JESSICA ANDRADE produced a stunning knockout to end Rose Namajunas' reign as UFC strawweight world champion. The Brazilian - fighting on home turf - hoisted her opponent up before slamming her down on to the canvas in brutal fashion. 3 Jessica Andrade knocked out champion Rose Namajuna in the second round last night Credit: Getty - Contributor Namajunas, 26, landed on her neck and there were fears she could easily have broken it due to the nature of the fall. Although knocked unconscious, the American came around soon after and thankfully there was no serious damage done. But plenty of viewers were concerned about her welfare. One person tweeted: "F***. I love MMA but one day someone's not getting up from a slam like that." Another wrote: "Nasty to land like that lucky didn’t snap her neck." A third added: "She could have at least checked she was OK, did nothing but celebrate, Rose could have broke her neck man, hate to see that." STUNNING COMEBACK Andrade, 27, struggled in the opening five minutes as 'Thug Rose' dominated early on. But with the pair tussling mid-way through the second round, the 'Bate Estaca' ('Pile Driver' in Portuguese) produced her moment of magic, sending the adoring Rio crowd - and social media - wild. One said: "Wow what a finish." Another wrote: "Brutal!" And others laughed at commentator Dominick Cruz who declared she "can't lift there" just moments before the dramatic finish. The victory means she is now a world champion for the first time in her career, taking the belt Namajunas had held since November 2017. WOW! WOW! WOW! 😱 Jessica Andrade with the SLAM KO OUT OF OF NOWHERE! You won't see a crazier finish in a title fight!#AndNew #UFC237 pic.twitter.com/WuTl1OcTQq — UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) May 12, 2019 Live Blog MAN UTD 1 (10) VILLARREAL 1 (11) Penalties heartbreak for Red Devils as De Gea misses JEEPERS KEEPERS Agony for Man Utd as De Gea misses after epic shootout goes down to GOALIES Live Blog FOOTBALL NEWS LIVE Zidane QUITS Real Madrid, Antonio Conte leaves Inter Milan Live Blog RED DEVILS NEWS Europa League final build-up as Maguire NOT yet ruled out, Ronaldo LATEST ZINE ENOUGH Zidane 'quits Real Madrid with immediate effect' after troubled Bernabeu season FAKE PAUL Tommy Fury slams Jake Paul and claims Molly-Mae leaked DMs aren't real in rant Pictured FANDEMONIUM Man Utd fans in party spirit early with PLENTY of pints in rammed Gdansk bars WEIGH TO GO Conor McGregor says he'll make 'championship weight' for Poirier UFC trilogy LEGEND GONE Johnny Everard dead - Former Tipperary All Ireland winning hurler dies aged 97 SHIELD EXIT Larne enquire about Dundalk ace Chris Shields with Linfield and Glentoran keen The American admitted: "It's just a huge pressure off my shoulders," after losing her crown. Elsewhere on the night of UFC 237, Jared Cannonier beat Anderson Silva with a first-round knockout and Irene Aldana defeat Bethe Correia via submission in round three. Meanwhile, Alexander Volkanovski and Laureano Staropoli earned victories over Jose Aldo and Thiago Alves respectively with unanimous decisions. 3 Andrade pulled off the brilliant move despite the seemingly impossible circumstances Credit: Getty - Contributor<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.<doc-sep>Just when it looked like Rose Namajunas was going to retain her UFC strawweight title after a dominating for the first round and a half in the first of their main event fight in Brazil on Saturday night, Jessica Andrade stunned the world by picking Namajunas up and slamming her on her head. Namajunas was knocked out in the move – and was lucky she didn’t break her neck – and just like that Andrade became the new UFC strawweight champ with the second-round KO win. It was a wild finish to a fight that Namajunas, who hadn’t fought in 13 months, had dominated so much until that moment. UFC fighters and media were stunned: Keep ya head up @rosenamajunas 🙏🏼 You made it to the special league – League of the #UFCCHAMPIONS ✊🏼 it stays 4ever — Joanna Jedrzejczyk (@joannamma) May 12, 2019 I respect everything about @rosenamajunas even without the @ufc belt she will always be a champion. — CRIS CYBORG (@criscyborg) May 12, 2019 So much respect for you @rosenamajunas with the way you take on life! All about the challenges we put ourselves through to really find out who we are! #warrior — Cody Garbrandt (@Cody_Nolove) May 12, 2019 Wow. Very surprised. Congrats to the new champion @jessicammapro #ufc237 — Max Griffin (@maxPAINmma) May 12, 2019 Thank god Rose is ok! I was really nervous watching that. The neck stuff freaks me out especially being a victim of neck injuries as well. #UFC237 — Aljamain Sterling (@FunkMaster_UFC) May 12, 2019 If you didn’t know, bate estaca means pile driver. Now you know why they call her that. 