Olympic silver medallist Sara McMann bounced back from the first defeat of her mixed martial arts career with a close decision victory tonight at UFC Fight Night 47: “Bader vs St. Preux” in Bangor, Maine. The standout wrestler edged out former Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion Lauren Murphy.
McMann scored takedowns in all three rounds and she kept Murphy pinned down on the mat for prolonged stretches, but Murphy was very active with elbows from her back. She had her greatest success in the final round, but it was not enough and McMann took a Split Decision win on the scorecards.
McMann (8-1-0) secured a takedown very early in round one, but Murphy (8-1-0) countered with a series of elbows from her back and she stayed busy with more elbows and hammerfists as the opening round progressed. McMann postured up with ground and pound near the midway point and she landed more short punches as time ticked down. With just over one minute to go, McMann rained down right hands in succession that set off an exchange of strikes before time expired.
McMann slipped while throwing a kick in round two and the fighters traded one-twos as she returned to her feet. Murphy stuffed one takedown, but McMann secured a body lock and she got Murphy down on her second try. Murphy once again landed elbows from her back and McMann used punches to set up a move to half-guard. She appeared to strike Murphy in the back of the head with hammerfists, but the fight continued and the fighters were stood up. McMann landed knees in the clinch and tripped Murphy into side control before the bell.
The final round began with a leg kick and a nice right hand from McMann. Murphy countered with jabs and leg kicks that prompted McMann to shoot in for a takedown. Murphy landed elbows as McMann dragged her to the mat. Back on the feet, right hands were exchanged and McMann scored a takedown into side control. Murphy sat up against the cage and punished McMann with some hard elbows to the temple. She landed more elbows late in the round and scrambled back to her feet.
In spite of Murphy’s strong final round, only one judge scored the fight in her favour. The remaining two sided with McMann, whose takedowns and top control earned her the second win of her UFC career. Murphy, who had won all eight of her prior pro bouts, put on a solid showing in defeat.
Winner: Sara McMann by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) after three rounds. She improves to 8-1-0.
(Photo Credit: UFC)
McMann got to work on jer jiu jitsu and guard pass badly. She’s very flat footed from top position. She can’t do much when she’s on top. She keeps close to her opponent to avoid submission attempts, but she can’t do anything from there.
She was the better striker standing, and she showcased her wrestling game, but, once she was on top, there was NOTHING she could do… she’d have issues with some flexible fighters with good jiu jitsu, such as Marloes Coenen and Alexis Davis.
I know she is a wrestler but she was looking really good on the feet and she was winning easily in that aspects. She did not need to take her down so much especially in the last round where she looked desperate holding murphy’s leg. She needs to be more confident in her striking she has good potential there with her athleticism and those right hands.
Sara didn’t show near the agressiveness she showed in the first minute of the Rousey fight. If she had Shayna Bazlers submission savvy she would be unstopable. I was extremely impressed with Lauren Murphy’s heart. This girl is a natural fighter. She is so much more inexperienced than almost every other girl in MMA but she does not know the meaning of the word ‘quit’. A real bonafide scrapper. I would be scared to get into a street fight with Murphy. McMann is done as far as a rematch with Rousey goes. She might as well retire and have that second kid she wants so bad. Rousey will probably fight Carano, Zingano, Holm, Cyborg and maybe Correia if she beats Bazler…and then retire undefeated 15-0 GOAT with a $25M bankroll…not bad before she is 30 years old!!!