UFC Fight Night Joanna vs. Waterson: Live results, analysis
The next UFC women’s strawweight title challenger could be decided Saturday.
Former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk meets fellow top contender Michelle Waterson in the main event of UFC Tampa. Jedrzejczyk has said she has been promised a title shot against new champion Zhang Weili with a victory. Meanwhile, Waterson has long expressed her goal to become the first UFC champion who is a mother.
Jedrzejczyk comes in ranked as the No. 4 strawweight in the world by ESPN, and Waterson is No. 6.
Every fight from UFC Fight Night: Joanna vs. Waterson is available to watch on ESPN+.
FIGHT-BY-FIGHT REPLAYS
• Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Michelle Waterson
• Cub Swanson vs. Kron Gracie
• Niko Price vs. James Vick
• Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas
• Matt Frevola vs. Luiz Pena
• Eryk Anders vs. Gerald Meeschaert
• Ryan Spann vs. Devin Clark
• Thomas Gifford vs. Mike Davis
• Max Griffin vs. Alex Morono
• Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Tim Elliott
• Marlon Vera vs. Andre Ewell
• Miguez Baeza vs. Hector Aldana
• Marvin Vettori vs. Andrew Sanchez
• JJ Aldrich vs. Lauren Mueller
Watch the complete card on ESPN+
Jedrzejczyk (15-3) was the most successful champion in the 115-pound division’s history. The Poland native had five title defenses between 2015 and 2017, the second-best total ever among women in the UFC behind Ronda Rousey. Jedrzejczyk, 32, dropped her last fight, to Valentina Shevchenko in a bout for the flyweight title, but she has lost to only one person at strawweight in the UFC, twice to Rose Namajunas.
Waterson (17-6) is on a three-fight winning streak and has won five of her past seven. The Albuquerque, New Mexico, resident beat former title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz at UFC Philadelphia in March to set up this matchup. Waterson, 33, is the former Invicta FC atomweight champion, and at 5-foot-3 will be the smaller fighter against the 5-6 Jedrzejczyk.
In the co-main event, perennial featherweight contender Cub Swanson takes on Kron Gracie, son of the legendary Brazilian jiu-jitsu and vale tudo fighter Rickson Gracie. Swanson (25-11) is looking to snap a four-fight losing streak. Gracie (5-0) won his UFC debut over Alex Caceres in February and is a promising up-and-coming MMA fighter but will be giving up a lot in the way of experience to Swanson, who is 10-7 in the UFC.
Also at UFC Tampa, Niko Price and James Vick face off at welterweight in a battle of action fighters, and top prospect Mackenzie Dern returns against fellow blue-chipper Amanda Ribas.
Lightweight: Matt Frevola (7-1-1, +140) vs. Luis Pena (7-1, -170)
Middleweight: Eryk Anders (13-4) defeated Gerald Meerschaert (29-12) by split decision.
Anders picked up an important win in his return to middleweight. The former University of Alabama football player rode a dominant first round and solid third to win a split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).
Anders walked Meerschaert down in the first and landed hard punches. Meerschaert kept flopping to his back to draw Anders into a grappling match, but it didn’t work. Meerschaert found his striking and rhythm in the second round and landed a nice body kick that put Anders on his heels.
Anders and Meerschaert each landed left hands that rocked the other in the third. Meerschaert’s strikes seemed to do more damage — Anders was rocked — but the judges still saw the fight for Anders.
Anders (13-4) has won two straight following a three-fight losing streak. The 32-year-old Alabama native is likely to stick with middleweight now after a pair of bouts at light heavyweight over the past two years. Meerschaert (29-12), a 31-year-old Wisconsin native, has lost three of his past four bouts.
Flyweight: Deiveson Figueiredo(17-1) defeated Tim Elliott (15-9-1) by guillotine choke in the first round.
The flyweight division has a new, serious contender.
Figueiredo snatched a guillotine off an Elliott takedown and put the squeeze on and Elliott had no choice but to tap. The finish came at 3:08 of the first round. Afterward, Figueiredo called out No. 1 contender Joseph Benavidez. Figueiredo said, through translator and manager Wallid Ismail, that champion Henry Cejudo won’t be back until next year due to injury, so why not make Figueiredo vs. Benavidez for the interim title?
“Cejudo, you’re out,” Figueiredo said. “But Benavidez, come to fight for the interim belt. Cejudo isn’t gonna come back until next year. Why are you gonna wait? Benavidez, are you afraid to fight me? Are you afraid of Deiveson Figueiredo?”
Figueiredo (17-1) has won two straight and six of his past seven in the UFC. The dynamic Brazilian fighter’s lone career loss was to fellow contender Jussier Formiga. Figueiredo, 31, has stopped 14 of his 17 career wins, an eye-opening number in a division that has been panned for its lack of finishes. Figueiredo came in ranked No. 4 among flyweights by ESPN. Elliott (15-9-1) has lost three of his past five fights. The 32-year-old Las Vegas resident is the former Titan FC flyweight champion.
Light heavyweight: Ryan Spann (17-5) defeated Devin Clark (10-4) by second-round submission.
From ESPN Stats & Information: Spann picks up his first UFC win via submission and the 11th of his career. Spann has now won seven straight fights, including his first three in the UFC.
Lightweight: Mike Davis (8-2) defeated Thomas Gifford (17-9) by third-round knockout.
