Erin Blanchfield turned up the volume, aggression and damage just in time to get the victory.
After a lackadaisical opening two rounds, Blanchfield (13-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) rallied in the final three of the UFC Fight Night 246 co-main event Saturday to defeat former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas (13-7 MMA, 11-6 UFC) by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47). The women’s flyweight bout was the co-main event at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Namajunas puzzled Blanchfield with footwork, jabs, and movement in the first 10 minutes. Blanchfield appeared the much slower fighter and seemed to be stuck on a similar loop as to the unsuccessful game plan execution that transpired in her loss to Manon Fiorot in March.
Blanchfield began to come alive in Round 3, however, when she took Namajunas down and controlled her. In Round 4, Blanchfield’s striking found its home as Namajunas appeared to slow in volume and attack of her own.
Round 5, Blanchfield’s corner lit a fire under its fighter and she came out swinging with full aggression. She took Namajunas down and entered the crucifix position. Namajunas defended well, but ended up in a non-dominant position for the remainder of the fight.
When the dust settled, Blanchfield had swept the judges. She was emotional on the microphone, but still issued a challenge to former champion Alexa Grasso, who she’d like to fight next.
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Blanchfield bounces back from her first UFC loss, which came against Fiorot in March. The defeat was a fairly lopsided unanimous decision. Prior to that bump in the road, Blanchfield racked up wins over Sarah Alpar, Miranda Maverick, JJ Aldrich, Molly McCann, Jessica Andrade and Taila Santos.
As for Namajunas, her two-fight winning streak is snapped. She moves to 2-2 since moving to flyweight in 2023.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 246 results include:
Erin Blanchfield def. Rose Namajunas via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) Brendson Ribeiro def. Caio Machado via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Ariane da Silva via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 3, 2:28 Dustin Stoltzfus def. Marc-Andre Barriault via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:28 Mike Malott def. Trevin Giles via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) Aiemann Zahabi def. Pedro Munhoz via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) Charles Jourdain def. Victor Henry via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 3:43 Youssef Zalal def. Jack Shore via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 0:59 Alexandr Romanov def. Rodrigo Nascimento via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Serhiy Sidey def. Garrett Armfield via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) Cody Gibson def. Chad Anheliger via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26) Jamey-Lyn Horth def. Ivana Petrovic via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 246.
