Local Female Fighter Falls in UFC Debut

Peggy Morgan, an MMA fighter who trains in Arlington once a week, lost in a unanimous, 30-27 decision to Jessamyn Duke Saturday, Nov. 30, in their bantamweight bout on the main card of The Ultimate Fighter 18’s finale.

Read more about the fight on UFC’s website >>

The fight was both women’s UFC debut. It was at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and televised on Fox Sports 1.

Morgan and Duke were both contestants on season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter, UFC’s reality show that searches for MMA’s future stars. Both women were on bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey’s team, and they both lost in the show’s quarterfinal round before being invited back to the finale.

Morgan, who has the nickname “The Daywalker,” is now 2-1 in her pro career. She was 2-0 as an amateur.

The 6-foot-1 Morgan, a 33-year-old adjunct professor of composition and literature at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H., and single mother of a 4-year-old son, picked up the sport in 2011, after being an amateur boxer and kickboxer, according to a pre-fight profile on UFC.com, “Professor Peggy Morgan Readies for Battle.”

Morgan, of Nashua, N.H., trains with Massachusetts Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which has locations in Acton and Arlington. Morgan primarily trains in Acton but comes to the Arlington gym at 965 Mass. Ave. about once a week, she said.