'Thug' Rose Namajunas has likely earned her place in the top 10 rankings with a unanimous decision victory win against Amanda Ribas in the main event of UFC Vegas 89.
In the main event of the impressive card, Namajunas started out the quicker of the two women, and landed the better strikes in the first round. Once taken to the ground, she managed to work quick and establish top position with over a minute left on the clock and landed some tidy elbows.
The second round was much closer with the consistent volume and forward pressure of Ribas coming up against the more tactful movement and clean striking of Namajunas. 'Thug' rose managed to do enough to take the round on two of the scorecards.
Round three was undoubtedly Ribas' best round. Throughout the contest, the Brazilian had been looking to utilise a headlock toss and it eventually came to fruition in the third. The throw, followed by Ribas' heavy top control and strikes done enough to secure the round for her.
Namajunas picked up where she left off in the second round, with not a tonne of strikes but the ones she did throw, landed. The ever forward pressure of Ribas was making the contest interesting but it was the American that was having the most success with her strikes. After getting the fight to the mat, the 31-year-old needed to do slightly more work against Ribas to really solidify the round but nevertheless had done enough still to take it.
It was much of the same in the fifth and final round with Namajunas once again showing her impressive fight IQ and shot selection to land the more impactful strikes and take the round.
The win will likely put 'Thug' Rose into the top 10 at Flyweight as she looks to secure her second UFC title.
Karl Williams continued his impressive UFC unbeaten run with a unanimous decision win against Justin Tafa in the co-main event.
The heavyweights came out swinging but Williams was clearly the more well versed in the grappling department and utilised this throughout the three rounds to stop Tafa landing and major strikes, with the two he did, rocking Williams badly.
Edmond Shahbazyan managed to survive some early trouble to turn his Middleweight contest around and stop AJ Dobson with less than 30 seconds left on the clock in the first round.
The surging Payton Tallbott picked up yet another win, and a performance of the night bonus in the process, startching Cameron Saaiman early in the second round.
Billy Quarantillo found himself on the wrong side of a rear naked choke against Youssef Zalal in their Featherweight fight. Zalal found had some very impressive striking in the first round before getting the takedown in the second round and applying the choke.
In one of the strangest moments fans have witnessed in the octagon for some time, Andre Lima picked up a win against Igor Severino after the latter bit his opponent on the arm in their Flyweight bout. Whilst clinching Lima then gestured to the referee who then brought a stop to the action and it emerged that Severino had left a nasty bite mark on Lima's bicep. UFC CEO Dana white awarded Lima a 'bite of the night bonus' which was then doubled when it was revealed that the unbeaten Flyweight's first stop after the bout was to a tattoo parlour to mark the occasion on his skin for life.
Unbeaten Brit Michael Parkin continued his impressive run in the UFC, moving to 3-0 with a unanimous decision victory against Mohammad Usman in the opening bout of the evening. After a strong first round for Usman, Parkin put on a striking clinic, controlling the distance well and used his solid shot selection over the second and third round to take the bout 29-28 on all three judges scorecards.
There were also wins for Fernando Padilla, Trey Ogden, Julian Erosa, Miles Johns, Jarno Errens and Dariya Zheleznakova.
You can watch Rose Namajunas' post fight, in cage interview, below:
