Here are the 36 female fighters trying out for 'The Ultimate Fighter 20' today

LAS VEGAS – A total of 36 fighters are today trying out for the upcoming 20th season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” which is the second to feature female competitors.

MMAjunkie is at today’s tryouts, which take place at Palace Station Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

As previously announced, “TUF 20″ debuts Sept. 20 on FOX Sports 1, and the upcoming installment of the long-running reality show will crown the UFC’s inaugural 115-pound strawweight champion. This past year, “TUF 18″ featured 135-pounders and was the first to feature female cast members.

Part of the cast is already set. Back in December, the UFC acquired the contracts of 11 Invicta FC fighters with plans to feature them on “TUF 20″: Carla Esparza (9-2), Alex Chambers (4-1), Claudia Gadelha (11-0), Felice Herrig (9-5), Bec Hyatt (5-3), Emily Kagan (3-1), Juliana Lima (6-1), Rose Namajunas (2-1), Tecia Torres (4-0), Paige VanZant (3-1) and Joanne Calderwood (8-0).

However, VanZant, Gadelha and Lima are no longer expected to be part of the cast. VanZant wasn’t the mandatory minimum age of 21, Gadelha determined she can’t continually make the 115-pound limit, and Lima lack of English ruled her out, UFC President Dana White told MMAjunkie. However, all three will receive UFC contracts and will be booked for non-”TUF” UFC bouts.

That means eight slots are open for “TUF 20.” The show won’t have an elimination round of fights (meaning all 16 fighters chosen for the show will become official cast members). Filming begins July 1 and ends in mid-August.

The fighters trying out today for those open spots include:

Audrey Alvarez
Maria Andaverde
Nina Ansaroff
Chelsea Bailey
Kathina Catron
Angelica Chavez
Holly Cline
Heather Jo Clark
Aisling Daly
Sharice Davids
Lisa Ellis
Claire Fryer
Charlene Gellner
Paulina Granados
Helen Harper
Angela Hill
Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger
Justine Kish
Jennifer Liou
Kristi Lopez
Jillian Lybarger
Angela Magana
Randa Markos
Amy Montenegro
Melissa Myers
Michelle Ould
Jessica Penne
Tyra Parker
Mandy Polk
Diana Rael
Laura Salazar
Sarah Schneider-Chance
Tessa Rose Simpson
Danielle Taylor
Karina Taylor
Ashley Yoder
Lightweight champ Anthony Pettis and contender Gilbert Melendez will serve as head coaches on the show. The eventual tournament winner will join bantamweight titleholder Ronda Rousey as the UFC’s only female titleholders.

Mmajunkie.com

Charlene princess gellner is my personla friend since childhood fights outta darcia lira jujitsu and bay area fight academy.

Was undefeated at amateur even fought short notice for strikeforce but she always fought out of her weight class so she was really outweighed.

Excited to see her fight at her real weight wish all the best to her.

Not a single Japanese fighter?

What a fucking joke.

wekka wrote:Not a single Japanese fighter?

What a fucking joke.

get used to it, zuffa has turned wmma into a bigger joke than it was during the dark ages.

Lisa Ellis,heather Jo Clark should do well honestly have no idea who the other chicks are.

Again WAR PRINCESS GELLNER

I'm pretty sure I posted a interview with her on here she's really cool.

bellators tournament in 2010 was 10x better than this

Now that my friends on it I don't care LOL

Plus Gilbert Melendez is the Gospel bruh he's gonna get the belt he already won.

wekka wrote:Not a single Japanese fighter?

What a fucking joke.

They wanted English speakers on the show. Mizuki Inoues management is already in contact with UFC for after the show. That's the main reasons why her, Ayaka Hamasaki, and Katja Kankaanpaa aren't on this.

Even if Gadelha and Lima aren't able to compete, there's still some solid people trying out. I expect to see Jessica Penne, Justine Kish, one of the Lybarger sisters, Aisling Daly, Michelle Ould, and Randa Markos all in the mix.

nathanli wrote:

wekka wrote:Not a single Japanese fighter?

What a fucking joke.

They wanted English speakers on the show. Mizuki Inoues management is already in contact with UFC for after the show. That's the main reasons why her, Ayaka Hamasaki, and Katja Kankaanpaa aren't on this.

ayaka isnt in this weight class she is 105 lb now and Mizuki cant make 115 for some reason anyways. Hope Mizuki signs with RoadFC.

