Erin Blanchfield secured the biggest win of her career in Edmonton this past weekend where her resilience and pace proved to be key.
The rising flyweight star suffered her first loss inside the Octagon last time out against Manon Fiorot where she was convincingly beaten across all five rounds.
For the first two rounds against Rose Namajunas, it looked like the same outcome could be on the cards thanks to the footwork and striking of the former strawweight champion.
However, Blanchfield was able to dig deep to win rounds three, four and five on all three scorecards to get the unanimous decision.
In her post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier, she was emotional after coming through another difficult test.
"It was a tough fight, you know. I thought I won the last three but you never know and it was so close, so tough and coming off of a loss, I wanted that win so bad."
Cormier highlighted the pace and pressure of Blanchfield that eventually started to work it's way into the fight as she achieved more success with her grappling and forward momentum.
"It's just in my heart, you know. I was born tough. I can thank my mom and my dad for that."
Despite using her grappling-heavy game to turn the tide, the fourth round saw Blanchfield stand and strike with Namajunas and have much more success.
The #3-ranked contender believes that this was due to her slowing "Thug" Rose down at the halfway point.
"I think that third round, taking her down and putting that pressure on her, got her a little slowed down. I could feel it in the fourth and I felt like I was finding my strikes better."
With her former foe Manon Fiorot likely being next for the champion Valentina Shevchenko, there's one clear option for Blanchfield and she called for it.
"I would love to fight Alexa Grasso, I think she's an amazing fighter, someone I've been watching just like I was watching Rose and I want to get that win over her."
Watch the full interview below:
