August wasn’t as busy as the month that preceded it, but there were a fair amount of MMA events in multiple organizations. There weren’t that many notable women’s fights, but some promising bouts appear to be in the works for some of the fighters that have performed well recently. There are a handful of women’s matches coming up between now and November, as well as Invicta 19 near the end of this month.
Even though there weren’t that many women’s fights in the UFC this last month, the fights we saw all had a degree of divisional relevance
I’ll kick things off with UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs Caceres, where the sole women’s fight on the card was supposed to take place between Maryna Moroz and former TUF contestant Justine Kish. Unfortunately, Kish had to bow out due to injury and was replaced by hard-hitting UFC newcomer Danielle Taylor. Taylor had come into this fight with a 4-1 amateur record and 7-1 as a professional. Three of those wins were finishes due to strikes, one by submission. The fight ended in a decision win for Moroz, who utilized better movement and range, as Taylor couldn’t connect with the counters she relies on to really hurt her opponents. This win puts Moroz at 3-1 in the UFC.
Next up, what turned out to be a great card in UFC 202. There, Cortney Casey defeated Randa Markos via armbar towards the end of the first round. Markos couldn’t establish a good range or rhythm for her striking and was constantly denied takedowns, right up until a scramble resulted in Casey using her aggressive submission game to snatch Randa’s arm and led to a verbal submission. Casey improves to 2-2 in the UFC and 6-2 overall, and has hit quite the nice stride.
The same card saw Raquel Pennington use her wrestling and physicality to dominate a three round unanimous decision against Elizabeth Phillips. Pennington continues to use her timing with her strikes effectively, even if it isn’t pretty. She’s also still notorious for hitting hard, and pushes a grueling pace on her opponents when pressing them against the cage or using top position on the ground. Pennington now improves to 8-5 overall as a professional and 5-2 in the UFC. She’s also on a three fight win streak since the controversial loss to former champion Holly Holm. Her only other UFC loss was to the very physical and durable Jessica Andrade, who continues to find success in her new weight class.
UFC on Fox 21 in Vancouver had a lone women’s bout. A showdown between the underrated Bec Rawlings and rising star Paige VanZant. That fight ended with a highlight reel jumpkick early in the second round. Rawlings was doing very, very well in the first round and should have been ahead on the scorecards, but it was for naught. The win gives VanZant a great bounce back after her bloody submission loss to Rose Namajunas back in December. Paige currently stands at 4-1 in the UFC and 7-2 in her professional career. Rawlings is now 2-2 in the UFC and 7-5 overall.
Finally, over to Macao for ONE Championship 45. Former strawweight challenger Mei Yamaguchi returned to action after her bid for the title against Angela Lee in one of the most action-packed fights this year. Sadly, she lost a close split decision to crafty Brazilian fighter Istela Nunes de Souza, leaving her record at 15-10 in an eight year career that has seen Yamaguchi take on some of the best international talent at strawweight. Nunes is now 5-0, and this is the only big name victory on her record.
Mightiest Daddy 
Leave a comment