U.S. amateur boxing champ Danyelle Wolf, who won her way into the UFC on Dana White’s Contender Series a couple of years back, finally made her promotional debut Saturday at UFC 279.
Wolf was paired up with Norma Dumont in a rare women’s featherweight fight. Whether Wolf had developed enough of a ground game and takedown defense to find success against a fighter who had faced the likes of Megan Anderson, Felicia Spencer, and Aspen Ladd among others was the question heading in.
Yet while many had focused on the ground game, few expected Dumont to shine in the stand-up battles between the two.
A large part of the first round was a feeling-out process between both fighters. Dumont landed a few good leg kicks and Wolf was completely fine sticking with her jab. It was Dumont that landed the first big punch, that being a right hand that shook Wolf a bit. Wolf never landed anything significant and Dumont did a fine job countering Wolf as she came forward. Dumont ended the round with one more nice right hand.
In the second round, Dumont landed a few outside leg kicks to start the frame. Wolf never could find her range failing to catch her opponent. Dumont did take the boxer down but made a questionable decision and let Wolf stand up. It wasn’t a bad move though as she dropped Wolf with a big right hand off an exchange. Once again, she let Wolf off the hook but dropped Wolf one more time at the end of the round.
Wolf came out with some urgency in the final round but rushed into a takedown from Dumont. Dumont was able to land some ground and pound before moving to side control. From there she transitioned into the mount. Dumont was busy with ground and pound overwhelming Wolf. The round ended with Dumont in the mount smashing Wolf with elbows. Zero question as to the winner, with the biggest surprise being Dumont having more success on the feet than a high-level boxer.
Official Result: Norma Dumont def. Danyelle Wolf by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
