The rematch between [autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag] and [autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag] was well worth the wait – for both Namajunas and the viewers who got to witness a tremendous scrap.
In their first meeting, at UFC 237, Andrade (20-8 MMA, 11-6 UFC) took the strawweight belt from Namajunas (9-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) via a memorable, second-round knockout slam.
Fourteen months later, the duo met again. Saturday night at UFC 251, Namajunas put together two stellar rounds, then showed great heart in withstanding a furious third-round onslaught.
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Namajunas, competing for the first time since losing the title, eked out a split decision victor with the better end of two of three 29-28 scorecards.
Andrade make clear from the jump she planned on pushing a strong pace, using fast movement to dart in and out. Namajunas, however, didn’t need much time to figure out her range, and she began using a pinpoint jab, crisp straight hands, and solid counters on the occasion Andrade manage to break through.
This continued for the better part of two rounds, but Andrade might have the heaviest hands at 115 pounds, and she threw them, like with a wicked body shot in the second, she landed.
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And then Andrade turned it on in the third. Andrade threw everything but the kitchen sink at her foe, leaving Namajunas with her nose cut open and her left eye nearly swollen shut. Things looked bad when Andrade landed a strong throw to take her opponent to the mat.
But Namajunas got back to her feet, gritted her way through the onslaught, and got to the final horn to seal the win.
“She went into desperation and started really unloading and she caught me a couple times, obviously,” Namajunas said. “But I just stayed strong.”
With her third career decision win, Namajunas has now won four out of her past five. Andrade, who lost the title to current champ Zhang Weili, has dropped two in a row.
The strawweight bout was part of the main card at UFC 251 at Flash Forum at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN/ESPN+ and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 251 results include:
- Rose Namajunas def. Jessica Andrade via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Amanda Ribas def. Paige VanZant via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 2:21
- Jiri Prochazka def. Volkan Oezdemir via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 0:49
- Muslim Salikhov def. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
- Makwan Amirkhani def. Danny Henry via technical submission (anaconda choke) – Round 1, 3:15
- Leonardo Santos def. Roman Bogatov via unanimous decision (29-26, 29-26, 29-26)
- Marcin Tybura def. Maxim Grishin via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Raulian Paiva def. Zhalgas Zhumagulov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Karol Rosa def. Vanessa Melo via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
- Davey Grant def. Martin Day via knockout (punch) – Round 3, 2:38
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