Jędrzejczyk, Pennington & Carmouche Earn Big Wins At UFC 205UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk successfully retained her title with a hard-fought victory tonight at UFC 205: “Alvarez vs McGregor” in New York City, New York. Jędrzejczyk took a Unanimous Decision win over challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz in a rematch from 2012.

Tonight’s card also featured a pair of bouts in the women’s bantamweight division. Raquel “Rocky” Pennington defeated former UFC champion Miesha “Cupcake” Tate, who retired after the fight, and Liz “Girl-Rilla” Carmouche edged out the previously unbeaten Katlyn “Blonde Fighter” Chookagian.

 

Jędrzejczyk (13-1-0) opened the action tonight with a series of kicks to the lead leg of Kowalkiewicz (10-1-0), who pressed forward with punching combinations. When Kowalkiewicz caught a kick and clinched, Jędrzejczyk countered with knees to the body. She remained effective in the clinch battles in round two by landing elbows to Kowalkiewicz’s temple, but Kowalkiewicz was game and she worked for takedowns after Jędrzejczyk landed a quick flurry. She continued to throw kicks in the late stages of the round and avoided another Kowalkiewicz takedown attempt.

Round three featured more action in the clinch, and Jędrzejczyk continued to find success with knees to the body and punching flurries. Kowalkiewicz landed a hard combination of her own and the round ended with Jędrzejczyk throwing punches and elbows. Kowalkiewicz had her best success in round four, and she rocked the champion with a big right hand. A dazed Jędrzejczyk retreated to the cage as Kowalkiewicz rushed in for a knockout, but Jędrzejczyk recovered and she fired back with two head kicks that led to the fighters trading power punches before the bell.

After an exchange of hard leg kicks and punches in the final round, Jędrzejczyk pressed the action with front kicks and a quick combination. Kowalkiewicz cracked her with a big right hand, however, and Jędrzejczyk’s face began to swell up. She scored with short elbows in a clinch and finished the round strong with two right hands shortly before time expired.

All three judges scored the entertaining fight 49-46 for Jędrzejczyk, who retained her title with her second victory over Kowalkiewicz, whom she first submitted in an amateur MMA bout in March 2012. Jędrzejczyk remains the top female fighter in the sport today.

Winner: Joanna Jędrzejczyk by Unanimous Decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) after five rounds. She improves to 13-0-0 and remains the UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion.

 

Pennington (9-5-0) surprised some by controlling most of tonight’s main card bout with Tate (18-7-0), who abruptly retired after the judges’ decision was read.

In the opening round, Pennington countered Tate’s early leg kicks with stiff jabs that kept the former champion on the defensive. Tate eventually shot in for a takedown and had to climb up the cage three times to escape from a tight front choke. She ultimately got Pennington down and tried to take her back as the fight returned to the feet, but Pennington remained active with elbow strikes in close and she finished the round on top in Tate’s guard.

More jabs and right hands landed for Pennington in round two, and Tate struggled to find her range. Both women landed knees to the body as they battled in the clinch, but Pennington outlanded Tate by targeting her midsection with numerous punches. Tate jumped guard to begin round three and she threatened with armbars and triangle chokes, but Pennington defended well from the top and she punished Tate with ground and pound. She threatened with two more front chokes and easily evaded a Tate heel hook attempt, and the round ended with Pennington landing more punches.

Scores were 29-28 and 30-27 twice for Pennington, who earned her fourth straight victory that was unquestionably her biggest win to date. During her post-fight interview, Tate, who won and later lost the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship this year, announced her retirement and stated that she felt that she could no longer compete with the young rising stars in the division.

Winner: Raquel Pennington by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) after three rounds. She improves to 9-5-0.

 

Opening up tonight’s historic card, former UFC title challenger Carmouche (11-5-0) took a step towards championship contention with a narrow win over former two-division CFFC champ Chookagian (8-1-0).

Chookagian kept her distance in round one and threw jabs and leg kicks that were met by some nice leg kicks from Carmouche, who secured a takedown against the cage. Chookagian countered with elbows, but she was taken back down again and Carmouche landed ground and pound until the bell. Carmouche took Chookagian back down with a side suplex in round two, and she attacked with a top-side guillotine choke. Chookagian scrambled up to her feet, where she countered Carmouche’s takedown attempts with leg kicks and a right hand.

Round three began with Carmouche landing kick-punch combos, but Chookagian dropped her with a head kick and dove in with punches in search of a finish. Carmouche stood back up and clinched, but Chookagian broke away and flurried with punches. Carmouche scored a brief takedown, but Chookagian regained her footing again and landed leg kicks and punches.

One judge scored the close bout 29-28 for Chookagian, but the remaining two both had it 29-28 in favour of Carmouche, who has now won back-to-back fights. Tonight’s bout was Carmouche’s first in more than 19 months, dating back to a contentious decision win in April 2015.

Winner: Liz Carmouche by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) after three rounds. She improves to 11-5-0.

 

 

(Photo Credit: UFC)