Joanna Jedrzejczyk entered the UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm co-main event as the unbeaten women’s strawweight champion, and actually closed as the bigger favorite than Ronda Rousey for her fight vs. Holly Holm. Standing in the way of her 2nd successful title defense was Canada’s Valerie Letourneau, looking to record the biggest upset in UFC history. She’d have a tough task ahead of her against arguably the best striker in all of women’s MMA.
UFC 193: Rousey vs Holm – live results, play by play, discussion (PPV)
The opening minute was all about measuring distance. Letourneau caught a kick and got Jedrzejczyk down and worked on ground strikes. Letourneau was warned for striking the back of the head. The champion got back to her feet and they clinched up. Jedrzejczyk landed two knees to the body. They eventually separated and returned to striking from range. A big front kick to the face rocked Letourneau. She was able to tie up and regain her senses. Another front kick partially landed for the champion. Letourneau had a couple of successful counterpunches towards the end of the round.
Letourneau opened round 2 up with body kicks and quick hands. Jedrzejczyk chopped at the challenger’s lead leg. Letourneau scored with a good right hand. Jedrzejczyk got an inside elbow to score and two more in the clinch. Joanna got in another elbow and a body kick as they broke from the clinch. Letourneau caught another Jedrzejczyk kick but didn’t do anything of note with it. Hard outside leg kick by the champion was answered with a right over the top by Letourneau. Valerie’s counters were finding a home in exchanges in the middle of the cage. A hard right hand scored for the champion, who started to up her output.
Two minutes into the 3rd, Joanna jarred Valerie with another front kick, which caused Letourneau to return fire but to little effect. Letourneau caught another front kick attempt by the champion. Joanna was finding her range better than in the previous two rounds, using the kicks first and then her punches. A stiff combination sent Letourneau backward. Letourneau started to show some swelling under her right eye.
Jedrzejczyk was slowly peppering away at Letourneau’s eye. While Joanna’s corner called for a takedown, the champ kept on striking. Jedrzejczyk landed a nice jab midway through the first ever 4th round in the history of women’s bouts in the UFC. Jedrzejczyk’s leg kicks affected Letourneau’s movement and ability to plant on her lead. The challenger did sneak in a good uppercut but seconds later absorbed another leg kick. A big combination hurt Letourneau in the final seconds of another clear Joanna round.
Letourneau needed a big close to round 5 to have even a slim chance at the upset win. She started off brightly with a body kick but Joanna went to work not too long after that. Standing elbows bashed Valerie’s face. Jedrzejczyk fired another set of kicks to the lead leg, which was purple from the kneecap all the way up to the thigh. Letourneau ate another leg kick and a straight right with 2 minutes left. Every time Letourneau was able to land on Jedrzejczyk, Joanna would answer with more offense. The fight was paused briefly for an eye poke but Joanna only needed a few seconds to regather herself. Letourneau threw what she had left but it wasn’t enough.
Official result: Joanna Jedrzejczyk def. Valerie Letourneau via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 50-45) to remain UFC women’s strawweight champion
Jedrzejczyk remains the unbeaten champion, although it wasn’t the one-sided wipeout it was expected to be. Letourneau put forth a spirited effort but loses for the first time in her UFC career.
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