Ultimate Fighting Championship

UFC Sacramento Results: Leslie Smith Defeats Irene Aldana

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 1:40 p.m. ET

Fansided, Farzin Vousoughian/FanSided via Cage Pages

In a match between two Invicta FC veterans, Leslie Smith opened up FS1 card with a unanimous decision victory over Irene Aldana for UFC Sacramento.

Leslie Smith opened up the Fox Sports 1 portion of UFC Sacramento with an impressive win against Irene Aldana in a hard-fought match that could be a strong candidate for Fight of the Night. One judge awarded Smith all three rounds while she won two of the three rounds in the eyes of two others.

Smith made statement midway through the third round when she cornered Aldana and fired away with several strikes. Despite a back and forth battle between both fighters, Smith showed off her stamina, allowing her to feature her skills. Smith was heavily active in this fight, connecting on 172 of 404 total strikes to Aldana’s 108 of 256 total strikes.

With only one takedown attempt in the entire fight, coming from Aldana, the majority of this match had both women on their feet.

Pressure from @LeslieSmith_GF! #UFCSacramento pic.twitter.com/NXMA2h28XA

— #UFCSacramento (@ufc) December 17, 2016

This was Smith’s first fight in the United States since July of 2014. She’s traded wins and losses in her last five fights, but she has never had a record below .500 in her career. In her last five victories, four of them have resulted in wins via decision, all of which were unanimous. Smith leaves Sacramento with a record of 9-7-1.

Smith came back strong after a loss to Cris Cyborg in the latter’s Octagon debut at UFC 198. After accepting a match against a big-name fighter, Smith took a step back and took a fight against an opponent better suited for her and may do the same in her next match as she tries to form a winning streak.

Aldana, who made her UFC debut, drops to 7-3 in the standings. She finished her Invicta FC record with a 4-1 record and hopes to replicate similar success in the UFC. Among all 10 of her fights, this is the first time Aldana has faced a decision.