First off. who gives a shit about TUF! My god, stop already.

Secondly, the same about women's most any kind of sport. Why isn't the WNBA vying for top basket ball league? How about that women's hockey league? What about women's lingerie football with the NFL? Off the top of your head, who holds the women's 100M world record? Who is the current women's FIFA World Cup champion?

Thirdly, why is there sexual segregation in sports in modern society when it's not acceptable almost everywhere else? Why do women want equal roles in everything to men, yet for some reason want separate sports competitions that bar men from access? Is that equality? Is that "women can compete with men, do the same job just as well or better anywhere"? Can you imagine if women were barred access to playing on a high school football team if they could competitively make the team athletically?

Billions of people around the world pay big money to go to individual & team professional athletic competitions between the top HUMAN physical specimens in the world with world's highest human skill, fastest human speed, world's best human agility, & the pinnacle of human strength. They do not however for B, C, D, E, or other minor league non-best-in-world competitions, nor do they follow closely who is the 5000th fastest human in the 100M is in a human B level sexually segregated sporting competition.

If Ronda Rousey is such a 1 in a billion athlete Dana, who can take out top-of-the-heap GOAT-vying professional male boxers... then she should be competing against the REAL top 135'ers in the world. Whip it out, slap it on the table, and let's really measure.

Until then, I don't have enough time in my sports watching to follow second, third, fourth or fifth rate human athletic endeavors let alone ones with sleep overs & cat fights.  

tuf is horrible in general. Pretty much this stupid show killed the division for over a year. Second it's a tournament to crown the best when in reality they are missing most of the top 10.

It's clear the UFC is going under and womens mma is all that sells now. They ruined the sport that bad. Rousey has sold the most ppv's this year.


I enjoy watching some women fighters. The ones that have skill. It's like watching women's tennis just a different flavor of mma.

Sadly wmma is so terrible with the calibre of athletes and it's getting worse. Can you imagine Jessmyn Duke some supposed prospect fighting Megumi in 2005 if they were the same size? Skill level is going backwards.

The skill level is just so bad. Watanabe had more knockouts at 105lbs almost 10 years ago compared to what we see today in the ufc 135 lb division.

Ham, Mizuki, and maybe cyborg are the only fighters I will watch. The rest of wmma is just so bad.

You can tell female tennis players have a ton of skill just not the power of the guys. Female mma you can tell 95 percent lack the skill level to match regional male mma fighters.

Ugh. I am sick of how they are cornering the small market that is WMMA. I don't want the UFC to be my one stop shop for mma!

Hamilcar wrote:Ugh. I am sick of how they are cornering the small market that is WMMA. I don't want the UFC to be my one stop shop for mma!

RoadFC has good wmma fights. DEEP JEWELS has okay main events. Their undercards are bad though.

iforgotmypassword wrote:tuf is horrible in general. Pretty much this stupid show killed the division for over a year. Second it's a tournament to crown the best when in reality they are missing most of the top 10.

It's clear the UFC is going under and womens mma is all that sells now. They ruined the sport that bad. Rousey has sold the most ppv's this year.


I enjoy watching some women fighters. The ones that have skill. It's like watching women's tennis just a different flavor of mma.

Sadly wmma is so terrible with the calibre of athletes and it's getting worse. Can you imagine Jessmyn Duke some supposed prospect fighting Megumi in 2005 if they were the same size? Skill level is going backwards.

The skill level is just so bad. Watanabe had more knockouts at 105lbs almost 10 years ago compared to what  we see today in the ufc 135 lb division.

Ham, Mizuki, and maybe cyborg are the only fighters I will watch. The rest of wmma is just so bad.

You can tell female tennis players have a ton of skill just not the power of the guys. Female mma you can tell 95 percent lack the skill level to match regional male mma fighters.

I pine for the days of Brock Lesnar.

Lol.

Expect some really low-ass ratings this year. Enough said.

Well my friend char posted a pic today of her and Dana at tryouts not sure if it was before or after fights.all the best to char.

Tuf is pretty watered down this time round they have some decent names and my friend is on there so ill probly tune in also pettis and Melendez as coaches is pretty cool.