MMA

The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale Results: Joanna Jedrzejczyk Ends The Fued And Defeats Cláudia Gadelha

The bitter feud between Joanna Jędrzejczyk and Cláudia Gadelha is over. The TUF 23 drama is now over, and Joanna has two wins over the woman who has been her best rival and it didn’t come easy.

Gadelha dropped Joanna Champion early, and kept on her with fierce combinations and takedowns, refusing to stop coming forward. After such a successful run, it’s like Joanna forgot she was mortal. The first two rounds were nearly all Gadelha, but in round 3, the challenger clearly gassed. Joanna took advantage, but Gadelha would still be able to land good shots. In round 4, however … Joanna landed everything.

An argument for a 10-8 round 4 could easily be had, but this was truly a dog fight. Neither woman wanted to give either the edge, even in the 5th as Gadelha struggled to bring Jędrzejczyk to the ground, you could tell both of them were giving every ounce of their being to the battle in the cage, and yet Joanna would bounce out and look good doing it. It’s like she couldn’t get tired, and she’s still your strawweight champion.

Main Card

Joanna Jędrzejczyk def. Cláudia Gadelha via unanimous decision.

Andrew Sanchez def. Khalil Rountree via unanimous decision and becomes the winner of the TUF 23 men’s light heavyweight tournament.

Tatiana Suarez def. Amanda Cooper via d’arce choke (round 1) and becomes the winner of the TUF 23 women’s strawweight tournament.

Will Brooks def. Ross Pearson via unanimous decision. Brooks, the former Bellator lightweight champ got past a solid gatekeeper in Pearson, but didn’t look like he’s quite top ten UFC material yet.

Doo Ho Choi def. Thiago Tavares via KO (round 1). Three UFC fights for Ho Choi, three first round KOs. This guy is for real, and he makes it look easy.

Joaquim Silva def. Andrew Holbrook via KO (round 1). This huge KO took just 34 seconds…

Prelims

Gray Maynard def. Fernando Bruno via unanimous decision. Gray Maynard’s chin held up at featherweight, and despite calls for him to retire after four straight losses and going 1-5 since that fateful draw against Frankie Edgar, he looked good. He was tenacious, and wanted to get back to his wrestling despite the rock ’em sock ’em clip below. Maynard is clearly past his prime, but seeing him out-perform Bruno, specifically in the stamina department, was interesting. Good for Gray. Is featherweight really his weight class, though?

Matheus Nicolau def. John Moraga via split-decision

Josh Stansbury def. Cory Hendricks via unanimous decision

Cezar Ferreira def. Anthony Smith via unanimous decision

Fight Pass Prelims

Kevin Lee def. Jake Matthews TKO (round 1)

Li Jingliang def. Anton Zafir KO (round 1)