It was a quick night in Las Vegas, as 4 out of the 5 fights on the main card ended by 1st round stoppage. Let’s talk about the grappling heavy card.
Jessica Andrade made history in her main event against Amanda Lemos, as she became the first fighter in UFC history to win a fight with a standing arm-triangle choke. Andrade continues to prove that she’s one of the most powerful women’s fighters in the world. Her last 5 wins have all come by stoppage. Since moving to Las Vegas, Andrade has reinvigorated her career and wants to compete for the UFC Strawweight title again. Andrade is 1-1 against the current Strawweight Champion Rose Namajunas, so a trilogy is very possible if she continues to win.
This fight got bumped up to the main card after Chase Sherman was forced to withdraw from his fight against Alexander Romanov. Marc-André Barriault has been competing as a professional fighter for nearly 8 years and finally earned the first submission win of his career against Jordan Wright when he finishes him with a guillotine choke. Only 0.66% of the Verdict Community predicted Barriault to win by 1st round submission.
In terms of predictions from the Verdict Community, this was the closest matchup of the card. The fight started fast with both Jourdain and Vannata trading strikes. The action hit the floor and that’s when Jourdain finished Vannata with a guillotine choke. This fight ended almost exactly like the previous fight. Whereas Marc-André Barriault took 2:36 to submit Jordan Wright with a guillotine choke, Jourdain took 2:32 to finish Vannata with his guillotine choke.
Maycee Barber’s fight against Montana De La Rosa was the only decision on the main card at UFC Vegas 52. Rounds 1 & 3 were dominant for Barber whereas the 2nd round was competitive and had De La Rosa edging it out on the Verdict Scorecard. Barber, who once wanted to become the youngest Champion in UFC history still has her eyes set on UFC gold.
Out of all the submissions that took place on this card, Claudio Puelles’ submission of Clay Guida might have been the most impressive. As soon as the fight hit the ground, you could immediately see that Puelles was a far superior grappler than Guida. He transitioned from multiple positions and eventually secured Guida in kneebar that forced him to tap immediately. This was Puelles’ second consecutive win via kneebar and it earned him performance of the night honors. Puelles is now on a 5 fight winning streak in the UFC’s Lightweight division.