To put into perspective just how deep Saturday’s UFC 300 card truly was, consider that Jessica Andrade, paired up with Marina Rodriguez on the early prelims, was already the third former or current UFC champion to compete on the night.
The former women’s strawweight champ was looking to notch a second straight victory after tenderizing Mackenzie Dern last time out. As for Rodriguez, she was in a similar boat, with a win over Michelle Waterson-Gomez in her own last outing.
Early on, Rodriguez fought smart, keeping Andrade at the end of her punches. Andrade worked some kicks, but was likely lagging behind in the fight before getting things to the mat care of a slip by Marina. From there, the ex-champ worked her way to side control while softening up her fellow Brazilian, which made things much closer than they might have been otherwise.
A couple of quick exchanges started out round two, with Andrade continued to hack away at her opponent’s lead leg. The limb was showing damage but Rodriguez still looked loose and extremely mobile, no worse for the wear apparently. Rodriguez continued to fight on the outside, circling the cage, back to the fence. Andrade, conversely, walked forward, loaded up on her punches, and covered up/rolled with many of Rodriguez’s volleys.
Towards the end of the round, Andrade began to find a home for that power, pushing the action and knocking Rodriguez around like a human pinball. Rodriguez was clearly hurt, but survived to the horn.
Whether Rodriguez was still comprised to start round three would be a question. Andrade, however, appeared to have slowed. Marina began walking forward as the round progressed, and with two minutes left, caught Andrade in a guillotine as she went after a leg. Andrade held onto the leg, Marina held onto the choke, but eventually Jessica pulled free. With a minute to go, Andrade went on the attack again, mixing in shots to the body. With 30 seconds left she turned up the heat, with Rodriguez dropping to a knee and struggling with a beat up lead leg. The finish wasn’t to be had, but Jessica Andrade picked up her second straight win with a solid night at the office.
Official Result: Jessica Andrade def. Marina Rodriguez by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
