ARES FC vet Daria Zheleznyakova made her octagon debut on Saturday, taking on Monserrat Rendon in a women’s bantamweight bout at UFC Vegas 89.
Both ladies had under ten fights to their name, but with UFC women’s 135 perilously thin, reinforcements for the weight class were paramount.
When the fight started Zheleznyakova went to the jab twice and a right that landed on the chin. Zheleznyakova was using some good feints too and throwing her right hand keeping Rendon guessing. It was Rendon who shot in early for a takedown and got the easy bodylock. Zheleznyakova didn’t take any damage and worked back to her feet quickly and eventually got space. With two minutes left, Rendon was just chasing Zheleznyakova down as she struggled to find her range. Zheleznyakova was throwing but wasn’t hardly landing anything. Rendon tied her up against the cage and got the outside trip with thirty seconds left and ended the round there.
Once round two started it was more feints from Zheleznyakova. She was a little hesitant to commit out of fear of being taken down. Rendon was a fish out of water on the feet just letting Zheleznyakova control the pace. Midways into the round Rendon got Zheleznyakova against the cage. Zheleznyakova was able to avoid the takedown that time and landed a punch to the body once she broke away. Zheleznyakova was getting more comfortable landing short punches. Feeling frustrated Zheleznyakova shot it for a takedown. She got Zheleznyakova to her knee but never got her down.
In the final round, it felt still felt up in the air as to who could be winning. A huge swing and miss from Zheleznyakova started the round. She was at least throwing as Rendon was just worried about a takedown. Rendon finally showed some urgency but was shook off by Zheleznyakova. Zheleznyakova had moments putting short combos together, and was soon starting to run away with the fight. Rendon tied back up with Zheleznyakova putting her against the cage. Zheleznyakova had trouble getting off of the cage as she was stuck there for some time. Thirty seconds left, and she escaped and landed some knees to the body and a few left hands plus a ton of spinning back fists that missed badly.
They would head to the scorecards, with newcomer Daria Zheleznyakova getting the nod.
Official Result: Daria Zheleznyakova def. Monserrat Rendon by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
