Jasmine Jasudavicius is looking for fighters with “low numbers” next to their names as she climbs the UFC flyweight ladder, which would include Erin Blanchfield.
Jasudavicius recently defeated Fatima Kline at UFC Denver, who coincidentally enough, is Blanchfield’s teammate. With Jasudavicius originally set to face a top-10 opponent before Kline subbed in on short notice for her octagon debut, she believes Blanchfield would check off all the boxes.
“I like it,” Jasudavicius said on The MMA Hour. “I think it’s possible. I mean, why not? Her team already studied to fight me, so let’s just set it up.”
Blanchfield recently suffered her first octagon defeat, losing a lopsided unanimous decision to Manon Fiorot in the main event of UFC Atlantic City in March. Jasudavicius said she already had her initial booking with Viviane Araujo at the time of that fight, so she knows she watched Blanchfield’s losing performance, she just doesn’t have a strong memory of it.
“I remember watching the fight, but when I’ve got a fight booked, I kind of don’t pay attention to anything else,” Jasudavicius said. “Now that I’m free, out of camp, I can catch up on everything, see who I’m going to call out next.
“She’s obviously a good option. I remember her being on the radar before, so we’ll see what Mick [Maynard] has in store for me.”
Jasudavicius is currently ranked No. 14 in UFC’s flyweight rankings, and Blanchfield would be a great opportunity to get to the top five. Whether it’s Blanchfield or another ranked fighter, the Canadian veteran is ready for the phone to ring for whatever comes her way.
“I heard there’s a card coming to Canada in November, that would be awesome,” Jasudavicius said. “Literally, I didn’t take any damage — got a little black eye, a scratch — but I can turn around and I can fight again next month, or next week. So we’ll kind of see. I’ll take a couple of days and we’ll see what the team says, but I don’t know. I’m ready to jump on opportunities.”
Despite a back-and-forth war that ultimately won Fight of the Night at UFC 303, the 15-year veteran just didn’t feel like he had the performance he wanted against Cub Swanson. When it was over, the judges ultimately scored the fight as a split decision, with Fili edging out the win.
While there were some good moments for Swanson in the fight, Fili still feels he did more than enough to secure the victory, even as he wallowed in disappointment for how he performed that night.
“I’m really happy with the win,” Fili told recently The MMA Hour. “I believe I won the fight. I actually went back and watched the fight and it was less close than I think people were saying. It was less close than I even felt, and when I got done with the fight, I felt confident that I won the fight.
“I landed the cleaner shots. I dictated the pace of the fight. I controlled range even though he was closing in. I’m dealing with a crafty, tricky, awkward dangerous veteran and I’m controlling every minute of the fight. I know I did enough to win the fight, but I didn’t perform to the level that I wanted to perform at.”
Regardless of the win, Fili admits he was down in the dumps initially, but his coaches and even UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby told him he was crazy to feel bad about that fight.
Fili says he’ll always express his true emotions after a fight, and in that moment, he was really displeased with his showing against Swanson.
“I was incredibly unhappy,” Fili said. “This is the thing — a lot of people might not come out and admit this, but I can’t fake the funk. If you like me, I appreciate it, and if you don’t like me, I understand, there’s plenty of things not to like. F*ck you, but I get it. But you’re always going to get me. It’s always going to be me. I can’t fake the funk. I can’t come out there and be like, ‘I’m the f*cking man.’ The truth is if I feel like that after a fight, where I feel like I’m the best ‘45er in the world — because I do believe that — if I feel that way after the fight, I’ll say it.
“But if I feel after the fight that I didn’t perform to the best of my ability, I’ll say that too. I just keep it real. I’m always going to give people the authentic version of myself. That’s how I felt. I got done with my fight and all my coaches are like, ‘What the f*ck is wrong with you?’ I’m just not happy with myself.”
It wasn’t until he returned home that Fili forced himself to watch the fight to assess his performance after letting his emotions cool off for a couple of days.
That’s when he was finally able to gain a new perspective on the fight.
“I was f*cking dreading watching,” Fili said. “I didn’t want to watch it. My girlfriend Melissa was like, ‘Put the fight on,’ and I was like, ‘I would really rather sit here and watch Bob’s Burgers and each chips and salsa and f*cking Mochi and relax and not watch this.’
