Rose Namajunas edges out Tecia Torres in close UFC on FOX battle
Rose Namajunas evened the score with Tecia Torres and moved one step closer to another strawweight title-shot with a unanimous decision win Saturday in Tampa.
Every round of this UFC on FOX co-main event was difficult to score with each fighter scoring big strikes and pushing the pace at different times. Ultimately, all three judges scored the contest for "Thug Rose" 29-28.
Torres landed the first of what would be many buckling leg kicks in the first round, and then the two exchanged landed head punches in a torried pocket battle. Torres landed a huge right-hook left-hook punch combo to the head that rocked Namajunas before pressing her against the cage.
Still, Namajunas managed to recover and scored a takedown with about 30 seconds left in the period. She followed up with punches on the ground until the horn sounded.
In the second round, Namajunas landed with front kicks to the body, right hand counters and a lunging left hook to the head. Torres continued to score with kicks to the leg, as well as to the body.
Torres then out-scored Namajunas and defended a takedown until Rose stormed back in the round's final moments, landing a big left punch and a right to the head and ending the stanza pressing Tecia against the cage.
But Torres opened strong in the third round with fantastic linear front leg side kicks. She followed up with more, and then continued attacking the lead leg of Rose from the inside and outside as well.
Namajunas' lead leg was soon discolored from the blows, but she still managed to score a takedown late in the final round. Despite being wedged against the cage fence, Torres managed to control Rose's posture enough to avoid taking even a single strike while on the bottom.
After the final horn, the two women embraced, knowing they could very well fight one another again in the future.
Namajunas improves her record to 5-2 with this, her third-straight victory. Torres' record is no longer perfect as she drops to 7-1 overall. But neither woman's standing could suffer much from this close and skillful battle.
In 2013 Torres won a close decision over Namajunas after three exciting rounds. Both women looked much improved in this rematch, though the result was similarly close.
