Teams Announced and Rousey uses first fight pick

to match Shayna Baszler and Julianna Pena

Series resumes next Wednesday on FOX Sports 1 at 10 p.m. ET

Las Vegas, Nevada - The Ultimate Fighting Championship® kicked off the 18th season of its famed reality television show, The Ultimate Fighter®, on Wednesday night with the inaugural episode on FOX Sports 1. In the historic two-hour season premiere, 16 male, and for the first time ever, 16 female bantamweight fighters (135 pounds) squared-off, vying for a coveted spot on the series and their chance to win a six-figure contract with the UFC® and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

A full recap is available at UFC.com.

Premiere episode fight match-ups and results:

Fighters will once again be vying for season bonus'. Bonus' of $5,000 will be given to fighters victorious by stoppage or submission. Another $25,000 will be given for best fight of the season, best submission of the season and best knockout of the season.

Team Selections

Team Tate won the coin toss, electing to pick first.

Below are the final rosters, in order each was selected, are:

Team Tate
Julianna Pena
Sara Moras
Raquel Pennington
Roxanne Modaferri
Cody Bollinger
Chris Holdsworth
Josh Hill
Tim Gorman

Team Rousey
Shayna Baszler
Jessamyn Duke
Peggy Morgan
Jessica Rakoczy
Chris Beal
David Grant
Anthony Guitierrez
Michael Wootten

Team Rousey, therefore had the option of the first fight pick and chose

Shayna Baszler versus Team Tate's Julianna Pena.

The series resumes next Wednesday, Sept. 11, on FOX Sports 1 at 10 p.m. ET. In that episode - "Ladies First" - Sixteen fighters move into The Ultimate Fighter house, where for the first time, men and women will live together. Tensions rise as old rivals, coaches Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate cross paths, and a hopeful fighter's UFC dream is threatened by injury. Then it's a battle of the number one female picks when Julianna Pena of Team Tate and veteran Shayna "The Queen of Spades" Baszler of Team Rousey fight for early control in a history-making matchup.

For more show information, bios, videos and photos, visit ultimatefighter.com and don't forget to follow us on Twitter under our new name @TUFonFS1 or on Facebook.com/TUF.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Universally recognized for its action-packed, can't-miss events that have sold out some of the biggest arenas and stadiums across the globe, the UFC® is the world's premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, headquartered in Las Vegas and with offices in London, Toronto and Beijing, UFC produces more than 30 live events annually and is the largest Pay-Per-View event provider in the world. In 2011, the UFC burst into the mainstream with a landmark seven-year broadcast agreement with FOX Sports Media Group. The agreement includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network annually, with additional fight cards and thousands of hours of programming broadcast on FOX properties FX and FUEL TV. This also includes the longest-running sports reality show on television, The Ultimate Fighter®, which airs on FX.

In addition to its reach on FOX, UFC programming is broadcast in over 145 countries, to nearly 800 million TV households worldwide, in 28 different languages. UFC content is also distributed commercially in the United States to bars and restaurants through Joe Hand Promotions, in English throughout Canada via Premium Sports Broadcasting Inc. and Australia via Main Event and in French throughout Quebec via Interbox. The UFC also connects with tens of millions of fans through its website, UFC.com, as well as social media sites Facebook and Twitter. UFC President Dana White is considered one of the most accessible and followed executives in sports, with nearly 2.4 million followers on Twitter. Ancillary UFC businesses include best-selling DVDs and video games, an internationally distributed magazine, UFC.TV offering live event broadcasts and video on demand around the world, a new franchise in development with EA, UFC GYM®, UFC Fight Club affinity program, UFC Fan Expo® festivals, branded apparel and trading cards.

FOX Sports 1
FOX Sports 1 is a new national 24-hour multi-sport channel launching on August 17 and boasts nearly 5,000 hours of live event, news and original programming annually. The channel has eight pillar sports: college basketball and football, MLB (in 2014), NASCAR, NFL (ancillary programs), USGA events including the U.S. Open (2015), soccer and UFC. College football is highlighted by regular season coverage of Big 12, Pac-12 and Conference USA games, while the college basketball spotlight shines on the Big East, Big 12, Pac-12 and Conference USA and the Big East men's basketball tournament. Starting in 2014, select MLB League Championship Series and Division Series games as well as regular season games are coming to the channel. FOX Sports 1 also carries select NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events beginning in 2015; NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races; the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race; and all Speedweeks coverage, including Daytona 500 Qualifying, Sprint Unlimited at Daytona, (2014, 2017-22) the Budweiser Duel, and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NCWTS Practice and Qualifying sessions. Additionally, FOX Sports 1 carries NASCAR RACEDAY, NASCAR VICTORY LANE and RACE HUB shows. The channel also carries the world's most prolific club soccer competitions, like UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and CONCACAF Champions League, along with the world's oldest soccer competition, the FA Cup; plus CONCACAF Gold Cup; CONCACAF Qualifiers, EURO 2016 Qualifiers; 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers; FIFA Women's World Cup in 2015 and 2019; FIFA Men's World Cup in 2018 and 2022.

In addition to Saturday pay-per-view preliminary cards, Wednesday nights are home to the UFC with UFC TONIGHT, live events and THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER. In Feb. 2014, FOX Sports 1 partners with The Jockey Club for newly created package of nationally televised races featuring the leading horses in the country. FOX SPORTS LIVE is FOX Sports 1's flagship 24/7 news, opinion and highlights program, providing around the clock coverage through regularly scheduled programs, hourly updates and an information rich ticker. Original programs include: FOX FOOTBALL DAILY, CROWD GOES WILD, a new live sports entertainment talk show hosted by Regis Philbin; and the groundbreaking BEING: documentary franchise. For more information visit www.FOXSports.com/FOXSports1.