“Shout out to my girlfriend Melissa, she goes, ‘Put the f*cking fight on and watch it.’ So I put the fight on and watched it, and halfway through the second [round], I look at her and I’m like, ‘Not that bad! We did alright. Cub is f*cking hard to fight.’
Because he has such high expectations every time he completes, Fili can’t reconcile with a less than stellar night at the office, which is how he felt once UFC 303 was done.
A little bit of distance and perspective from the fight helped, but Fili still knows he’s capable of so much more.
“I wanted a dominant win,” Fili said. “I did enough to win and I think the judges got it right. But I wasn’t happy with myself after the fight. I’m my own hardest critic. I was in my head after the fight. I was really frustrated with myself. I was really disappointed. I felt a little ashamed. Just being candid, I felt ashamed. I felt I had let myself down a bit with my performance.
“Now that gone back and watched the fight twice, I’m actually pretty happy with the performance but in the moment, I was really down on myself.”
Amit Elor | Photo by Kadir Caliskan – United World Wrestling/Getty Images
The United States is sending one of its best-ever wrestling teams to Paris for the 2024 Olympics, and a 20-year-old phenom could be the biggest favorite to capture gold.
Already crowned as the youngest American to ever win a wrestling World Championship when she was only 18, Amit Elor seeks to add to her long list of accolades when she sets foot on the mat as the top-ranked athlete at 68 kg. Winning at the Olympics would make Elor the youngest woman wrestler to ever capture gold.
If she had been born one day earlier (her birthday is Jan. 1, 2004), Elor could’ve potentially represented America at the 2020 Olympics, but more time and experience now has her on the precipice of an Olympic gold medal. The weight of those expectations could crush a young athlete, but Elor has been waiting for this moment her entire life.
“I don’t know if you call it imposter syndrome, but I’ve gone and I’ve won so many big competitions, but I don’t really feel very different,” Elor told MMA Fighting. “I think some people might say that’s what contributes to an athlete being consistent and continuing to be successful. I don’t feel too different even after the titles that I have earned.
“I think that helps me stay driven towards the next goal, the next competition. I don’t think I can feel too different after a competition. Not yet at least. We’ll see how the Olympics go.”
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by FloWrestling (@flowrestling)
Just because she’s favored to win doesn’t mean Elor is taking anything for granted headed into her first Olympic match, which takes place Monday.
Wrestling can be a completely unpredictable sport, and one wrong move could mean the difference between a pin or being pinned. Elor understands that her status as a two-time World Champion puts a big target on her back, which is why she’s making sure there are no shortcuts taken in preparation for any Olympic matches.
“Those two World Championships have really helped me,” Elor said. “I have a lot more experience and I’m able to handle the pressure better, and I’m used to being on that world stage. But however, the Olympics is once every four years and there is a lot of pressure with that. But I tell myself I can’t be so focused on the fact that it’s once every four years because if I get so focused on the stress of the situation, I might not be able to perform in the first place.
“I tell myself, why stress over [something when] I can’t change the situation? I just have to go out there and do my very best. I think that helps me clear out some of the pressure. You do see a lot of upsets at the Olympics. You have previous world champions go in and they don’t even medal. It’s different. I think everyone has a different mentality going into the Olympics, even if it’s the same brackets, the same wrestlers, but there’s something different about it because of that pressure.”
Wrestling at 68 kg. in 2024 puts Elor in elite company when it comes to the U.S. team as she takes over the weight class once ruled by Tamyra Mensah-Stock, who claimed the gold medal at the 2020 Olympics. Mensah-Stock opted to sign with WWE to pursue a career in professional wrestling after the Olympics, which opened the door for Elor to take over after winning the World Championships at 72 kg.
Elor hasn’t skipped a beat in her new weight class, and she takes her role seriously as she seeks to carry on the legacy that Mensah-Stock left behind.
“I feel like I have a huge responsibility being in this weight class,” Elor said. “To carry over the role and the power that Tamyra had for all of us. She has been, just like Helen [Maroulis], a huge role model for me.
“So it’s crazy to be in her spot. It feels like it’s a huge responsibility to go out there and represent at that weight for her.”
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Amit Elor (@amitelor1)
While she’s favored to win, Elor is still the youngest member of the American wrestling team — joined by fellow 20-year-old Kennedy Blades, who is four months older — but she has plenty of people looking out for her.
