Jessica-Rose Clark vs. Julija Stoliarenko didn’t last long and came with an ending that should be avoided if your squeamish. Stoliarenko won the bout, on the undercard of UFC 276, but did considerable damage to Clark in the process.
The finish came at just 42 seconds into the first round. It happened after Stoliarenko, a BJJ black-belt under Roger Gracie, took Clark down and cranked on an armbar. Clark tapped, but Stoliarenko didn’t break the hold until the referee stepped in. This resulted in Clark’s elbow hyper-extending in gruesome fashion.
Clark has revealed, via Instagram, that she required surgery on her elbow and that this will keep her out of action for a long time. “I’m not done,” she added. “Not even close.”
Her post also included a video where she addressed the submission hold and confirmed that Stoliarenko cranked on her arm after she had already tapped.
“Well, that sucked,” Clark said (ht MMA Junkie). “I just got back from the hospital. I am probably going to need surgery on my elbow. She did a really good job of continuing to armbar me after I tapped, but that’s fine. It is what it is. I felt great. I cried the entire time I was at the hospital, but I’m feeling all right. I’m understandably heartbroken, but I did everything right this camp. I’m going to have this surgery and heal up and then come back and be better – and that’s all I can do.”
In her post-fight press conference, Stoliarenko discussed her approach to submissions.
“If I get a submission, I’m going to snap it until people stop it. Of course I don’t want to injure my opponents, but it’s up to them when to tap. If she’s not tapping, I’m going to do my work.”
The loss dropped Clark’s pro record to 11-8 (1 NC). She joined the UFC in 2017 and holds wins over Bec Rawlings, Paige VanZant, Sarah Alpar and Joselyne Edwards.
The loss to Stoliarenko put her on a two-fight losing skid. She was submitted—via armbar—by Stephanie Egger at UFC Vegas 48 in February.
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