Joanna Jedrzejczyk had to work for it, but she retained her UFC strawweight title with a unanimous-decision win over Claudia Gadelha on the finale of The Ultimate Fighter 23 on Friday (48-46, 48-45, 48-46).
The challenger dominated the first two rounds with her wrestling, but she was gassed midway through the third, and the champion was as fresh as a daisy.
Jedrzejczyk outstruck Gadelha 153-41 over the final three rounds, per UFC.com, and proved herself worthy of keeping the title.
Cardio, striking and speed were the story. It was impressive that Jedrzejczyk had so much left in the gas tank after a grueling two-plus rounds in which she was dropped by a left hand and smothered on the ground.
The speed and potency of her strikes didn't appear to be affected late in the fight, and she rode those tools to the victory. The two women had one of the most bitter buildups to a fight that we've seen in the UFC.
However, after the bout, they both showed each other respect. Sports Illustrated's Jeff Wagenheim was complimentary of the scrap and the sportsmanship:
That was a thing of beauty those two women put on, the fight and the interview after. High class.
— Jeff Wagenheim (@jeffwagenheim) July 9, 2016
Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha sent the MMA community into Saturday's UFC 200 on a high note.
'TUF' Finals
Suarez Takes the Trophy
Tatiana Suarez earned The Ultimate Fighter title for the women's strawweight division. She made quick work of Amanda Cooper as she secured the first-round submission with a beautifully executed D'Arce choke.
Suarez was looking for the takedown from the beginning of the bout. Once she got the fight to the mat, her superiority on the ground shined through quickly.
The D'Arce was sunk in, and Cooper tapped quickly. Unfortunately, referee John McCarthy didn't see Cooper's submission. She had to kick before he noticed, as the veteran referee was out of position.
Suarez is a cancer survivor, and she took exception to Cooper's pre-fight trash talk.
Listen to her post-fight interview:
Sanchez Smothers Rountree
With a barrage of takedowns, Andrew Sanchez dominated Khalil Rountree en route to The Ultimate Fighter trophy for the light heavyweights.
Rountree is a powerful striker, but his ground game paled in comparison to Sanchez. With a perfectly executed strategy, Sanchez planted Rountree six times and coasted to the easy unanimous-decision victory.
The crowd hated the fight, but he did what he had to do.
Results
- Li Jingliang def. Anton Zafir via first-round knockout.
- Kevin Lee def. Jake Matthews via first-round technical knockout.
- Cezar Ferreira def. Anthony Smith via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
- Joshua Stansbury def. Cory Hendricks via majority decision (29-27, 29-27, 28-28).
- Matheus Nicolau def. John Moraga via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29).
- Gray Maynard def. Fernando Bruno via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
- Joaquim Silva def. Andrew Holbrook via first-round technical knockout.
- Doo Ho Choi def. Thiago Tavares via first-round knockout.
- Will Brooks def. Ross Pearson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
- Tatiana Suarez def. Amanda Cooper via submission (D'Arce choke).
- Andrew Sanchez def. Khalil Rountree via unanimous decision (30-25, 20-25, 30-26).
- joanna Jedrzejczyk def. Claudia Gadelha via unanimous decision (48-46, 48-45, 48-46).
Highlights and Analysis
Fight Pass Fury
Li Jingliang and Kevin Lee needed less than a round to end their fights during the Fight Pass preliminaries. Jingliang wrestled Anton Zafir to the mat and pounded him out to score the first stoppage win.
A few minutes later, Kevin Lee continued his rise up the lightweight rankings. After dazing the equally celebrated Jake Matthews with a combination early, he took him to the ground and gained mount position.
Lee then rained down enough shots to get the stoppage.
It was his second straight victory since losing by knockout to Leonardo Santos at UFC 194 in December. Lee is ultra confident and talented. In the next two to three years, he should be a title contender.
Silva and Choi's Ferocious Finishes
Joaquim Silva needed just 34 seconds to take Andrew Holbrook out. The latter was undefeated coming in, but Silva's power and explosion were impressive.
Holbrook attempted a kick that Silva caught. The Brazilian flipped Holbrook to the mat, and as he tried to get to his feet, Silva cracked him with a right hand.
Holbrook went down and Silva pummeled him with hammerfists to bring an end to the bout:
Whoa! Joaquim Silva just ironing-boarded Andrew Holbrook.
— Bleacher Report MMA (@BR_MMA) July 9, 2016
Silva is exciting, but the Korean Superboy Doo Ho Choi isn't boring. It took him a little over three minutes to dispatch veteran Thiago Tavares.
After making his way back to his feet when Tavares took him down, Choi showed off the striking skills that have many in the MMA world calling the 25-year-old South Korean a future superstar.
A straight right hand wrecked Tavares, and a follow-up punch caused the stoppage. Choi has had three fights in the UFC, and he's scored a KO win in each of them. He's for real.
