UFC newcomer Lina Lansberg looked confident walking into the Octagon tonight at UFC Fight Night 95, but nothing could prepare her for the one-way traffic that was about to come her way in the shape of Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino, who lived up to her fearsome reputation with a dominant second round TKO Finish.
Round One:
The main event of the evening is underway!
Cyborg immediately presses forward and lands two straight punches as she works her way into the clinch and presses the newcomer into the cage.
Cyborg with knees to her opponent’s legs, then to the midsection. Lansberg trying to land knees of her own without much success.
Cyborg backs away for a moment and then hammers Lansberg with a combination before getting back into that clinch. A little space and Cyborg lands two right hooks, then returns to knee strikes.
Eventually the ref decides to separate the two and they go back to the center of the Octagon. They clinch in the center of the Octagon and it’s Lansberg who initiated that, but Cyborg just manhandles her over to the cage again, and soon after hoists her up and dumps her to the mat.
Cyborg immediately raining down ground and pound. Lansberg hangs tough and survives that onslaught, then works her way back to her feet.
Not letting her off the hook, Cyborg just pushes her straight back into the cage. She separates and lands some big shots which draw blood from Lansberg’s nose, and the Swede will no doubt be relieved to hear the horn for the end of the round.
Round Two:
Cyborg stalking her immediately and lands a couple of very hard punches straight down the pipe then unleashes a barrage of kicks for good measure.
Lansberg has offered nothing so far other than toughness. For a moment she is able to reverse Cyborg’s clinch against the cage, but it really is only for a brief few seconds, then Cyborg dumps her back down to the mat.
A few ground and pound punches for Cyborg and then she stands over her opponent and drops back into her guard. More blows hammer down and Lansberg’s bleeding a lot from her nose and pretty much just covering up now and trying to survive.
The ref is warning Lansberg to fight back, but she’s in her defensive shell now and isn’t coming back out. Cyborg continues to pound away to the head and body until the ref mercifully steps in to spare Lansberg from further punishment with 2.29mins of the second round gone.
So, WMMA’s most feared fighter steamrollers over the top of another fighter, and hopefully the next time she steps into the Octagon it will be at her natural weight class of 145lbs rather than a needless 140lb catchweight.
