Former Invicta FC atomweight champ Jinh Yu Frey found herself in must-win territory against Victoria Dudakova at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi.
The pair’s preliminary card strawweight bout saw Frey entering off three-straight losses, faced with an undefeated prospect out of Russia sporting a 7-0 record to start the night.
The first clinch of the fight came inside of a minute, with Dudakova closing the distance — and Frey expertly fighting off the takedown attempt that followed. Back at range, Frey landed to the body, with Dudakova keeping her guard high. Moments later, Dudakova changed levels and charged in for another takedown attempt. Again, veteran Frey foiled the attempt, eventually pushing her opponent off and going back to work with her boxing.
While Frey appeared to have the edge in the stand-up, a wrench landed in the works when the pair clashed heads, both ducking forward at the same time. Frey appeared to take the worst of the unintentional foul, and took a bit of recovery time to clear the cobwebs.
The remainder of the round played out on the feet, with Dudakova beginning to out-land Frey. Just ahead of the bell, Dudakova struck pay dirt, knocking down Frey ahead of the horn!
Frey appeared to have recovered by the second round, with her corner urging her to initiate the clinch moving forward, believing she was strong there. Heeding that advice, Frey managed to land a takedown early, with Dudakova using butterfly hooks to keep her opponent from passing. Frey eventually did make it to half-guard, and later side control, which gave her the space required to drop a few elbows.
Dudakova would later regain full guard, and threaten with upkicks at one point. She’d eventually scramble back up, but took a few shots from Frey in the process.
The third round saw some back-and-forth standup, with Frey holding her own. Dudakova had the edge in the striking exchanges however, with her jab key. She went to the body, mixing things up, which eventually led to Frey clinching up and fighting for a takedown that would not come. She earned some control time, but whether it would be enough to win a round she badly needed was a question — with the scorecards answering it in the negative, all three judges having scored the fight 29-28 for Victoria Dudakova.
Official Result: Victoria Dudakova def. Jinh Yu Frey by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
