Liz Carmouche was very much in the ascendancy tonight against the tough Jessica Andrade, finally finishing her in the second round after a sustained ground and pound assault.
Both ladies immediately get going with Carmouche landing a leg kick and then Andrade closing the distance and firing bakc with her own offense.
They clinch up against the cage and it’s not long before Carmouche lands a big takedown. Andrade goes to her knees, but Carmouche is sticking close to her. Andrade gets up to her feet though and Carmouche keeps her pressed up against the cage. They switch positions a couple of times as they try to assert their authority in the clinch.
Carmouche looking for a takedown and Andrade threatens with a guillotine. Carmouche gets her down anyway and is able to move to side control. Andrade rolls to her knees, stands up and simultaneously sets up a big takedown of her own which she lands successfully.
Good stuff from Andrade and she follows that up by locking in the guillotine choke and dropping back with it. Carmouche attempts to counter by posturing up and slamming her opponent down, but Andrade’s still locked in tight. Carmouche seems ok though and is landing a few knees from inside Andrade’s guard as the round ends.
Onto round two and the two are exchanging kicks in the middle of the cage until Carmouche suddenly swoops down and produces a big takedown. She moves into side control and then mount, raining down big ground and pound.
Andrade gives up her back and Carmouche flattens her out and is hammering down more hard shots. Then she looks for the rear-naked choke. Andrade’s defending as best she can and it’s enough for now as she’s able to roll to her back. Carmouche still very much in control though and as Andrade gives up her back again she unleashes some brutal elbows to her opponent’s head.
The referee’s looking closely at this one, but is letting Andrade fight on. Back in full mount Carmouche is landing more strikes and it’s one way traffic here. Andrade tries to roll a couple of more times, but just can’t escape, and with Carmouche continuing to feed her a steady diet of strikes the ref mercifully steps in and calls an end to the contest with 3.57mins of the second round gone.
So, a dominant display from Carmouche that confirms she’s going to remain one of the leading fighters in the woman’s bantamweight division for some time to come.
