Ariane Lipski was badly in need of a win ahead of UFC Sao Paulo, and she got just that against Isabella de Padua — but it was far from easy.
Isabella de Padua stepped up on short notice at UFC Sao Paulo Saturday to face Ariane Lipski. At the risk of making it sound like a setup to a bad joke, how short notice was it? Really short. With just over 24 hours to prepare for the fight, Padua missed weight, weighing in at 130.5lbs for the flyweight bout. Whether that would give her an edge over former KSW champ Lipski remained to be seen.
Credit to de Padua, however, for stepping in and saving the bout. It didn’t start out well for her, however.
Lipski and her new opponent went right to work, trading, but it was ‘The Violence Queen’ living up to her name, connecting and putting de Padua down with a punch early. Lipski then moved into guard, looking to do some damage while de Padua was still hurt. While she might have been just as well off letting her opponent back up, Lipski managed to land a few elbows while de Padua was cramped up along the fence.
Lipski, however, faced with an active ground game from de Padua, finally backed off, and went back to trading, only for de Padua to take her down! Through half a round, this pairing was an extremely entertaining one, and now it was de Padua’s turn to drop some elbows from the top. Lipski would work her way back to the fence, but ate a number of strikes in the process.
The second round had another early exchange, with Lipski landing a combo and de Padua changing levels for a takedown. That backfired, and instead Lipski got on top. Lipski was able to work from top position for quite a while, until an illegal upkick connected solidly on Lipski’s face, snapping her head back. The foul led to the deduction of a point; as they got back underway, Lipski rattled off some ground n’ pound, mixing in short shots to the body as de Padua utilized a closed guard. In the dying seconds of the round, de Padua trapped Lipski in a tight reverse triangle. Lipski was in a bad spot, but was saved by the bell. With the point deduction, it likely remained her round. There’ll be plenty of talk after the fight about a phantom tap, as Lipski’s hands were active throughout and may have been grabbing at anything in reach, but either way the ref never called it.
The third and final frame opened with a de Padua takedown. Lipski grabbed onto her opponent’s leg, rolling for a kneebar. That didn’t work out, and Isabella de Padua re-secured her top position. Lipski would eventually sneak out the back and get on top herself, with an exhausted de Padua trying for a guillotine she probably couldn’t have finished anyway. Lipski finished the round on top, and would take home the decision win.
Official Result: Ariane Lipski def. Isabella de Padua by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 29-27)
