Carli Judice made her octagon debut at UFC Vegas 93 on Saturday, taking on Gabriella Fernandes under the rarest of circumstances.
Despite having just four pro fights and losing in her last outing on the Contender Series. Judice had impressed enough to earn a UFC contract. As for Fernandes, she had lost to Jasmine Jasudavicius and Tereza Bledá, leaving the LFA vet in search of her first UFC win.
Judice started the fight with a kick to the body answered by a left cross from Fernandes. Fernandes landed some heavy shots in an exchange. Early on, she had already marked up the face of Judice. Fernandes caught a kick and put Judice against the cage and landed a big left hand. Fernandes was super aggressive early in the round. As time went on, Judice was starting to change the momentum as Fernandes started to fade quickly. It was Judice who was putting it together at the end of the round. In the final seconds, Fernandes went for a takedown. She didn’t get it but landed a heavy right hand to close the round.
In round two, Fernandes came out hot chasing Judice around the cage. She was really putting it on Judice landing clubbing blows. Judice was definitely in danger as she eventually got lucky and was poked in the eye pausing the fight. When it started back Fernandes went right back into the fire landing some bombs. Judice ended up getting a quick takedown but Fernandes got right back up. Fernandes was tired but still was pressing forward. Judice went for another takedown but she was also tired and couldn’t ground Fernandes. Fernandes controlled a little both of the round against the cage trying to work takedowns. In the final ten seconds, Judice was able to get a takedown but no damage down.
Going into round three Fernandes was most likely up two rounds but was dead tired. Like in rounds one and two Fernandes started off aggressively throwing those big hooks. Judice would throw the better technical shots but they weren’t impactful at all. Judice was the fresher fighter and was landing combinations and going to the body really well. The body language of Fernandes was looking rough as if she could fold at any second. When Fernandes was landing Judice was reacting poorly as well. She got spun around by a punch which isn’t a good look for the judges going into the decision.
Not surprisingly, it was a close one, with two judges scoring the fight for Fernandes. First UFC win achieved.
Official Result: Gabriella Fernandes def. Carli Judice by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
