Brazilian standout Taila Santos rebounded from her first career defeat with a dominant victory tonight at UFC on ESPN 13: “Kattar vs Ige” in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The talented flyweight’s strong performance tonight earned her a Unanimous Decision win over “Meatball” Molly McCann.
In addition to Santos’s main card victory, the preliminary card featured a second matchup in the women’s flyweight division. Liana “She Wolf” Jojua picked up her first UFC win and showcased strong submission skills in a slick first-round armbar finish against Diana “The Warrior Princess” Belbita.
Santos (16-1-0) got off to a strong start in the opening round with a nice one-two, and she followed with a flurry of punches, two body kicks and a knee that forced McCann (10-3-0) to give up on a takedown attempt. As the round progressed, Santos landed more quick punches and she countered McCann’s shots with well-timed knees. McCann’s best success came in the form of right hooks that caused Santos’s left eye to swell up, and she followed with two elbows in a clinch. Santos responded with two late takedowns before the bell.
In round two, Santos countered McCann’s early aggression on the feet with knees to the head and body before taking McCann down into side control. Santos passed to mount and attempted an armbar, but McCann’s defence was solid and she escaped to her feet. Santos attacked with more knees and threw McCann back down late in the round. McCann stayed active until the bell and postured for an armbar.
Likely sensing that she was down on the scorecards, McCann began the final round aggressively on the feet and she landed punches as Santos kicked from a distance. She clinched and threw McCann down to the mat, then fought off an armbar attempt with some solid ground and pound. McCann gave up her back late in the fight and Santos landed more punches while keeping her pinned down. All three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Santos, who rebounded from a narrow Split Decision defeat in her UFC debut.
Jojua (8-3-0) and Belbita (13-6-0) engaged in a clinch battle early in their bout, and Belbita countered Jojua’s knees with a takedown. That proved to be Belbita’s undoing, however, and Jojua quickly spun into an armbar that had Belbita in trouble. Belbita tried to roll through, and she almost got her arm out, but Jojua switched to a straight armbar and then back to a conventional one. She went belly-down with the hold and Belbita tapped out at the 2:23 mark of round one. Jojua has now won six of her past seven fights, with the lone blemish coming in a bantamweight bout at UFC 242 in September.
(Photo Credit: UFC)