Toronto, ON — While it was a rough night for the Canadian men at UFC 297, the ladies showed out, with both Canadian-born fighters on the card, Gillian Robertson and Jasmine Jasudavicius, picking up big TKO and submission wins respectively.
Both women now have their name in the history books, Jasudavicius setting a strike discrepancy record in her fight, while Robertson, the all-time women’s submission leader, moving to second place overall for finishes.
That came care of a TKO against Polyana Viana, a finish Robertson (13-8) had predicted ahead of a fight that had her wanting to “cry out of happiness,” she told Cageside Press following the victory. “I was so excited to be here, so excited to walk out in front of this crowd and my performance showed that that energy makes a difference.”
As for the TKO finish (Robertson would later call Canada her “good luck charm,” as she’s had both her TKO wins here), the Niagara Falls native said that “in the second round I was just landing strikes. Constantly I’m trying to land strikes and look for my submissions, and I heard the ref twice tell her ‘I need you to move.’ Whenever I heard him say that I was like ‘alright these are my opportunities to just keep on going and look for the TKO.'”
Moving into second place for the all-time UFC finish record, behind only Amanda Nunes, says a lot about Gillian Robertson, but at 28, she’s far from her destination. Just entering her prime, really.
“I just feel like I’m nowhere near where I’m going to be. Like you said I’m second most for finishes, I want to be first and I know I’m just on the list of top submissions all time for men or women, like I just got in the top 10 my last fight. So I want to just keep on pushing until I’m tied with [Charles] Oliveira for that one.”
Ahead of UFC 297, Robertson told Cageside Press that she wanted opponents to be scared of her. Another finish, with her fists this time, goes a long way to achieving that goal.
“No matter what I’m looking for a finish,” said Robertson, adding “I want to be able to make sure I can take my opponent down. Whether we’re on the feet, whether we’re on the ground, if it’s a TKO, a submission, I want my opponent to be scared of me wherever we are.”
While the Canadian, who lives and trains in Florida with the GOAT Shed Academy, doesn’t have a name or date in mind, she knows what she wants for her next fight.
“Not a date, I just want a ranked opponent,” said Robertson. “I just want someone with a number next to their name, and I want it next to mine next.”
Watch the full UFC 297 post-fight press conference with Gillian Robertson above.
