The lone fighter to miss weight for UFC Kansas City was up first on Saturday, as Joselyne Edwards took on Lucie Pudilova.
Edwards had come in just half a pound shy of the bantamweight limit for the fight, which saw her coming in on a two-fight win streak.
Pudilova herself had won three straight, including her UFC return against Wu Yanan at UFC 278 last year. The Czech fighter had gone 2-5 with the promotion from 2017 to 2020, but was 6-1 since.
An active start to Edwards vs. Pudilova found Panama City’s Edwards getting the better an early exchange. Pudilova then shot for a takedown, which was stuffed; Edwards connected with a knee to the body in the clinch. After creating some space, Pudilova then landed the desired takedown — moving into half-guard. She couldn’t do much with it; later in the round, she had the chance to jump on Edward’s back along the fence. But Edwards scrambled out, and got her hands going again. Round one saw Edwards doing more damage, while Pudilova had the edge on the ground.
Round two started with another Pudilova takedown being stuffed, following which Edwards fired a couple of low kicks, then mixed things up and went to the body. Pudilova would land a takedown just under two minutes in, and eventually worked to side control. The ref admonished the Czech bantamweight for not being active enough, despite improving her position.
Edwards would give up her back as Pudilova passed to mount. From there, Pudilova worked to flatten her opponent out, but she was too high up the back to catch Edwards in a choke. Edwards rolled, however, returning to her back, opening the door for Pudilova to land some smashing elbows, which is how the round ended.
The third and final frame opened with a bit of a slower pace initially. Eventually Pudilova put Edwards on the fence, firing knees to the thigh. Edwards would reverse, only for Pudilova to turn them back around again. Pudilova landed off the break.
The clock was now a factor for Edwards. But just as she appeared to get going off an exchange of kicks, Pudilova clinched up. Ultimately, Edwards just couldn’t find the space necessary to get her striking going, and it went to the judges — who served up the first surprise of the night. To a chorus of boos, Joselyne Edwards was announced the winner of a split decision, a fairly questionable result given Edwards’ inability to get her striking going.
Pudilova leaves the octagon after losing the split decision to Edwards. #UFCKansasCity pic.twitter.com/i7Vm0dYbKb
— Cageside Press (@Cagesidepress) April 15, 2023
Official Result: Joselyne Edwards def. Lucie Pudilova by unanimous decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
