team Pena fighter is able to circle into space, clear the cobwebs, and get back to sticking Walker as she comes forward.
Walker begins to find some success with low kicks in the second half of the round as Gallardo’s output dips, and she does a great job of staying upright when Gallardo is in on her waist late in the round. The frame ends with Walker doing good work from a front headlock position.
Gallardo opens with a little more feistiness as Walker comes forward, but the Team Pena fighter is undeterred. Neither has much sustained success with their striking until Walker connects with some bigger shots towards the midway point of the round.
She uses her strength to back Gallardo up, forcing her to dive on a desperation shot that Walker sprawls out from easily, returning to the front headlock position she finished Round 2 in, landing a knee before they break. Walker slams home some sharp low kicks and Gallardo seems a little defeated and deflated, while Walker’s confidence is soaring heading into the final minute.
Walker starts talking to Gallardo, landing the superior shots through to the horn, seemingly securing a victory.
Official Result: Brogan Walker def. Laura Gallardo by unanimous decision
Dana White and the coaches recap the action, with the UFC President praising Walker’s toughness for battling through her knee injury and ability to repeatedly defend Gallardo’s takedown attempts.
Nunes highlights the powerful shots that Walker landed, while Pena makes the case for her charge, suggesting that she was winning the second up until the final 30-45 seconds, where Walker defended a takedown and seemed to take the wind out of Gallardo’s sails.
“It’s going to be fun to see what she can do in the UFC,” says White.
Team Nunes celebrates the victory together, while Team Pena rallies around a disappointed Gallardo, who believes she won the first two rounds.
Two semifinal fights down, two more to go!