She counts one-time UFC title challenger and Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann as her head coach, and there’s plenty of experienced medal winners surrounding Elor on the team. That means there’s been no shortage of wisdom being shared with Elor as she embarks on her mission for gold.
“I say throughout the past two years, I received butt-loads of advice,” Elor said with a laugh. “I’ve been on World teams with Helen, with Tamyra before she moved to WWE, and Adeline Gray. Just being on the same teams with them, traveling with them, being around them for weeks and weeks, I’ve received a lot of advice.
“Not just that, but observing them from the side and seeing how they carry themselves and how they train and what they did to prepare. Just witnessing that has helped me, and I’ve learned a lot from that.”
If there’s a downside to her immense success in wrestling at such a young age, it’s that Elor rarely gets the chance to just be a regular 20-year-old.
While most people her age are a year or two into college, going to parties and just enjoying their youth, Elor sacrificed all of that for the chance at setting records that may never be broken. There are times when Elor wishes she could just act her age, but then she remembers why she started wrestling in the first place.
“There’s times that I go to practice and I ask myself, why am I doing this?” Elor said. “Because there’s just so many other things that I wish I had time to do. But at the same time, I tell myself nothing is more worth it than embracing the grind and the preparation for this.
“I know that feeling after a big competition when you really had to dig down deep to get through everything, the preparation, the competition itself, and you just feel so proud of yourself, and you’re like, ‘I’m so happy I did that. I’m so glad I didn’t give up and I pushed through.’”
Elor kicks off her Olympics run on Monday when she faces No. 1 ranked Buse Cavusoglu Tosun from Turkey, who she pinned in just 44 seconds when they met in the quarterfinals of the World Championships in 2022. Watch that match below:
Elor drew the number #1 seed in the 68kg Olympic bracket, who she pinned at the 2022 World championships.
You can watch the entire match in the video below. pic.twitter.com/ealdFdC3xf
A Muay Thai fighter in Japan gets bonus points for creativity after unleashing a rare rolling thunder kick to earn a knockout this past weekend.
Taimu Hisai delivered the spectacular finish in his fight against Chuut Seryvanthong, which capped off the Knock Out 2024 Vol. 3 card.
Taimu Hisai with a knockout of the year holy shit #KO2024_03 pic.twitter.com/oVM9tt3Et9
— Benjamin (@AJKFenjoyer) August 4, 2024
The finish came during a first-round exchange where Seryvanthong pressed forward, looking to close the distance, and Hisai reacted with the rolling thunder kick, which landed flush and sent his opponent crashing to the canvas in a heap.
The unbelievable kick flattened Seryvanthong and immediately ended the fight, prompting Hisai to jump onto the ropes and celebrate his handiwork.
The rolling thunder kick pops up rarely in fights, such as when Justin Gaethje threw the maneuver against Dustin Poirier in the UFC, but that didn’t end in a knockout.
This time around, Hisai likely capped off whatever career highlight reel he’s putting together with the stunning knockout in spectacular fashion.
Khabib Nurmagomedov had nothing but kind words to share about former rival Tony Ferguson after watching him compete for possibly the final time in the UFC.
At UFC Abu Dhabi on Saturday, Ferguson suffered an eighth straight loss after falling to Michael Chiesa by submission in the first round, almost certainly spelling the end of his run with the promotion. Afterward, Ferguson hinted at retirement, but he ultimately only left one glove in the cage, noting that he’s holding onto the other “just in case.”
If that ends up being Ferguson’s final UFC appearance, Nurmagomedov offered him some encouragement that while fighting may be over, he still has plenty of time left ahead of him to accomplish so much more.
“It’s not a surprise for me because he’s 40 years old,” Nurmagomedov said of Ferguson after his fight. “I just want to wish him all the best. He’s truly one of the best who ever was doing it in the UFC. I just want to wish him all the best.
“His life is just beginning, because he’s just 40 years old and he just finished his MMA career. Now it’s going to be a different life, a much better life.”
️: “It’s not a surprise for me, I want to wish him all of the best!”
Khabib Nurmagomedov reacts to THAT Tony Ferguson interview at #UFCAbuDhabi @VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/AmYj06zvnS
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) August 3, 2024
Prior to Nurmagomedov’s retirement, many believed that Ferguson could have been the ex-champ’s greatest challenge after they were matched up several times over the years.
