Liana Jojua secured her first victory in the UFC with a quick armbar finish of Diana Belbita on the UFC Fight Island 1 early prelims.
Women’s flyweight action was second on the UFC Fight Island 1 preliminary card and saw Georgia’s Liana Jojua facing Romanian Diana Belbita, with both fighters looking to bounce back from losses in their Octagon debuts.
Jojua had fallen to Sarah Moras at UFC 242 last September, while Belbita had lost to Molly McCann, who will also be fighting tonight, last October. Both headed into the bout looking to earn their first victory in the Octagon, and gain momentum in a wide-open flyweight division.
Belbita opened up with a nice combination before getting the fight into the clinch in the opening seconds. Jojua did a good job of trying to reverse position on the cage, but Belbita still got the takedown, ended up in full guard and Jojua quickly went for the armbar. Jojua had it in deep and Belbita did a good job of scrambling but Jojua wasn’t letting it go at all. Belbita scrambled again and Jojua got the submission in even deeper and got the tap! What a great submission win by Liana Jojua.
HOW BOUT JOJUA!? 🇬🇪 @LianaJojua records her 5️⃣th career armbar vs Belbita.
📺 Action continues on @ESPN. #InAbuDhabi @VisitAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/LdHpe8wzeD
— UFC (@ufc) July 15, 2020
While Jojua was not able to speak fluent English as a fighter from Georgia (the country), she expressed that the armbar is a submission she is confident in. One look at her record would reveal that, as five of her eight career victories have come by armbar.
Liana Jojua def. Diana Belbita via Submission (Armbar) in Round 1 (2:23)
