Canadian bantamweight Melissa Croden looked to return to the win column at UFC Winnipeg on Saturday, when she took on Daria Zhelezniakova.
Croden had split the first to fights of her UFC career, earning a victory in her debut against Tainara Lisboa then dropping a decision to Luana Santos. “Iron Lady” Zhelezniakova, meanwhile, was 2-1 in her own UFC stint.
Zhelezniakova got going early on the feet, working behind a stiff jab and mixing in a few knees to the body. Croden responded by pressuring forward, and the two exchanged hooks in the clinch to set the tone for an aggressive battle between the bantamweights.
Croden continued to stay active as the round went on, while Zhelezniakova circled away from Croden’s power side and landed her jab consistently from the outside. Zhelezniakova also tried to get her kicking game going, but that quickly proved to be a mistake when Croden got hold of her along the cage.
In the past, Daria Zhelezniakova likely would have given up a takedown in that position, but she showed her improvement by fighting for underhooks and escaping the Canadian’s grasp before continuing to pepper her with the jab. By the end of the round, Croden was showing visible damage, with blood coming from her nose.
In round two, Croden kept up her aggressive pace, this time throwing with much more volume than she had in the opening round. Still, Zhelezniakova looked comfortable moving around the cage, picking her shots at range and staying composed on the outside.
After about a minute of action, Melissa Croden appeared fed up with the point-fighting style of Zhelezniakova and began chasing her around the cage. Sensing the momentum shift, Zhelezniakova started retreating quickly, but it wasn’t long before Croden caught up to her and forced the action against the fence.
With growing confidence and Zhelezniakova now in her range, Croden continued to swarm the Russian, bloodying her up and eventually landing a takedown to seal the round in her favor. Once Zhelezniakova got back to her feet, the two traded again in the clinch, where Croden continued to find success.
The game plan in round three had to be more of the same for the hometown fighter, Melissa Croden: track Zhelezniakova down and make the fight as gritty as possible.
Zhelezniakova, showing much less energy than she had in the first two rounds, simply couldn’t maintain the same pace on the outside. Croden stayed aggressive, secured another clinch position, and even threatened with a standing arm-triangle. Zhelezniakova survived, perhaps with the help of a few uncalled fence grabs, but the Canadian was still able to trip her to the ground and unload with heavy strikes.
Zhelezniakova continued to survive on the mat and eventually worked her way back to her feet one last time, again trying to escape from the relentless Croden. Croden shut that down once more, slamming her back to the canvas in the final minute and pouring on ground-and-pound as the clock wound down.
When it went to the scorecards, Croden earned a unanimous decision victory, improving to 8-3-0 and defending her home turf in front of the Winnipeg crowd. On the other side, Daria Zhelezniakova fell to 10-2-0.
Official Results: Melissa Croden def. Darya Zhelezniakova via Unanimous Decision (29-28×3)