Sadly, a multitude of circumstances prevented them from ever actually fighting, and their rivalry likely stands as the greatest ‘what if’ on both men’s résumés.
While it was disappointing that they never fought, Nurmagomedov recognized Ferguson’s talent, but unfortunately that matchup just wasn’t meant to be.
“Of course, in my prime and his prime, it’s supposed to be a very interesting fight,” Nurmagomedov said. “But what can I do? He had a couple of injuries, I had a couple of injuries. It is what it is.
“Sometimes we have plans, but God has his plan and we cannot control this.”
With the 2024 Olympics already under way, wrestling prepares to take center stage beginning on Aug. 5, with the final gold medal matches wrapping up on Aug. 11.
During that six-day span, athletes from freestyle and Greco-Roman disciplines compete across 18 divisions for both men and women. There are six total divisions for the men in freestyle wrestling and six divisions in freestyle for women, with the final six divisions coming in men’s Greco-Roman wrestling.
All of the matches are set to stream on Peacock as well as NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, NBC app and the NBC Olympics app, with the medal rounds airing on USA Network.
Here are the weight classes for each discipline competing at the 2024 Olympics
Men’s Greco-Roman: 60kg, 67kg, 77kg, 87kg, 97kg, 130 kg
The team representing the United States in 2024 may be among the best ever sent to the Olympics. Its hope is to bring home even more medals in 2024 after setting a record with nine total medals at the 2020 Games, which led all nations.
Here’s the full schedule for wrestling at the 2024 Olympics. When streaming the events, Peacock often has the broadcasts listed by Mat A, Mat B, Mat C, etc.
Monday, Aug. 5
9 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET: Greco-Roman 60kg qualification round (Mat A)
9 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET: Women’s Freestyle 68kg qualification round (Mat B)
9 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET: Greco-Roman 130kg qualification round (Mat C)
3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET: Women’s Freestyle 68kgs, Greco Roman 130kgs and 68kgs semifinals
Tuesday, Aug. 6
5 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. ET: Greco-Roman 77kg qualification round (Mat A)
5 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. ET: Women’s Freestyle 50kg qualification round (Mat B)
5 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. ET: Greco-Roman 97kgs qualification round (Mat C)
12:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. ET: Greco-Roman 77kg and 97kg semifinals, Women’s Freestyle 50kg semifinals, followed by Greco-Roman 130 kg and 60kg finals, Women’s Freestyle 68kg finals
Wednesday, Aug. 7
5 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. ET: Greco-Roman 67kg qualification round (Mat A)
5 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. ET: Women’s Freestyle 53kg qualification round (Mat B)
5 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. ET: Greco-Roman 87kg qualification round (Mat C)
12:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. ET: Greco-Roman 67kg and 87kg semifinals, Women’s Freestyle 53kg semifinals, followed by Greco-Roman 77kg and 97kg finals, Women’s Freestyle 50kg finals
Thursday, Aug. 8
5 a.m to 7:30 a.m. ET: Men’s Freestyle 57kg qualification round (Mat A)
5 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. ET: Women’s Freestyle 57kg qualification round (Mat B)
5 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. ET: Men’s Freestyle 86kgs qualification round (Mat C)
12:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. ET: Men’s Freestyle 57kg and 86kg semifinals, Women’s Freestyle 57kg semifinals, followed by Greco-Roman 67kg and 87kg finals, Women’s Freestyle 53kg finals
Friday, Aug. 9
5 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. ET: Men’s Freestyle 74kg qualification round (Mat A)
5 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. ET: Women’s Freestyle 62kg qualification round (Mat B)
5 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. ET: Men’s Freestyle 125kg qualification round (Mat C)
12:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. ET: Men’s Freestyle 74kg and 125kg semifinals, Women’s Freestyle 62kg semifinals, followed by Men’s Freestyle 57kg and 86kg finals, Women’s Freestyle 57kg finals
Umar Nurmagomedov may have earned the biggest win of his career over Cory Sandhagen at UFC Abu Dhabi, but that doesn’t mean he’s satisfied with his performance.
Despite winning at least four rounds on every scorecard, the undefeated bantamweight was still critical about some mistakes he made during the fight. In particular, Nurmagomedov pointed to Sandhagen’s ability to shut down his wrestling and grappling after finishing just five of 13 takedown attempts. While getting the victory was obviously most important, Nurmagomedov still expected better of himself.