😱#ufc237 — Eryk Anders (@erykanders) May 12, 2019 Parabéns @jessicammapro ! Campeã do UFC com todo mérito do mundo, fazendo jus ao apelido! Congratulations Jessica Andrade! @ufc World Champion, totally deserved, and living up to your nickname! @UFCBrasil #UFCRIO — Demian Maia (@demianmaia) May 12, 2019 Jessica Andrade picked up and slammed Rose Namajunas. Champ went out when she hit the canvas. Unreal. One of the best fights of 2019 for sure. Andrade is the new UFC 115lb champion after a violent finish. Wow. — Josh Gross (@yay_yee) May 12, 2019 What the. Andrade just KO slammed Namajunas in the 2nd. She is the new 115 pound champ. That was scary and vicious. — Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 12, 2019 I need to write the recap on this and I just spent like a minute basically starting at my screen in disbelief — Dave Doyle (@davedoylemma) May 12, 2019 Slam is legal in instances where the fighter being slammed has the option to disengage hands and break their fall. (That was scary as hell though.) — Mike Chiappetta MMA (@MikeChiappetta) May 12, 2019<doc-sep>
Jessica Andrade lived up to her nickname as the ‘piledriver’ with a brutal slam that knocked out Rose Namajunas as she becomes the new UFC strawweight champion. Following a rough night for Brazilian legends, Andrade — known as ‘Bate Estraca’, which translates to ‘piledriver’ — gave the Rio de Janeiro crowd something to cheer about with her comeback victory as she claims the 115-pound title in a jaw-dropping performance to cap off UFC 237. Andrade didn’t have many highlight reel moments during the fight but she only needed one to end Namajunas’ night to claim her first UFC championship. A year off didn’t seem to affect Namajunas whatsoever in the early going as she was fast out of the gate with a precision striking attack that immediately starting giving Andrade headaches. Striking from a distance, Namajunas was just peppering Andrade with her punches while constantly targeting the same spot on her face. Less than a minute into the fight, Andrade had a cut near her eye thanks to the constant barrage of shots she was eating from the former ‘Ultimate Fighter’ finalist. Namajunas’ footwork as also giving Andrade problems as she was hitting and moving before the aggressive Brazilian could really mount any kind of offense. https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1127430739094528000 Andrade did manage to bull rush forward to get into the clinch but Namajunas latched onto an arm in a kimura attempt and even after being slammed to the ground, she was still hunting for the submission. Andrade escaped but even in her most dominant position on top, Namajunas was the one threatening for the finish. As it turns out that slam was a harbinger of the end for Namajunas one round later. Before that happened, Namajunas was in complete control even landing a knockdown late in the first round after she connected with a knee to Andrade’s head that put her on the canvas for a moment. As the second round got started it was more of the same from Namajunas with rapid fire combinations that kept Andrade on the end of her punches. While most fighters would be frustrated by this point in the fight, Andrade just continued with her relentless attacks until she finally pushed forward and got inside to look for another takedown. Story continues Much like the first slam in the opening round, Andrade secured her grip around Namajunas’ leg and hoisted her into the air with hardly any effort. Namajunas again looked for the kimura but this time her decision to hold onto the arm ended in disaster as Andrade brought her crashing back down to Earth with her head meeting the canvas in a violent collision. Andrade continued the assault but the referee quickly rushed into rescue Namajunas, who was already knocked out from the slam. https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1127431854045319168 The end came at 2:58 into the second round as Andrade celebrated her championship victory. “I was very certain what I had to do in that second round,” Andrade said following the win. “I never threw that move, I never pile-drived in the UFC, that’s my nickname, I’m very happy to be able to do that. I knew she was slowing down and I wanted to knock her out.” It was a dramatic ending for Andrade after she was struggling to deal with Namajunas’ striking throughout the first seven minutes in the fight. All that mattered in the end was her ability to land that one huge slam that put Namajunas down and out. “It’s just a huge pressure off my shoulders,” Namajunas said after losing the strawweight title. Based on that statement it’s tough to say if Namajunas will call for an immediate rematch after winning the majority of the fight before she suffered the slam knockout. As for Andrade, she becomes champion in her second attempt and now she has a ton of options in terms of what comes next. Michelle Waterson has been on a great win streak lately and there’s an upcoming fight between Tatiana Suarez and Nina Ansaroff at UFC 238 that will most likely crown the most worthy No. 1 contender in the division unless Namajunas pushes for the rematch.