Coming off a title fight loss at UFC 289 this past June, Irene Aldana returned to action at UFC 296 in a women’s bantamweight pairing with Karol Rosa.
Rosa, coming off a July win over Yana Santos, had been trading wins and losses across her last several fights.
The opening minute of the preliminary card fight saw little action, with Aldana keeping her guard high and tight. Rosa found some success with her leg kicks, something that would continue throughout the round, and would be worth keeping an eye on. Before two minutes had passed, Aldana, showing redness on her lead leg, was nearly taken off her feet by a kick. And given Aldana’s boxing-first approach, those kicks were preventing her from getting off any offense.
Through the first half of the round, Rosa’s game plan was working to perfection. Irene Aldana began incorporating more lateral movement, while trying to change her angles on the way in and avoid those kicks. Despite that, Aldana nearly had her legs taken out from under her again with just over 90 seconds left on the clock. Not a great start for the recent title challenger, who was reacting to even slight touches to her leg as time went on. Rosa capped off the round hurting Aldana, and clipping her with a head kick.
Karol Rosa went right back to work early in round two, firing a combination capped off with a leg kick, soon adding several more. Inside and out, the leg kicks kept coming. Aldana stood pat, relying solely on her boxing, not attempting any takedowns. A right hand landed for Aldana, her best strike of the fight, and suddenly Rosa was on the defensive. When Rosa slipped off an Aldana jab, Irene opted not to try to get on top — an interesting choice, given all the damage those legs had taken. But Karol Rosa was showing damage around one eye herself. And Aldana was connecting more and more.
After a rough first round, a comeback second including a crisp uppercut late in the frame had Irene Aldana back in it.
Aldana went back to work with her uppercut early in round three, while Rosa pressed forward, looking to land more kicks. Aldana then connected to the body, which hurt Rosa, who was suddenly backpedaling. The mouse under Rosa’s eye now had a bloody red tail as well; Aldana’s own face was a mask of red. With neither woman able to find a finish, the bout went to the scorecards, with Irene Aldana taking home the win in a clear candidate for Fight of the Night.
Following her victory, Aldana revealed she had come into the fight with a knee injury.
