Two talented female bantamweights squared off last night (July 27, 2013) as former title challenger Liz Carmouche battled newcomer Jessica Andrade in the opening bout of the UFC on Fox 8 main card in Seattle, Washington.
Andrade was game, even threatening to finish the fight in the end of the first round, but Carmouche was simply too powerful for her when it was all said and done.
Despite Andrade's submission-based skill-set, Carmouche showed no hesitancy to quickly close the distance and take her down in the beginning of the opening round.
Andrade thought about some submissions off her back, but was forced into a defensive mindset as Carmouche dropped some big strikes. She was instead forced to turtle and cage-walk back to her feet, although that didn't get her out of Carmouche's cliutches in the clinch, she she was greeted with some elbows and knees on the inside.
Again, Carmouche took her down into half guard, but Andrade was able to force another scramble and this time, she attacked the American with a drop guard guillotine choke, her most dangerous weapon. Carmouche was able to survive the choke, however, and likely forced Andrade to wear out her arms for well over a minute in the hold.
In the second round, Carmouche again quickly took Andrade down and this time she worked to pass Andrade's guard and was able to do so with a "punch to pass" strategy. Carmouche distracted Andrade with strikes and then secured the mount position, posturing up and dropping big shots.
Andrade tried to defend herself by repeatedly rotating but Carmouche stayed either in full mount or back mount and kept attacking with punches and elbows, even a brief choke attempt. After three minutes in full mount, referee Herb Dean put a stop to it. He took his time finishing the fight because Andrade tried to work out every time she was warned to fight back.
For Jessica Andrade, she put forth a spirited effort, but once Carmouche was able to secure a dominant position, she had nowhere to go. Her best chance at finishing the fight was when she went for the guillotine but by locking it up with an arm in, she actually made it more difficult to finish and Carmouche was able to outlast her. Still, it was a respectable performance considering she's just 21 years old. We'll see Andrade again.
Next up for the Brazilian will likely be Rosi Sexton or Julie Kedzie.
For complete UFC on Fox 8 results, including blow-by-blow, fight-by-fight coverage of the entire event as well as immediate post-fight reaction click here, here and here.