April - 2015
SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
30
2. Carla Esparza vs Joanna Jedrejczyk – UFC 185
1. Jon Jones vs. Maurcio ‘Shogun’ Rua – UFC 128
Esparza entered this contest having picked up
four straight victories over Top 15 opponents,
including an incredibly dominant third round
submission over the fan favorite Rose Nama-
junes in the pair’s title fight at the TUF 20 Finale.
With crisp combinations and a powerful wres-
tling attack, ‘The Cookie Monster’ looked very
much the part of a dominant champion who
was well on her way to joining Ronda Rousey as
the face of women’s MMA. That is until she was
paired up with polish import Joanna Jedrejczyk.
Esparza’s gameplan was made evident as she
almost immediately shot for takedown early in
the fight. This surprised no one as it was her
strong top game that won her the belt in the
first place. The only problem: Jedrejczyk defend-
ed it. From this point on Esparza looked like a
fish out of water as her opponent repeatedly
threw her off followed by a series of huge shots
from up close. A visibly frustrated Esparza had
no answer for Jedrejczyk who eventually lit up
the champion with a hurricane of strikes against
the cage late in Round 2, forcing the referee to
step in and save her.
It is absolutely ming boggling to me that neither
of my colleagues included this absolute beat-
down on their list.
Shogun entered this contest having earned his
belt with a violent first round knockout over
then champion Lyoto Machida, handing his fel-
low Brazilian the first loss of his career. For fans,
Shogun’s coronation seemed inevitable as the
former Pride legend made his UFC debut after
wreaking havoc amongst Pride’s 205-pound di-
vision, which culminated in winning the 2005
PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Champion after
ratting off 5 straight wins in a single calendar
year. It seemed the UFC had found a champion
worthy of a long title reign. That is until he ran
into the pound-for-pound greatest fighter of his
generation.
Jones, who was making his second appear-
ance inside the cage in less six weeks, looked
very much the part of the legend killer as as he
planted a flying knee right between the eyes of
the champion mere seconds after the referee
signaled for the start of the bout. Jones never
let off the gas as he battered and bloodied Sho-
gun with a barrage of strikes, including a bone
shattering elbow to the skull of his opponent,
for two and half round. Finally after a perfectly
placed hook to the body, the champion crum-
pled against, succumbing to the might that was
Jon Jones. The rest, as they say, is history.