“I’m not happy,” Nurmagomedov said at the UFC Abu Dhabi post-fight press conference. “It was a good performance on the striking, but if you’re talking about grappling and how I controlled him, it was not good.
“Because I [expected I would do that], I thought I would maul him on the ground, but he’s tough, he’s good. Cory’s too good and he has hard kicks. He’s a tough man. I think he has more experience than me in the UFC cage, but I won. But I’m happy, I won.”
While Nurmagomedov may not have found as much success with his grappling as he’s become accustomed to, he still kept Sandhagen guessing across all five rounds, which was still a weapon even if the takedowns weren’t happening.
The bantamweight fight played out in back-and-forth fashion, particularly through the first three rounds, but it was during those final 10 minutes that Nurmagomedov really took over.
It turns out that happened at least partially thanks to the advice Nurmagomedov received from his cousin and head coach Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was working his corner for the fight.
“After the third round, Khabib cornered me and he [said], ‘Now is the beginning of [the championship] rounds and you have to be strong, don’t show weakness,’” Nurmagomedov said. “[Khabib said,] ‘You have to be strong. Go ahead and take this victory, press him, push him, don’t lose any second.’”
Nurmagomedov took that advice to heart as he pressed the pace on Sandhagen and imposed his will during those final two rounds.
As much as the entire fight didn’t leave him feeling the best, the 28-year-old bantamweight contender can’t deny that his conditioning was a real asset in his first UFC main event.
“It’s a little bit difficult but I didn’t [get] tired how he said [I would],” Nurmagomedov said. “You remember how Cory said I will get tired, he will choke me, and at the end of the rounds, nothing happening. I think I was more fresh than him.”
With the win over Sandhagen, Nurmagomedov almost certainly cements himself as the No. 1 contender in the bantamweight division as the title goes up for grabs at UFC 306 when reigning champion Sean O’Malley takes on Merab Dvalishvili in the main event.
In the past, Nurmagomedov stated that he sees the matchup as an even fight, and he’s not changing his opinion now, especially knowing he really just wants the winner.
“I’m planning on going to the fight, but I don’t want to name one guy or the other guy because I don’t want the other guy to think I’m trying to avoid fighting him,” Nurmagomedov said. “So of course, I’d be very happy to fight both of them. The goal is to fight the winner.”
While Nurmagomedov anticipates a title shot for his next fight, he’s not quite as certain when asked about possibly making a quick turnaround to serve as the backup for O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili on Sept. 14.
To add to that, he highly doubts Dvalishvili would just abandon his title shot in a worst-case scenario if O’Malley is unable to compete at UFC 306.
“It’s only a month away so it really depends on my health,” Nurmagomedov said. “Out of my 17 fights, I’ve never gotten as much damage as I got during this fight. It’s really kind of soon but it depends on the health. I do not think any of them are going to fall out.
“This is a fight that Merab’s been waiting for, for a really long time, so even if it does happen that O’Malley pulls out, I think Merab is just going to wait for his title shot and wait for O’Malley to get better and fight him.”
The YouTuber-turned-professional wrestler (and sometimes boxer) did the job at the 2024 edition of WWE’s SummerSlam event in Cleveland on Saturday, losing his United States Championship to WWE Superstar LA Knight in front of 55,000 screaming fans.
Watch how Machine Gun Kelly tried to help Paul and Paul’s reaction below.
MGK gives Logan Paul the knuckles. #SummerSlam pic.twitter.com/IezaBwDXib
— Diego Loveridge (@diego_loveridge) August 4, 2024
LOGAN PAUL’S REIGN OF TERROR HAS ENDED
AND NEW US CHAMPION LA KNIGHT #SummerSlam pic.twitter.com/fu7lscW2ZP
The predetermined result saw Knight overcome the odds, as Paul was accompanied to the ring by rapper Machine Gun Kelly. The beloved Cleveland native actually got involved in the contest, cracking Knight with a pair of brass knuckles, but he couldn’t save Paul from succumbing to Knight’s finisher, “BFT” (Blunt Force Trauma).
