London – Appearing in her natural weight class of 115lbs for the first time at UFC London, after taking her debut up a division, was Elise Reed. Paired up with Cory McKenna, Reed was entering enemy territory in her sophomore outing in the promotion.
McKenna, from nearby Wales, would have the fans behind her no doubt. But she was also coming off an extended layoff, and was also in just her second UFC bout.
The ladies were set to follow a spectacular first fight of the night that featured a 58 second finish.
The first round brought fireworks from both fighters. Reed went to work with a lot of heavy right hands that landed clean on McKenna. It took a couple minutes but McKenna was able to get Reed’s timing down and was able to avoid some of the right hands. Near 2 minutes left McKenna was able to grab ahold of Reed and a clinch battle ensued before Reed was taken down. McKenna landed some damaging shots before Reed was able to stand and the two traded as the round ended.
The second round was more of Elise Reed landing on McKenna. Right hands and left hooks rained and landed on McKenna causing her to bleed from the mouth and show some damage to her left eye. McKenna was unfazed however as she continued to try and get inside and make it a clinch fight. Reed scored much more in this round with the power right hands and left hooks that McKenna had no answer for. McKenna was able to secure a takedown as the round ended.
The third round was more of Reed landing on McKenna still with Cory trying to find her way inside for a takedown. With over 3 minutes left she got Reed down and went to work landing shots from top and forcing Reed to grapple with her. Short shots from both ladies land, but nothing significant. With a little over a minute left Reed was able to get back to her feet and land but the fight ends with McKenna clinching Reed on the fence.
Official Result: Elise Reed def. Cory McKenna via Split Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