Color commentator Michael Bisping, among others, thought the fight should have been stopped sooner because of the damage Gifford was taking.
I really hope Thomas Gifford is ok. What makes MMA more safe than boxing is no 10 counts and officials that stop fights timely. Poor officiating like that could lead to the death of a fighter in the UFC. Gifford took WAY too many shots. #UFCTampa
From ESPN Stats & Information: Davis finished with 139 significant strikes landed, the most in a lightweight, three-round fight in 2019. The only lightweights to land more this year are Max Holloway (181) and Dustin Poirier (178) during their interim lightweight title fight in April. Davis took this fight on just four days’ notice. This is Davis’ first UFC victory after losing to Gilbert Burns in his UFC debut. His two losses have come against Burns and Sodiq Yusuff, who have a combined record of 27-4 (13-3 in UFC).
Welterweight: Alex Morono (17-5) defeated Max Griffin (15-7) by unanimous decision.
From ESPN Stats & Information: Morono picked up his third straight victory.
Bantamweight: Marlon Vera (15-5-1, -170) defeated Andre Ewell (15-6) by third-round TKO.
“Every time I jump in the cage, I am more experienced and more prepared,” Vera said. “All I have to do is keep my work ethic on point, work hard, be in the gym all the time and keep looking for ways for me to improve. For me, it’s all about competition and I like to perform, that’s why I prepare myself so hard. I always say, whoever is next and ready, I’ll pick up the phone, say yes, put my boots on and walk into the Octagon. I just need to heal some things from this fight, I’m hurting a little, but as soon as I’m ready to go, I’ll contact my coaches and ask what’s next. Success is something you need to earn, if you can’t pay that rent then you can’t win out there, and I earn it every day. I’m the contender in this division.”
From ESPN Stats & Information: Vera picks up his fifth straight win, tying Petr Yan for the longest active win streak in the bantamweight division. Vera’s wins have all been stoppages, while Yan has gone to decision in three of the five fights, but Vera has not beaten a ranked fighter during that streak while Yan has beaten two Top-10 fighters: John Dodson and Jimmie Rivera.
Welterweight: Miguel Baeza (8-0) defeated Hector Aldana (4-4) by TKO in second round.
“Words can’t describe how it feels to get my first win in the UFC,” Baeza said. “It’s an accomplishment of so many years of hard work and all the people who have put time and love into me. I want to thank the UFC for putting me on this card and help me bring my family here. I almost need to make up a new word for how I’m feeling, nothing really does it justice. I always take one fight at a time, I had a great opportunity with Dana White’s Contender Series and it helped me get used to the cameras and the media and all that, but that and this were two separate monsters, I had to tackle one at a time. I’m ready for whatever the UFC throws at me baby, this is just the beginning of my journey.”
From ESPN Stats & Information: Baeza’s knockout stemmed from a kick to the leg, the ninth such finish in UFC history and first by a welterweight. Baeza earned his UFC contract this summer on Dana White’s Contender Series.
Middleweight: Marvin Vettori (14-4-1) defeated Andrew Sanchez (12-5) by unanimous decision.
“That’s two wins in a row now and before that I fought Israel (Adesanya) and he’s the champ now,” Vettori said. “It was a super close fight (against Adesanya), many even said I won, so I’ve had some up and downs but I’m finding my stride now. Even my first eight or so fights, half of those guys are in the top 15 or former top 15 now I feel, I never had easy fights, but it’s been a great learning curve and now I’m on the right path.
“I need to find a way to finish fights, but I feel like I am putting on dominant performances, so I just have to keep going and it will come. I was a little pissed with him because I stepped in as a replacement to fight him in Canada, and it wasn’t really a fight that did a lot for me, and then he pulls out three days before. I had friends and family from Italy who came to see me, my coaches put in a lot of work, so I was mad. He also talked a lot of trash, so I wanted to show a lot in this fight and prove to him that I am better and I did that.”
Vettori makes it back-to-back decision victories in the Octagon with his win. After winning his UFC debut by submission, Vettori’s last six fights have all gone the distance. He is 3-2-1 in those fights.
From ESPN Stats & Information: Vettori is the only fighter to win on a scorecard over undefeated UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya. He lost a split decision to the Last Stylebender on April 14, 2018.
Women’s flyweight: JJ Aldrich (8-3) defeated Lauren Mueller (5-3) by unanimous decision.
“I really needed this, just for myself more than anything,” Aldrich said. “I’m here for a reason and I do belong here, I wanted to prove to myself that I can compete, even when I get hit, I can still come out and win. This is my first win at flyweight, I felt really good. I’m not a small flyweight, I was a pretty big strawweight and I had been cutting to that because that was where the UFC had fights, but I’m glad to make flyweight my home and shoot for the stars. Afterwards, my corner asked me how I felt and I told them that I felt really good and won the fight. I knew she won the second round, so I wanted to come out in the third and put on a dominant performance and I feel like I did that.”
From ESPN Stats & Information: Aldrich has won four of her six UFC fights, but this was her first win at flyweight.
Strawweight main event: Joanna Jedrzejczyk (15-3, -350) vs. Michelle Waterson (17-6, +280)
Featherweight: Cub Swanson (25-11, +150) vs. Kron Gracie (5-0, -180)
Welterweight: Niko Price (13-3, -150) vs. James Vick (13-4, +120)
Strawweight: Mackenzie Dern (7-0, -140) vs. Amanda Ribas (7-1, +110)