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Ultimate Fighter’ finale blog: Joanna Jedrzejczyk glides late in rivalry fight

Heated women’s strawweight rivalry between Jedrzejczyk, Gadelha is settled

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

L.E. Baskow

Women’s bantamweight Claudia Gadelha and Joanna Jedrzejczyk trade multiple blows during “The Ultimate Fighter” finale 2016 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Friday, July 8, 2016.

Updated Friday, July 8, 2016 | 10:51 p.m.

Note: Full results from the preliminary card at the bottom of the page.

Twenty-five minutes of cage fighting can serve as supreme therapy.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha, the top two women’s strawweight fighters in the world, wouldn’t even touch gloves when they entered the octagon at MGM Grand Garden Arena for their main-event bout at “The Ultimate Fighter” 23 finale. They exited after having just embraced and praised each other.

One of the top rivalries in the history of women’s mixed martial arts is over for now. Both had their moments in a rematch to settle the rivalry, but Jedrzejczyk managed more.

Jedrzejczyk won the final three rounds to earn a unanimous decision (48-46, 48-46, 48-45) over Gadelha and defend her title for the third consecutive time.

“I’m sorry for everything that happened between us,” Jedrzejczyk said afterwards in the octagon. “She’s a great fighter.”

And the Brazilian looked like she was on the verge of becoming the second new champion of International Fight Week — following Eddie Alvarez last night — for the first 10 minutes of the fight. Gadelha smothered Jedrzejczyk, outwrestling the champion and not giving her space to implement her kickboxing strength.

But the pressure caused Gadelha to tire, something Jedrzejczyk never did. Jedrzejczyk came out fresh for the third while Gadelha gasped for the air, and cardio carried the champion the rest of the way.

“I feel great,” Jedrzejczyk said. “I trained very hard for this fight.”

Gadelha got a consolation prize in dominating the coaching competition between the two on this season of “TUF”. Two fighters on Team Claudia won six-figure contracts into the UFC in direct support of Jedrzejczyk’s win.

First, women’s strawweight prospect Tatiana Suarez steamrolled Amanda Cooper with a submission win via d’arce choke at 3:43 of the first round. Then, light heavyweight Andrew Sanchez was just as dominant in dispatching local Khalil Rountree with a unanimous-decision win (30-26, 30-26, 30-25) heavy on wrestling.

The other featured attraction on the card was the octagon debut of former Bellator lightweight champion Will Brooks, who picked up a solid though unspectacular win over veteran and former “TUF” champion Ross Pearson. Pearson outstruck Brooks, particularly in a third-round rally, but the rookie relied on his wrestling in crucial moments.

“Eddie Alvarez, hold on to that belt a little bit,” Brooks said to his fellow former Bellator cohort. “You got away from me in that other organization. I’m here now, I want to take that belt.”

In other lightweight action, Joaquim Silva knocked out Andrew Holbrook in 34 seconds. It looked like a cinch for the best finish of the night until prospect Doo Ho Choi validated his hype with a knockout of veteran Thiago Tavares at 2:42 of the first round in their featherweight bout.

It all set the stage for Jedrzejczyk vs. Gadelha, which went down as the best fight of the week so far and let the champion move past a contentious chapter of her career.

“I respect Joanna as a champion but it’s important to be humble and respect people,” Gadelha said.

Check below for live round by round coverage of the main card and look to the bottom of the page for full results from the preliminary card.

A nation that not long ago stood at the forefront of mixed martial arts no longer holds any UFC championship belts.

Brazil lost its last standing title last night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena when Rafael dos Anjos fell victim to an upset by Eddie Alvarez. Claudia Gadelha can earn Brazil a belt back tonight at the same building in the main event of “The Ultimate Fighter” 23 finale against Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

Poland’s Jedrzejczyk has sat atop the women’s strawweight division since knocking out inaugural champion Carla Esparza at UFC 185 last year, going on to defend the belt against Jessica Penne and Valerie Letourneau. She’ll have to beat the woman who provided the stiffest competition of her UFC career if she wants to hold on to the title.

Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha engaged in an extremely close fight in December 2014 that many still dispute. Jedrzejczyk won via split decision in the title eliminator as a slight underdog.

She comes in as the slight favorite this time around after staying more active than Gadelha in the aftermath. Gadelha has battled injuries, and fought only once since losing to Jedrzejczyk — beating Jessica Aguilar by unanimous decision last August.

The two built up a more contentious rivalry this time around by squaring off as coaches on “TUF”. Gadelha won that competition, as three of her fighters have opportunities to win the reality-show competition tonight.

Amanda Cooper and Tatiana Suarez, both on Team Claudia, face off for the women’s strawweight “TUF” title. For the finals of the light heavyweight division, Team Joanna’s last man standing, local Khalil Roundtree, takes on Team Claudia’s Andrew Sanchez.

The most anticipated fight aside from Jedrzejczyk vs. Gadelha II comes before those two fights, as former Bellator lightweight champion Will Brooks makes his UFC debut against veteran Ross Pearson. Brooks is eyeing Alvarez’s title, and likely only needs a couple victories to get a shot at him given his track record.

Lightweight prospects Andrew Holbrook and Joaquium Silva will open the main card before making way for featherweights Doo Ho Choi and Thiago Tavares.

Six different countries are represented on tonight’s main card, making this event fitting for International Fight Week.

Check below for full results from the preliminary card and stay tuned for a round by round blog of the main card.

• A drop to featherweight produced a local standout's first victory in three years, as Gray Maynard beat Fernando Bruno by unanimous decision (30-27. 30-27, 30-27).

• Matheus Nicolau defeated John Moraga by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) in a flyweight bout.

• Josh Stansbury upset local Cory Hendricks by majority decision (29-27, 29-27, 28-28) in a light heavyweight bout.

• Cezar Ferreira edged out a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over Anthony Smith in a middleweight bout.

• Kevin Lee knocked out Jake Matthews at 4:06 of the first round in their lightweight bout.

• Li Jinglian knocked out Anton Zafir at 2:46 of the first round in their welterweight bout.

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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