AND NEW… Brazil’s Jessica Andrade is the New UFC Strawweight Champion of the World After Sensationally Smashing Rose Namajunas on Her Head…
MMA is a cruel sport. It all seemed to be going to plan for Rose Namajunas. The 26-year-old was absolutely dissecting Jessica Andrade before she got obliterated by the same raw power that ended Karolina Kowalkiewicz’s hopes of another title shot.
Namajunas was very brave to take this fight in the first place in Brazil. Notorious for its hostile welcome, many foreign fighters hate going to the South American nation. Even when you win it can be terrible, as Jared Cannonier found out when he was booed out of the octagon after beating Anderson Silva.
Now Andrade is the new champion and it’s very likely that her first title defence will be against Tatiana Suarez. Check out the brutal finish to this fight below. It was a tough way to lose for Namajunas. The head slam was also legal because Rose had Andrade in a submission hold.
That looked painful. #UFC237 pic.twitter.com/zRCZi0f4QS
— Andrew Joseph (@AndyJ0seph) May 12, 2019
Brutal KO
It was going so well for ‘Thug’ Rose. The first round was a superb show of skill, power and slick movement as she landed jab after jab on Andrade’s face, opening up a cut by her eye in the first minute. Her mobility had Andrade bamboozled. She wasn’t able to land any of her patented power punches and it looked like being a short night for the Brazilian.
Even when she managed to secure a takedown, Rose was wise to it and locked in a kimura before transitioning to armbar. She wasn’t able to sink it in but it basically nullified Andrade’s best moment of the first round. The Brazilian went back to her stool breathing heavy.
#AndNew strawweight champion of the world | @JessicaMMAPro #UFC237 pic.twitter.com/euMDJyFJz9
— UFC (@ufc) May 12, 2019
Head Smash
Even when it looks like you’re on top of the world, it can all come smashing down so quickly in MMA. Namajunas literally found this out. The second round was going much the same as the first. Andrade was doing her best to put on a little bit more pressure and was finding some success with the leg kick to Thug Rose’s front thigh. However, it looked like her second title shot was slipping away from her.
Then, she got Rose against the fence and went for the takedown. It looked ill-advised because Namajunas had sunk in the kimura again. But this time Andrade was wise to it and ended up just smashing the champion head first into the ground. Straight away the fight was stopped by Marc Goddard and Andrade became the new strawweight champion of the world.
JESSICA ANDRADE WINS VIA… slam? SLAM VS ROSE NAMAJUNAS #UFC237 pic.twitter.com/BnHJbTlxrH
— FiveFives (@fives_five) May 12, 2019
Specimen
There’s no doubt about it, Andrade is a rare physical force at strawweight. You just can’t prepare for that level of power. Even though Rose was definitely the better fighter on the night and executing her game plan sensationally, all it took was one opportunity for Andrade to put her lights out.
Tatiana Suarez is more than likely next up for the new champion. She’ll have to make significant improvements if she hopes to beat the woman being called the female ‘Khabib.’ Her top game is some of the most oppressive on the roster and Suarez may not be as easy to bully like some of the other women on the roster.
Namajunas will definitely bounce back from this. She’s incredibly still only 26-years-old and in that first round, she fought as well as she’s ever done. This is Andrade’s night though, as she became the only Brazilian to win on the entire card.
