UFC Moncton’s prelims were kicked off by a women’s bantamweight fight between Sarah Moras and Talita Bernardo.
UFC Moncton’s Fox Sports prelims kicked off with a fight that was possibly a loser leaves town match in the women’s bantamweight division. Sarah Moras is 2-2 in the UFC, however, she lost last time out to Lucie Pudilová in February. Talita Bernardo, on the other hand, is 0-2 in the UFC and has lost to ranked fighters Irene Aldana and Marion Reneau in her only fights in the promotion. A win at Moncton was likely needed for Bernardo to stay in the UFC.
The first round saw a bit of back and forth on the feet. Moras stuffed a takedown and as soon as it seemed Moras was going to become more comfortable, Bernardo landed a nice head kick that appeared to rock Moras. The fight then went to the ground where Moras looked for a triangle but couldn’t get anything going off her back. Bernardo then moved into side control and then on top. She looked for a guillotine as round one was ending but couldn’t get it as time ran out.
Bernardo spent a lot of time looking for the right hand on Moras, who didn’t utilize much head movement in order to move away from it. Bernardo also landed some more head kicks prior to getting a trip takedown with about two minutes left in the round. She moved into mount and landed some ground and pound, as well as looking for an arm triangle. However, she couldn’t get the finish as the action moved to a third round.
Sarah Moras’ corner told her in between rounds to get more aggressive, and so she did. Moras heeded the advice by looking for a takedown and getting it inside the first ten seconds of the round. However, Bernardo then reversed position and landed on top, Moras tried to move from the bottom and tried many different angles and eventually pushed Bernardo off. Bernardo then looked for a takedown but got reversed and Moras wass on top. Bernardo turned and Moras took her back looking for the rear naked choke! Bernardo moved and Moras couldn’t secure it, ending up on the bottom. The two then get back to their feet where time soon ran out.
Tons of heart shown by Moras, especially in the third. But alas, the decision should go to Bernardo.
Talita Bernardo def. Sarah Moras by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28 x2)
