Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Strawweight talents Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade dueled for the gold this past weekend (Sat., May 11, 2019) at UFC 237 from inside Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For an athlete only walking into her 12th professional fight, Namajunas has pretty much already seen it all. “Thug Rose” lost her first title shot in just her fourth pro fight, working her way back up the ranks in the next three years to regain No. 1 contender status. There was no stumble in her second opportunity, as she defeated Joanna Jedrzejczyk twice to claim the title. While Namajunas was dealing with Jedrzejczyk and her back injuries, Andrade was running through top contenders like a hot knife through butter. Perhaps the most intimidating Strawweight on the roster, “Bate Estaca” has pummeled or slammed all of her recent competition. When Namajunas announced she was ready to return to the cage, there was a clear fight to make. It lived up to the hype. Namajunas opened the fight with remarkably accuracy. Andrade charged forward as everyone expected, but Namajunas danced around her, landing stinging jabs and leaving the Brazilian swinging at air. Andrade was not going to go away easily, however, as the Brazilian battled back with a pair of big takedowns. “Thug Rose” was unbothered, however, nearly sinking in an arm bar before landing a brief takedown of her own. When the two returned to their feet, Namajunas’ jabs and counter hook continued to land with great consistency. On the other side, Andrade was still having difficulty landing punches, but her low kicks were beginning to dig into the thigh more often. By the end of the round, Andrade’s face was badly bloodied, and the Brazilian was far behind. Neither woman changed strategies; if anything, the two committed further. Namajunas’ jab was snapping back Andrade’s head with an unhealthy regularity, and when Namajunas did fully plant her feet to explode into power shots, they generally landed as well. However, Andrade really doubled down on the low kicks and body shots, which helped her goal of slowing Namajunas down majorly. Several minutes into the round, Andrade managed to jam Namajunas into the fence with a single leg attempt. When Namajunas reached down to latch onto a kimura, Andrade switched her head position to the high-crotch position. From there, Namajunas continued to hang onto the submission hold, which makes it an extremely easy lift for Andrade. “Bate Estaca,” or pile driver, did not fail to live up to her moniker. Andrade picked Namajunas up high into the air and brought her down directly onto the back of her head, ending the fight in sudden and violent fashion. Both of these women should be proud of their performances. For Andrade, things were not going well at all. She was getting picked apart, and Namajunas’ shots were doing real damage. Fortunately, Andrade showed real composure in sticking to the game plan, forcing her way into the pocket with low kicks and body shots. It was slight, but the momentum was shifting, and Andrade’s situation was improving before the sudden slam knockout. There was still a whole lot of time for Andrade’s bodywork and kicks to build up and take effect if the slam didn’t happen. As for Namajunas, her kickboxing really is the division’s best; she’s not just a bad stylistic match up for Jedrzejczyk. She slid around the Octagon with extreme grace, picking her shots smartly and accurately, and did a lot of damage to a woman who generally looks unfazed while getting kicked in the face. Unfortunately, it came down to a single bad mistake from Namajunas to hang onto the kimura. When hunting for the kimura, it must be understood that the outside single/high-crotch is a really bad position to finish. If you’re the fighter attacking the arm, it’s absolutely imperative to drop your weight and sit before the opponent starts to lift. Otherwise, the slam is going to happen, and your arms are too tied up to protect your face. Realistically, Namajunas could have learned that lesson against many foes with fewer consequences, but Andrade’s raw strength made it quite the costly mistake. Jessica Andrade captured the Strawweight title in vicious fashion. Who should Andrade face in her first title defense? For complete UFC 237: “Namajunas vs. Andrade” results and play-by-play, click HERE!<doc-sep>Jessica Andrade is the new UFC women's strawweight champion. She earned that title with a violent, second-round slam knockout of Rose Namajunas at UFC 237 on Saturday night in Brazil. The technique, Andrade driving Namajunas down to the mat head and neck first, was a legal one. It was well within the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. Regulators agree on that fact. The big question coming out of this weekend, though, is not if such a vicious slam is legal -- it's whether or not it should be. According to the Unified Rules of MMA: "Any throw with an arc to its motion is to be considered a legal throw." In addition, if a submission is being attempted by one fighter, his or her opponent is able to pick that fighter up and "bring that opponent down in any fashion they desire because they are not in control of their opponent's body." Andrade's slam met both criteria; it had an arc and Namajunas was attempting a kimura submission at the time. It was legal. An illegal slam is a very specific violation and extremely rare in MMA. It is defined in the rules as a "pile driver," where a fighter controls the opponent's body, "placing their feet up in the air with their head straight down and then forcibly drives the opponent's head into the canvas or flooring material." Namajunas was knocked out by the legal slam and Andrade was ruled the winner via TKO by referee Marc Goddard. The angle in which Namajunas' head hit the mat was difficult to watch, but Namajunas did not go to the hospital afterward, her agent, Brian Butler, told ESPN's Ariel Helwani. Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) executive director Cristiano Sampaio told ESPN that he has already requested that the topic of slams be brought up this month on the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports (ABC) rules and regulations committee conference call. Sampaio, whose agency regulated UFC 237, is a member of that committee. "Whatever is decided, I am sure fighters' safety will always be the No. 1 priority," Sampaio wrote in an email statement. "And I have also requested an input from CABMMA's medical committee. Hopefully by July, in the ABC's annual conference, we can come to conclusions whether or not this rule should be improved." Jessica Andrade's KO slam of Rose Namajunas was ruled legal because it had an arc and Andrade, who was defending against a submission attempt, was not considered in control of her opponent's body. Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images Dr. John Neidecker, the vice president of the Association of Ringside Physicians (ARP), told ESPN that while the kind of slam Andrade used was dangerous, a straight up-and-down spike of the head into the mat is likely to be what would put fighters "more at risk" for short- and long-term damage -- even paralysis. "The most dangerous thing as far as a neck is concerned is that head-on collision, that axial pressure going straight down the cervical spine," Neidecker, a sports medicine and orthopedics specialist, said. "So if you're doing a slam that is going straight up and down, you're definitely putting somebody more at risk for that type of impact. "When you're having that arc [on a slam], you're really taking away that component of axial pressure down the neck. You may get more hyper extension or hyper side-bending to the neck, and that can cause injury, but that's not going to cause the catastrophic injuries you see with paralysis like an axial spine blow does. There's a potential of injury to the neck with any type of slam, but there's the potential for injury with pretty much everything in MMA. That's the name of the game." The slam rule is written so specifically, because of the desire to keep "fighting as limitless as possible in the cage," within reason when it comes to health and safety, according to California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) executive officer Andy Foster, who also chairs the ABC's medical committee. "Fighters get damaged and they get paid to get damaged. That's what they're there for. They know the risk." John McCarthy The slam rule dates back to the original writing of the Unified Rules in 2001. Legendary referee John McCarthy said there was a movement at the time to ban slams after Tito Ortiz knocked out Evan Tanner with one at UFC 30 just months earlier. McCarthy said he brought DVDs to the meeting of wrestling slams and judo tosses from the 1996 Summer Olympics to show the other regulators that these were already accepted practices in other sports. "This is all legal right now in the Olympic Games," McCarthy said he told those gathered. "Every one of these throws were legal in their sports, and you're gonna say they're not legal now in MMA?" A consensus was built and that's how the current slam rule came to be, said McCarthy, who began refereeing fights at UFC 2 in 1994 before retiring last year to pursue color commentary with Bellator. McCarthy, who also is on the ABC rules and regulations committee, said he stands by the language as currently constituted. He said if Namajunas didn't want to get slammed that way, she would have released the submission. "That's her choice," McCarthy said. "She made a choice. She's an intelligent fighter, and she suffered the consequences of a bad decision. Should we sit there and say we should change the rule? Absolutely not." McCarthy acknowledges that it was a dangerous slam, but added that knockouts of any other kind are dangerous, too. It's hard to legislate the danger out of MMA, he said. "Fighters get damaged and they get paid to get damaged," McCarthy said. "That's what they're there for. They know the risk. And you cannot take fighting and make it so that no one gets hurt. It's not gonna happen. Every time someone steps on a football field, there's a possibility they can be paralyzed for the rest of their life. Same thing with basketball." The UFC is now on ESPN and ESPN+.<doc-sep>Michael Bisping describes how Jessica Andrade was able to win the women's strawweight title from Rose Namajunas. For more UFC action, sign up for ESPN+ http://plus.espn.com/ufc. (2:13) Saturday's UFC 237 card in Rio de Janeiro did not go well for the country of Brazil -- until the championship main event. Brazilian strawweight Jessica Andrade (20-6) claimed UFC's 115-pound title with a stunning knockout of Rose Namajunas at 2 minutes, 58 seconds of the second round. The finish came when Andrade lifted Namajunas (9-4) into the air and slammed her on the back of her head. The bout was quickly waved off. Namajunas recovered and exited the cage unassisted. Andrade, 27, scored just the fourth slam knockout in a title fight in UFC history and the first since Matt Hughes' dramatic slam of Carlos Newton at UFC 34. It was a massive victory for Andrade, who was fighting in her native country. Earlier in the night, the Brazilian crowd watched several of its legends lose, including Anderson Silva, Jose Aldo