Joanna Jędrzejczyk, Cortney Casey Score Big Victories At UFC 211UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk retained her title with a dominant Unanimous Decision victory tonight at UFC 211: “Miocic vs dos Santos 2” in Dallas, Texas. Jędrzejczyk defeated top-ranked Brazilian challenger Jéssica “Bate Estaca” Andrade in impressive fashion.

On tonight’s preliminary card, strawweight rising star Cortney “Cast Iron” Casey earned the biggest win of her career. Casey put herself in future title contention with a well-deserved Unanimous Decision over former WSOF champion Jessica “Jag” Aguilar, who remains winless inside the Octagon.

 

Jędrzejczyk (14-0-0) set the tone for the fight early in round one by targeting Andrade’s (16-6-0) lead leg with kicks; a tactic that she utilised throughout the five-round affair. Andrade fired back with looping hooks, and she slammed Jędrzejczyk down to the mat, but Jędrzejczyk battled back to her feet and showcased her technical striking skills by landing jabs, knees and kicks that kept Andrade guessing. Andrade finished the close round with a takedown, but the momentum shifted squarely in favour of the champion as round two began.

Striking from the outside, Jędrzejczyk picked Andrade apart with leg kicks, stiff jabs and combinations during the remaining 20 minutes of the fight. A series of head kicks also landed for Jędrzejczyk, but the ever-tough Andrade was unfazed by the powerful strikes. She briefly took Jędrzejczyk down in round four, but Jędrzejczyk rose to her feet and continued her dominance in the exchanges. Andrade was forced to switch stances to protect her lead leg, and Jędrzejczyk kept the pressure on with front kicks, right hands and standing elbows before the end of the final round.

Scores were 50-44 and 50-45 twice for Jędrzejczyk, who has won eight straight fights under the UFC banner. Tonight’s victory marked Jędrzejczyk’s fifth successful title defence, and she may next face off against “Thug” Rose Namajunas.

Winner: Joanna Jędrzejczyk by Unanimous Decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-44) after five rounds. She improves to 14-0-0 and remains the UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion.

 

Casey (7-4-0) put forth her most impressive showing to date in victory over Aguilar (19-6-0), who made her return to action after recovering from a serious knee injury.

Early in round one, Casey stunned Aguilar with a combination, but Aguilar knocked her down with a leg kick and dove in with punches on the ground. Casey used a triangle choke attempt to get back to her feet, and she landed more power punches before Aguilar took her down again. Casey scored with numerous upkicks from her back, which visibly rattled Aguilar, and she blasted Aguilar with leg kicks, hooks and uppercuts after returning to her feet.

It was more of the same in round two, and Casey once again countered a takedown from Aguilar with upkicks from her back that appeared to damage Aguilar’s knees. Aguilar finished the round with ground and pound to the body, but Casey was clearly up on the scorecards heading into round three. She bloodied Aguilar’s nose with punches in the final stanza and damaged her eye with knees. Aguilar briefly took her down, but Casey rose to her feet and the fight ended with an exchange of punches.

All three judges scored the bout 30-27 in favour of Casey, who has won three of her past four fights. Her lone defeat during that time came against former UFC title challenger Claudia “Claudinha” Gadelha.

Winner: Cortney Casey by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three rounds. She improves to 7-4-0.

 

 

(Photo Credit: UFC)