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LOS ANGELES, Calif. - When Carla Esparza and Jessica Penne agreed to spend several weeks of the summer sequestered in a house with 14 fellow mixed martial artists, they didnt do it because it sounded like fun.They joined the cast of the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter because their sport is growing in ways they never imagined just a few months earlier.After years of training, sacrificing and getting punched for little more than personal satisfaction, they embraced the chance to showcase womens MMA to a new audience, even if it meant living in what Esparza called a combination of a prison and a sorority.Were getting an amazing opportunity I never thought I would see, added Penne, who was fired from her job as a boxing instructor during her stint on the show this summer.In this sport, you go through people not taking you seriously, not being able to pay your bills because youre chasing a dream, Penne said. It gets really difficult. Its a crazy, up-and-down life, but I feel lucky to be able to do something I love every single day. Not many people get the opportunity to do that. Ill suffer while I can to chase my dream.When the UFC added an entire 115-pound womens division this year, the promotion decided to use its long-running reality television show to pick a champion for the first time. The UFC signed most of the worlds top strawweights out of the Invicta FC womens promotion and filmed them living and training together in Las Vegas.The results air on Fox Sports 1 starting Wednesday night, culminating in the title fight Dec. 12.It was a good experience, said Esparza, a wrestler from Redondo Beach. I wouldnt trade it for anything in the world, but I dont know if I would do it again.The visibility of womens MMA has skyrocketed in the last two years with the ascent of Ronda Rousey, the UFCs undefeated bantamweight champion and a budding movie star. Rouseys charisma and MMA skills were the main reasons UFC President Dana White reversed his long-standing reluctance to promote female fighters, and Rousey has become arguably the UFCs biggest star.With Rousey topping a thriving bantamweight division, White decided to double down on womens MMA. Suddenly, 115-pound fighters who had barely made any money after years in their sport had the chance to become reality-TV stars and eventual fighters in MMAs biggest showcases.I had no clue that this was even going to be possible, Esparza said. I started off fighting for pennies. I thought I was going to fight for a couple of years. It wasnt something I could survive on. I was just fighting because I love it.Through all my years of training and competing, I never thought of it as my profession, Penne added. It was just something that I loved to do. I enjoyed and just never really thought of it in that way. I think Ronda did a great service to womens MMA and gave us that catapult to be taken seriously.The UFC appointed lightweight champion Anthony Pettis and top contender Gilbert Melendez as the coaches. Melendez has been a supporter of womens MMA since he taught his first all-women jiu jitsu class in 2004, and his wife, Keri Anne, competes in muay thai.I was never like, Oh, theyre girls, Melendez said. Theyre all gamers. A lot of guys fight for so many reasons besides trying to be a true champion. Some of them fight for what it brings to them. These ladies fight straight because they like it.The strawweights needed the UFC, but the worlds dominant MMA promotion also needs them.Even White acknowledged The Ultimate Fighter had grown stagnant and repetitive after 19 seasons of the same formula. Most seasons showcase up-and-coming fighters from regional promotions trying to break into the big time — and usually failing. The 20th season showcases most of the worlds best fighters in the 115-pound weight class, and a title awaits at the end.The Ultimate Fighter hasnt featured this much top-end talent since mens flyweights and bantamweights joined the promotion three years ago in a season that featured current bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw, John Dodson and Dennis Bermudez.I think there will be a couple of stars coming out of this season that can help the company, Melendez said. And they can use it. Cheap Shoes Wholesale Uk . He has spent much of his adult life trying to give back to his native South Sudan, the war-torn African nation the Cavaliers forward and his family fled when he was a young boy. Cheap Shoes Wholesale Free Shipping . Weise left the arena with a splint on his wrist and underwent tests to determine whether the tendon is torn. Winger Travis Moen will also miss some time after suffering a concussion in Mondays contest. http://www.saleshoesuk.com/. Richard Jefferson scored 17 points and Diante Garrett had a career-high 15 points as the Jazz had seven players with 10 points or more in Utahs largest margin of victory this season. Wholesale Shoes Uk . Francis told several hundred members of the European Olympic Committees that when sport "is considered only in economic terms and consequently for victory at every cost . Sale Shoes Uk . -- Chris Jones and Louisville have done a tremendous job protecting the basketball this season and thats led to easy victories.New Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers is hoping to pack out the stadium again and bring Champions League football back to the club. The former Liverpool and Swansea manager signed a 12-month rolling contract with his boyhood heroes on Monday.And the 43-year-old is aiming to consolidate Celtics position as top club in Scotland after replacing Ronny Deila as manager. Crowds have fallen away at Celtic Park despite the Hoops stretching their sequence of Scottish Premiership titles to five-in-a-row, with some fans unhappy at the style of football on show and a group of shareholders unsatisfied with the lack of progress into Resolution 12, in which Celtic are seeking answers from the SFA over possible lost revenue from UEFA competition in 2011.But Rodgers believes he will have more chance of fulfilling his aims if he can persuade most of the discontented supporters to return. Celtic supporters put on a show before a Champions League match We want to dominate in Scotland and qualify for the Champions League. We will need the fans to do that, the Northern Irishman said.This is an incredible football club and the support here is phenomenal. I need to get those stands full again.The top tier of the Lisbon Lions stand has been closed or empty and it is my job to get people in here again and inspire the supporters to come back and watch a game of football that inspires and excites them and is about scoring goals and winning. Rodgers believes he is taking over one of the biggest clubs in the world Ultimately that is what we want to do and if we can do that then we will be on the right track.ddddddddddddHere is not just about winning. Celtic is brought up to win in a way football, style, identity and that is something that hopefully we can create here and make the supporters proud of their team.Rodgers grew up supporting the Hoops from his home in the north of Ireland, and he recalled some memories of following the clubs fortunes.I have my uncles and cousins here, it was they who started me off on that front, Rodgers said. It was from early years, listening on the radio. Ronny Deila paraded the Scottish Premiership trophy twice in two seasons The first game I went to was 1984, it was a friendly, Celtic versus Finn Harps over in Ireland, that was my first memory.I was 11 years of age and from then I have been in the Celtic family with many relations, brothers, cousins, uncles all throughout the world, huge supporters and it is very much being their life.I am very lucky to be able to step out of the stands and onto the sidelines and manage the team. Win a trip to Kansas City, USA! Ivy Investments are offering Sky Sports MLS fans the chance to win a trip to Kansas City, USA Also See: Rodgers: Celtic not a step down Skipper Brown hails Rodgers Nicholas: Brendan can be great Celtic appoint Rodgers ' ' '