Gillian Robertson had expected to face Talia Santos in Saskatoon on Saturday night. Instead, the coronavirus saw her fight shifted to UFC on ESPN 11 in Las Vegas, and with that came a new opponent: Cortney Casey.
Canada’s Robertson was making her seventh trip to the octagon against “Cast Iron,” with all those bouts coming in the flyweight division. Casey, meanwhile, was a new arrival to the weight class, up from strawweight. She’d made an impressive debut at UFC Florida in May, defeating Mara Romero Borella.
Round one started with the fighters touching gloves and feeling each other out. Cortney then landed a few shots before Gillain took the fight to the ground.
Top pressure was looking very dominate from Gillian. She looked for full mount as Cortney kept struggling.
Gillian continued to win in the scrambles on the ground, getting a better position. Cortney was defending very well in half-guard, trying to make her way to her feet, but Gillian’s positional control on the ground might have given her the round in the judges’ eyes.
Cortney came out swinging in the second round, connecting with combos, but once again Gillian Robertson took the fight to the ground. Casey was pinned up against the cage and made an effort to try to get an arm-bar, but Robertson quickly stuffed the attempt. Round two looked similar to Round one with Gillian controlling the fight on the ground. In the last 20 seconds, she landed some solid strikes to finish the round strong.
In the third round, Cortney once again looked to attempt an armbar, and after Gillian managed to escape both women scrambled on the ground. With 25 seconds left in the third, Gillian snuck in a rear-naked choke to get the victory.
Ground game on point! 🤼♀️@Savage_UFC puts the finishing touch on a dominant performance.
📺 #UFCVegas3 continues on @ESPN and E+. pic.twitter.com/PK9UIw0AaJ
— UFC (@ufc) June 20, 2020
Still just twenty-five years old, Robertson now has five wins in the UFC flyweight division, all finishes. She’s now tied for first in terms of victories at 125lbs — with champion Valentina Shevchenko.
Official Result: Gillian Robertson def. Cortney Casey by Submission (rear-naked choke), Round 3, 4:32
