Montana De La Rosa improved her win streak to four following her main card battle with Nadia Kassem at UFC 234.
Women’s flyweights were in action at UFC 234 in Melbourne on Saturday night. Part of the PPV main card, which took a hefty blow with the loss of middleweight champ Robert Whittaker due to a herniated disc, Montana Del La Rosa took on the returning Nadia Kassem. Kassem had not fought since 2017, and had at least one bout scrapped due to injury, making ring rust a concern.
Despite the time away, Kassem was a perfect 5-0 entering the fight. De La Rosa, meanwhile, had cracked the top fifteen of the rankings, sitting at 14th.
Who would continue their upward momentum in the division? Montana De La Rosa got a combination off early, landing a right hand and backing Kassem up. That led to De La Rosa dumping her opponent on her back, and working from the top in guard. Kassem worked some elbows from the bottom, but De La Rosa spent nearly the full round on top, with Kassem unable to get to the wall to escape. De La Rosa finally moved to side control in the final minute, then north-south. One quick arm-bar attempt never really got going as the round came to a close.
Round two saw De La Rosa immediately put Nadia Kassem on her back. This time, she was much quicker moving to side control. Knee on belly followed, then mount. De La Rosa dropped a few elbows, then moved to an arm-bar, which Kassem somehow survived — only to find herself caught in a triangle. While that wouldn’t take, and Kassem showed impressive flexibility, she’d eventually submit, both verbally and with a tap, to an arm-bar. De La Rosa had her fourth straight win, with three under the UFC banner.
Montana De La Rosa def. Nadia Kassem by submission (arm-bar), Round 2, 2:37
