After close to two years away from the sport, Paulina “Sweetness” Ramirez made a successful return to mixed martial arts tonight at Tachi Palace Fights 6: “High Stakes” in Lemoore, California. The Hanford native bested former training partner Stephanie “Macaquinha” Frausto of Fresno.
Ramirez and Frausto engaged in a back-and-forth bout that was contested entirely on the feet. The fighters split rounds two and three, and Ramirez’s clinch control in the opening stanza proved to be the difference maker on the scorecards as she edged out a razor-thin Split Decision.
The fighters traded punches early in the first round before clinching near the cage. Ramirez held a noticeable strength advantage and was able to keep Frausto pinned in place while throwing knees to the legs and body. Frausto answered with knees of her own as the clinch persisted throughout the round. Ramirez continued to dominate in cage control, but Frausto’s knee strikes appeared to be the more damaging. In the final seconds, Frausto broke free of the clinch and scored with a nice flurry.
The second round began somewhat tentatively as the fighters circled and threw single punches and kicks. Ramirez pushed forward with a one-two, but was cracked by a solid three-punch combination from Frausto, who followed with front kicks. The fighters clinched briefly and exchanged strikes in close. Frausto landed another nice flurry and put together effective combinations with punches and kicks. Ramirez fired back with strikes of her own, but Frausto appeared to get the better of the exchanges.
Perhaps sensing that she may be down on the scorecards, Ramirez came out very aggressively in the final round and landed a big flurry of punches that backed Frausto up to the cage. Ramirez clinched and kept Frausto in place while throwing knees. The clinchwork continued for nearly a minute before the referee separated the fighters. Ramirez absolutely teed off with nearly two dozen punches that forced Frausto to retreat again. Frausto threw a combination of her own in defence, but was forced to clinch.
An exchange of strikes followed in the final minute and Ramirez scored with another flurry of punches shortly before the bell. With the second and third rounds split, the fight came down to round one and Ramirez was rewarded for her effective clinch control with a Split Decision victory.
Winner: Paulina Ramirez by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) after three 3:00 rounds. She improves to 2-0-0 with the win.
