[autotag]Sara McMann[/autotag] had more than 10 minutes of ground control time on [autotag]Lina Lansberg[/autotag] in a dominant return to action Saturday at UFC on ESPN+ 24.
In her first fight in nearly two years, McMann (12-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) used her high-level wrestling to control Lansberg (10-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC) on the mat for the overwhelming majority of three rounds to earn a unanimous decision by lopsided scores of 30- 27, 30-26 and 30-25. It was the first win since February 2017 for the one-time UFC title challenger.
McMann wasted no time taking the fight to the ground. She shot in on Lansberg from open space, getting the fight down in the center of the octagon less then 30 second in. McMann quickly went to work and attempted multiple submissions and battered Lansberg’s body with ground-and-pound. Lansberg attempted to scramble free, but McMann dominated every position and continued to attack with submissions. Lansberg hung tough, though, and lasted the round.
The fight picked up where it left off in the second. After roughly 60 seconds of cautious striking on the feet, McMann got her takedown. She smothered Lansberg from on top, and the Swede had no answers for the high level and top game of the Olympic silver medalist. McMann finally got the full mount position she was looking for in the late stages of the round, but did not have enough time to do anything effective.
Lansberg attempt to come out with a few heavy shots to start the final round, but walked right into the clinch position with McMann that led to a takedown less than 30 seconds in. Lansberg tried to create some scrambles and escape the bad spots, but McMann stuck on her and kept enough pressure to avoid being stood up or allow the fight to get away from her.
“Sometimes I’ve got away from it, and I try to strike a little bit more,” McMann said in he post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier.” I’ve got good power in my hands, but why am I handicapping myself? I know ground-and-pound power is better than my power on the feet.”
The women’s bantamweight bout was part of the UFC on ESPN+ 24 preliminary card at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C. It streamed on ESPN+.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN+ 24 results include:
- Sara McMann def. Lina Lansberg via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-25)
- Brett Johns def. Tony Gravely via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:53
- Herbert Burns def. Nate Landwehr via knockout (knee) – Round 1, 2:43