Erin Blanchfield rallies to beat Rose Namajunas

Erin Blanchfield turned up the amount, aggression and injury simply in time to get the victory.

After a lackadaisical opening two rounds, Blanchfield (13-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) rallied within the last three of the UFC Combat Evening 246 co-main occasion Saturday to defeat former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas (13-7 MMA, 11-6 UFC) by unanimous resolution (48-47, 48-47, 48-47). The ladies’s flyweight bout was the co-main occasion at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Namajunas puzzled Blanchfield with footwork, jabs, and motion within the first 10 minutes. Blanchfield appeared the a lot slower fighter and gave the impression to be caught on an identical loop as to the unsuccessful sport plan execution that transpired in her loss to Manon Fiorot in March.

Blanchfield started to come back alive in Spherical 3, nonetheless, when she took Namajunas down and managed her. In Spherical 4, Blanchfield’s placing discovered its residence as Namajunas appeared to sluggish in quantity and assault of her personal.

Spherical 5, Blanchfield’s nook lit a fireplace underneath its fighter and he or she got here out swinging with full aggression. She took Namajunas down and entered the crucifix place. Namajunas defended nicely, however ended up in a non-dominant place for the rest of the struggle.

When the mud settled, Blanchfield had swept the judges. She was emotional on the microphone, however nonetheless issued a problem to former champion Alexa Grasso, who she’d wish to struggle subsequent.

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Blanchfield bounces again from her first UFC loss, which got here in opposition to Fiorot in March. The defeat was a reasonably lopsided unanimous resolution. Previous to that bump within the highway, Blanchfield racked up wins over Sarah Alpar, Miranda Maverick, JJ Aldrich, Molly McCann, Jessica Andrade and Taila Santos.

As for Namajunas, her two-fight profitable streak is snapped. She strikes to 2-2 since shifting to flyweight in 2023.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Combat Evening 246 outcomes embody:

• Erin Blanchfield def. Rose Namajunas by way of unanimous resolution (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
• Brendson Ribeiro def. Caio Machado by way of break up resolution (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Ariane da Silva by way of submission (D’Arce choke) – Spherical 3, 2:28
• Dustin Stoltzfus def. Marc-Andre Barriault by way of knockout (punches) – Spherical 1, 4:28
• Mike Malott def. Trevin Giles by way of unanimous resolution (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Aiemann Zahabi def. Pedro Munhoz by way of unanimous resolution (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Charles Jourdain def. Victor Henry by way of submission (guillotine choke) – Spherical 2, 3:43
• Youssef Zalal def. Jack Shore by way of submission (arm-triangle choke) – Spherical 2, 0:59
• Alexandr Romanov def. Rodrigo Nascimento by way of unanimous resolution (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Serhiy Sidey def. Garrett Armfield by way of break up resolution (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Cody Gibson def. Chad Anheliger by way of unanimous resolution (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
• Jamey-Lyn Horth def. Ivana Petrovic by way of break up resolution (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)

For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC Combat Evening 246.