Jessica Andrade beat Lauren Murphy from pillar to post for 15 minutes tonight at UFC 283 in Rio to earn a unanimous decision victory.
Round One:
Early inside leg kick for Andrade and then lands it again and one to the outside for good measure.
Another inside leg kick for Andrade. One to the outside. Again to the outside of the leg and then punches upstairs, but Murphy is mostly able to back away from those.
Andrade continues to land to that lead leg. Now a big hook for Andrade. Murphy already with some blood to the face. She’s trying to let her hands go, but Andrade barely notices as she looks to land more strikes.
Andrade drives right the way across the cage throwing left and right hands. Murphy able to land a takedown, but Andrade gets right back up.
Back to leg kicks for Andrade. Now a spinning backfist followed up with a kick as Andrade grows ever more confident in how this fight is going.
Hooks landing for Andrade.leg kick and Murphy tries to clinch up. Punches from Andrade snapping Murphy’s head back. Murphy somewhat of a punching bag here.
More punches upstairs for Andrade. Murphy responds with another takedown, but that buys her little respite as Andrade pops back up and tags her again before the round ends.
Round Two:
Body kick for Andrade. Light outside leg kick from Murphy. Leg kick for Andrade and punches upstairs to follow.
Murphy trying to hustle into the clinch, but Andrade lands an uppercut. Now body work and then a punch upstairs.
Andrade steps into a punch and then keeps pressing forward with several more clean punches landing.
Inside leg kick for the Brazilian. Hooks connect now. Spinning backfist attempt. Uppercut and then right hands.
Murphy’s face getting more bloodied here as the one-sided punishment continues. Jumping switch kick from Andrade. OUtside leg kick behind punches.
Solid three-pice combo for Andrade. Murphy with a spinning backfist that just glances the target. Leg kicks for Andrade gives Murphy an opportunity to grab a leg and drive for a takedown, but it’s Andrade who stuffs it and looks to get on top.
She’s unable to secure that and they go back upstairs with Andrade firing off more offense. Hard right hand lands. Murphy tries for a takedown and Andrade denies it.
Right hook for Andrade and then a relentless flurry of left and right hands in the final few seconds of the round. Murphy is getting beat up badly here, but it too tough for her own good to quit.
Round Three:
Leg kick for Andrade. Murphy trying to stick out the jab. Uppercut for Andrade. Jab for Murphy. Big punches from Andrade and Murphy’s legs buckled for a moment in amongst that barrage.
Inside leg kick from Andrade off a jab from Murphy. Flurry of left and right hands from Andrade. Inside leg kick. Now Andrade pushes Murphy up against the cage. She’s able to land the takedown, but Murphy is working on a kimura from her back and so Andrade soon decides to back off and get back to her feet.
Now Andrade firing off relentless left and right hands as she looks for a finish. Plenty of punches land but Murphy doesn’t go down.
Heavy right hook and then a left, then a leg kick. Rapid-fire jabs and then a right hook. More hooks. I amongst more punches Murphy does land a clipping counter-punch, but then it’s right back to eating punch after punch for her until mercifully the clock runs out and we can head to the decision.
Decision:
Really this fight could have been waved off by the referee well before the final bell due to the one-sided striking domination from Andrade throughout, but it goes to the scorecards and inevitably they are heavily swung in her favor for a unanimous decision victory (30-25 x2, 30-26).