This is the first title in the WWE for Knight, a charismatic fan favorite who was involved in a feud with then-Undisputed Champion Roman Reigns for much of 2023, though his character was never booked to defeat Reigns.
Paul won the U.S. title after going over Rey Mysterio at WWE Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in April 2023. He successfully defended it twice, at this past January’s Royal Rumble and in a triple threat match at WrestleMania 40.
See more highlights from the match below, including Paul taking a scary top-rope bump and showing off his high-flying skills.
ESTE SUPERPLEX DE LA KNIGHT HOLY SHIIIIIT #SUMMERSLAM pic.twitter.com/lai712EEgw
— LuigiWrestling (@LuigiWrestling) August 4, 2024
#SummerSlam pic.twitter.com/EaB0rwfwWA
— WWE (@WWE) August 4, 2024
#USChampion @LoganPaul has arrived at #SummerSlam with @machinegunkelly! pic.twitter.com/3rmfF4v50z
Umar Nurmagomedov | Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Umar Nurmagomedov delivered the best performance of his career, taking a unanimous decision over Cory Sandhagen at UFC Abu Dhabi to stake his claim for a bantamweight title shot.
One of the most highly-touted prospects in all of MMA, Nurmagomedov delivered on all his promise Saturday evening, out-striking and out-grappling Sandhagen over five rounds to win the biggest fight of his career. Now the question is will Nurmagomedov get his opportunity to fight for bantamweight gold against the winner of the upcoming Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili fight?
The MMA Fighting team answers that questions plus more as they break down Nurmagomedov’s big win and the rest of the Saturday’s card, including Deiveson Figueiredo continuing to climb the bantamweight ranks, Shara Magomedov authoring the best performance of his career, Tony Ferguson finally (maybe) calling it quits, and Mackenzie Dern getting back on the winning track.
Watch the UFC Abu Dhabi post-fight show above, or an audio-only version of the show can also be streamed below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your pods.
With a massive gash over her left eye, Britain Hart refused to back down, instead dishing out a whole lot of punishment to defend her strawweight title in the BKFC 63 main event.
Despite blood flowing down her face and a valiant effort from challenger Taylor Starling, it was Hart who connected with the better punches and kept the pressure on for all five rounds. While Starling had her moments, Hart connected with the harder punches and the better impact to secure the decision, with the judges scoring the fight 48-47, 49-46, and 48-47 as she retains her belt.
“I feel f*cking badass,” Hart said after her win. “I told you, I’m the baddest female to do it. I’m here to show no matter what, we can still smile and look good doing it.”
Britain Hart retains her title in the #BKFC63 main event with a hell of a cut over her eye pic.twitter.com/SvBt1xhhQe
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) August 4, 2024
There was no feeling out process in this title fight, as Starling charged forward to start the contest and Hart met her with a series of vicious counter-punches. Hart seemingly had complete disregard for Starling’s power, as she just marched forward in every exchange and unloaded flurries of punches in succession.
Starling swung wild, but Hart connected with much cleaner punches, including a combination that rattled the challenger just before the end of the opening round. Even with a strong start, Hart still went to her corner with a cut over her left eye.
Hart continued to apply forward pressure as Starling circled away to avoid the biggest punches coming from the strawweight champion. When Starling finally tagged Hart with a big right hand, she ate one of her own and seemed like she got the worst of it.
As the cut on her eye really began dripping blood and Starling started to connect with a good jab, Hart grew even more determined to draw Starling into a brawl. With seconds ticking away in the third round, Hart charged ahead with a barrage of punches and several slipped through Starling’s defense as she backed up against the ropes.
While the stats showed Starling landing more punches, she still appeared to be absorbing more punishment. That being said, Starling kept coming at Hart and connected with some of her best shots in the fourth round as the champion slightly slowed down.
Even when she was getting the worse of the exchanges, Hart’s ability to make the most of the closing seconds of the rounds allowed her to inflict a lot of damage on Starling and her face showed it. That really was the story of the fight, with Starling staying ahead early and then Hart delivering the bigger shots late.
The victory serves as Hart’s third title defense, but there’s no rest for the weary with Tai Emery fresh off a vicious knockout win as the next contender in line.
“I’m here,” Hart said when asked about Emery. “I’ve been here. I’ve fought them all from UFC, pretend faces, ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ Australian b*tches, so bring it all on.”
File under: Mmafighting.com | Leave a comment »