There was not much effective offense to be seen in Liz Carmouche’s victory over Lucie Pudilova at UFC Prague.
Liz Carmouche comes into UFC Prague as the sixth-ranked flyweight in the world. After being a part of the first bantamweight title fight in UFC history, Carmouche went 3-2, winning her last two fights before moving down to flyweight. Carmouche fell to Alexis Davis in her debut at 125, then defeated dominant Invicta FC champion Jennifer Maia in the latter’s promotional debut.
Lucie Pudilova will be fighting in her home country of the Czech Republic at UFC Prague. This will also be her flyweight debut in the UFC after going 2-2 at bantamweight in the promotion. She fell to Lina Lansberg in her promotional debut in a brawl, then defeated Ji Yeon Kim and Sarah Moras before falling to Irene Aldana in the UFC 228 Fight of the Night.
With the crowd behind her, Lucie Pudilova pressured Liz Carmouche immediately with kicks. Carmouche responded with a clinch and pushed Pudilova against the cage. After a good amount of work, Carmouche was able to drag Pudilova down and hold her against the cage in a seated position. Pudilova worked on a choke temporarily but could not get it, and the round ended with Carmouche in control.
Pudilova took control of the Octagon to start the second round, but could not establish much aside from flared kicks. The kick-heavy offense was fairly ineffective, as Carmouche patiently waited to take Pudilova down with 90 seconds left in the round. Carmouche quickly gained mount, but Pudilova used the fence to spin into guard in top position. Pudilova stood up and landed some ground-and-pound to cap off the round.
Pudilova again committed to kicks to start the third round, but Carmouche was just out of range. Carmouche was simply resistant to committing to any offense until there were two minutes left in the round, when Carmouche caught a front kick and took Pudilova down into side control. As Pudilova tried to escape, she was caught in a leg lock attempt, but positioned herself to elbow Carmouche in the leg until she let go. Pudilova got into top position and landed ground-and-pound after breaking free of an armbar to finish the contest.
Not much was said in the post-fight interview, as the Czech crowd filled the arena with boos after Carmouche was announced the winner.
Liz Carmouche def. Lucie Pudilova by Unanimous Decision (29-28 x2, 30-27)
