Nina Ansaroff started off her UFC career by losing one fight after another, so it was easy to write the strawweight off. Besides, it always seemed that fighting took a backseat to being in the corner of her other half – bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes – so maybe scrapping in the Octagon was just a side gig to her.
Well, at UFC 231 last night she fought her toughest opponent yet in number-three ranked Claudia Gadelha. And Ansaroff pretty much kicked her butt, turning the 115-pound division’s rankings on its head.
As a kickboxing specialist, and sporting long, lanky limbs, Ansaroff had the immediate edge on the feet, although in the opening minute of the fight Gadelha swarmed her with punches to put her in reverse. But soon Ansaroff shifted back into “drive”, tagging the Brazilian with her jab and, at one point, nailing her with a sweet Tae Kwon Do sidekick chambered at the hip.
Gadelha did her best to neutralize that striking game with takedowns, and was successful in getting her foe down more than once. Too bad Ansaroff hit the “pause” button on any ground and pound she tried to initiate.
By the end, Ansaroff was picking away with her strikes and Gadelha was looking like she was thrown from a moving truck, and Ansaroff took the decision.
So now Ansaroff has beaten Angela Hill, Randa Markos and Gadelha. Who’s next?
The Hollywood star Tom Selleck has revealed in his new memoir “You Never Know” that…
The singer Sheryl Crow is speaking out this week to beg lawmakers to "act now"…
A place where everybody knows your name? Sounds great. Well, Cheers fans, you can get…
On January 1, 2023, the Hollywood star Jeremy Remner, who is best known for playing…
Brian Wilson, the legendary co-founder of the iconic band The Beach Boys, is reportedly set…
The country music world just got hit with a hotly anticipated new song, courtesy of…