and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Silva's defeat was particularly demoralizing, as he suffered a knee injury in the opening round. "I was certain of what I had to do in the second round," Andrade said. "I never did that move before in the UFC, the pile driver. That's what I do. It's my nickname." Namajunas spoke to reporters at the postfight news conference, and her manager, Brian Butler, said she would not be transported to the hospital. "She is clear-headed and being very gracious about the loss," he said. After the loss, Namajunas expressed uncertainty about her future in MMA, saying, "Going into this one, I was like, 'This might be the last time I ever do this.' But we'll see. We'll take it one day at a time." Asked if she meant she was contemplating retirement, Namajunas said, "I don't know. We'll see. I'm not gonna make no decisions right now. It's just hard to keep having fun with this."<doc-sep>While some wondered if Andrade’s pile-drive was a legal move, given that MMA rules generally prohibit spiking an opponent to the canvas onto the head or neck, veteran referee Big John McCarthy explained on Twitter that when Namajunas “goes for the armbar she has a choice to either let go of the armbar or try and hold onto it and go for the ride that Andrade is going to put on her.”<doc-sep>
Despite getting outclassed on her feet through nearly two full rounds, Jessica Andrade coerced the UFC women's strawweight title through sheer strength and force. Andrade (20-6) picked up reigning 115-pound champion Rose Namajunas and slammed her on top of her head and neck in Round 2 to bring a violent end to their UFC 237 main event bout at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro via second-round knockout. Referee Marc Goddard instantly waved off the fight at 2:58 of the second round after Namajunas (8-4) was knocked out cold from the impact. "I was very certain in what I had to do in that second round," Andrade said. "I never threw that move, I never piledrived anyone in the UFC. That's my nickname and I wanted to do that. I knew she was slowing down." Can't get enough UFC? Subscribe to my podcast State of Combat with Brian Campbell where we break down everything you need to know in the Octagon. Namajunas, who entered the fight on a 13-month layoff due to injury following a pair of exciting title wins over Joanna Jedrzejczyk (who defeated Andrade in 2017), put forth a blistering first round that acted like a highlight reel of her incredible evolution as a striker. Entering with advantages of three inches in both height and reach, Namajunas landed stiff jabs to open a cut above Andrade's left eye and put forth a clinic on footwork and changing angles to offset Andrade's pressure. Andrade, 26, a former bantamweight who has reinvented herself as a knockout puncher at 115 pounds, was willing to take the damage throughout in order to get close enough and twice got her hands on Namajunas in the opening round for slam attempts that were thwarted by the champion securing Kimura attempts while in midair to minimize the impact of the landing. In Round 2, Andrade continued with her relentless pressure and began to catch Namajunas in comprising situations as she backed up in straight lines with her hands down. Eventually she got close enough for a third slam attempt that saw Namajunas' commitment to try and hook a kimura leave her neck exposed to the slam. "It's just a huge pressure off my shoulders," Namajunas cryptically said after the fight. Namajunas had made a curious decision earlier in the year to pass up a chance to defend her title in March against Andrade in Las Vegas. Instead, she insisted that the two fight in Andrade's home country of Brazil and explained that making the fight as difficult as possible would help bring out the best in her. For one round, it appeared as if Namajunas' bet was paying off. But Andrade's toughness and rugged determination to stalk forward without ceasing helped her stay in the fight, just as she did in her title loss to Jedrzejczyk two years ago when she landed hard punches late in the fight despite being down on the scorecards. While it was Andrade's stamina and pressure that allowed her to get close enough to Namajunas to deliver the finishing blow, it was her impressive strength that won her the title in a finish that was even more alarming than Andrade's one-punch knockout of Karolina Kowalkiewicz last September. Andrade now owns the most wins in UFC history by any female fighter with 11. "I'm very happy but this is really his belt," an emotional Andrade said as she handed the belt to her coach, Gillard Parana. "If he hadn't put the gym together 10 years ago, I wouldn't be here." CBS Sports was with you for every punch, kick and submission attempt from Brazil with our live blog below. If you are having trouble viewing the blog, please click here. UFC 237 card/results Jessica Andrade (c) def. Rose Namajunas via second-round TKO (slam and punches) Jared Cannonier def. Anderson Silva via first-round TKO (injury) Alexander Volkanovski def. Jose Aldo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Laureano Staropoli def. Thiago Alves via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) Irene Aldana def. Bethe Correia via third-round submission (armbar) Ryan Spann def. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira via first-round TKO (punches) Thiago Moises def. Kurt Holobaugh via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27) Warlley Alves def. Sergio Moraes via third-round TKO (punches) Clay Guida def. B.J. Penn via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27) UFC 237 updates, highlights Thanks for stopping by.