Irene Aldana earned a completely one-sided decision victory over Vanessa Melo in front of her adoring Mexican fans tonight at UFC Fight night 159.
Round One:
Melo coming up a bit short with punches, but lands a low kick. Right hand gets through for Aldana. Now a hard leg kick for Aldana.
Aldana playing matador to the bull here as Melo presses forward. Melo throwing punches, but only hitting her opponent’s guard for now.
This time Leo works to the body too, but Aldana responds with a cleaner body punch of her own. Snapping jab from Aldana.
Winging punches from Melo surprise Aldana for a moment. jab again for Aldana. Kick for Melo. Grazing left hand from Aldana as Melo comes up short again with a punch.
low leg kick from Aldana now. Now a punch to the body. Again to the body, and now a third time.
Nice counter leg kick from Aldana. Now the inside of the leg gets a taste of Aldana’s shin too. Jab for Aldana and then follows up with a one-two.
Another jab and then a leg kick lands for the hometown favorite. Melo still not really finding her range against the taller fighter. Hard leg kick connects from Aldana. Two ripping punches to the body. Now a punch upstairs. Aldana enjoying herself out there as the round comes to a close.
Round Two:
Hard left hook for Aldana to start the second. Melo bites down on the mouthpiece and charges forward with a series of punches, but doesn’t really get through the guard.
The jab still working for Aldana and now the leg kick too. Straight right for Aldana now, and a solid body punch for good measure.
jab to the body. Side kick. Punch to the body. Melo with a body punch too and then tries to go upstairs.
Cuffing left hook from Aldana. Now a spinning back kick to the body. Jab keeping Melo at bay. Melo tries for a takedown, but that doesn’t pay off.
She goes back to striking, but Aldana lands a clean one-two. Melo just being completely outclassed here. She does land a leg kick though. left hook for Aldana and then a punch to the body.
Aldana doubles up on the straight right. Clipping left hand lands for Melo. Hard leg kick for Aldana. Double jab connects. Stepping jab now.
Melo charges forward and eats a jab straight to the face. Nice right hand for Aldana. She tries for a head kick, but misses and Melo’s also fails in response.
Body punch for Melo and then a punch upstairs. One-two for Aldana. Aldana looks to go to the body with a punch, but then changes to go upstairs. Melo lands with a punch, but the high quality work is still almost exclusively from Aldana.
Round Three:
Punch lands and a leg kick from Aldana. Now a question mark kick from Aldana. Melo trying to clinch up against the cage, but nothing doing and Aldana goes for a knee as she breaks away.
Leg kick from Melo. left hook for Aldana. Push kick to the body from Aldana, but Melo lands with a punch in response. Melo flurries, but not much comes of it.
Jab landing nicely for Aldana. Melo doing her best to respond. Spinning heel kick from Aldana just whizzes past Melo’s head.
Jabs feeling out from Aldana and then a right hand. Now a body punch. And again. Grazing left. hard left hook now from Aldana. Purposeful jab and then a right hand again.
Lots of power from Aldana into a leg kick. Back to the left hook. Melo showing a good chin though. Spinning kick from Aldana misses.
Left hand gets through from Melo as she presses forward. Right hand from Aldana. Jab for Aldana. Now the right hand. Elbow misses but connects to the body with a punch.
Aldana doubling up with the right hand. Kicks coming in too as she tries for a finish. One-two. Spinning back kick to the body. Spinning backfist from Melo misses.
Jab for Aldana and then a right hand. Hard right hand from Aldana. Another kick. She’s trying so hard to get the finish, but Melo just won’t go down, even as she lands own final big uppercut to the body.
Decision:
Absolutely no doubt about the winner here with Aldana picking Melo apart for the full 15 minutes with a nice variety of strikes
to earn a unanimous decision victory (30-26 x3).
