Holly Holm defeated Irene Aldana in the main event of the UFC on ESPN 16. The American fighter displayed pure domination against the rival who suffered a massive beating and couldn’t match Holm in this one.
Before this match, Aldana (12-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) was one of the UFC’s biggest prospects, but Holm (14-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) confidently stopped the Mexican’ surge. We practically haven’t seen anything from her side, and eventually, the judges all scored in her favor, 50-44, 50-45, 50-45.
And they had every reason for that, because Holm trashed the opponent from all sorts of angles and weapons. She would perform various punching combinations of multiple strikes, obliterating Aldana’s stance and defense,
It was obvious right from the start that the American is a much superior fighter in this bout, and that she has a more diverse gameplan. It included takedowns, leg kicks, a bit of wrestling; simply Holm beat Aldana in every way she could.
After two wins in seven matches, she now has two triumphs in a row, and that is something refreshing for the veteran’s legacy, which has been on the line following that nasty loss to Amanda Nunes. Talks about the rematch against the Lioness are again active following this match, but there were no official statements from the UFC.
As for Aldana, her two-win streak is stopped, and after beating Vanessa Melo and Ketlen Vieira, this loss will undoubtedly hurt her ambitions to reach the title fight anytime soon.
In other battles, the former UFC featherweight champion, Germaine de Randamie beat Julianna Pena via submission at 3:25 of the last round. It was a guillotine choke. It was a much more interesting fight that the headliner because Pena pushed de Randamie to the brink on several occasions.
In the co-main event, Carlos Felipe defeated Yorgan de Castro after a unanimous decision of the judges. The 25-year old Brazilian was much better, posting his first win in the UFC, ninth in the career. Felipe is said to be the next best thing in the heavyweight division.
One other guy recorded his first triumph in the organization, and he did it on debut. Dusko Todorovic from Serbia, knocked out Dequan Townsend in the second round, improving his record to 10 straight wins without a loss. Todorovic is a big prospect in the middleweight category, whose time is yet to come.