“Andrade Coaches Screwed Her With Bad Advice”- Ben Askren

Former UFC fighter Ben Askren took to Twitter and broke down his predictions just as the UFC 251 heats up. ‘Funky’ would go onto to correctly predict the highly touted strawweight fight on the main card. He also made an apt observation regarding the cornering that took place in the bout.

UFC Strawweight Rose Namajunas was successful in her venture against Jessica Andrade at UFC 251 in Abu Dhabi. The fight was a rematch following an exciting first outing that saw ‘Bate Estaca’ finish Namajunas via head slam. However, ‘Thug Rose’ stamped her position in the division following a split decision victory.

UFC 251: Namajunas x Andrade via ‘Mystic’ Ben Askren

The fight played out primarily as a striking clinic, much to the surprise of MMA fans. Here, it should be mentioned that there were flurries of grappling exchanges that were sprinkled in for good measure. The bout was arguably more rounded in the stand-up department in comparison to the first outing at UFC 237.

The action oscillated back and forth with a significant improvement to Jessica Andrade in the striking department. She was much more measured in her approach on the feet and had rocked ‘Thug Rose’ on separate occasions. In turn. Namajunas was able to withstand the power punches of Andrade and maintain the brisk movement.

Going into the third round, former strawweight queen Rose Namajunas had suffered what seemed like a broken nose. Not to mention, Jessica Andrade picked up the pace and started searching for the finish ferociously. Through it all, the former TUF finalist weathered the storm with another victory on her record.

Moreover, the total strikes landed by the end of the fight were quite telling as to the level of productivity shown. The third round saw an exact split of 35 strikes each, however, ‘Thug’ broke away with rounds 1 and 2. The victory goes to show that Rose Namajunas remains one of the best pure strikers in women’s MMA.

The strawweight division has formerly been put on notice as Rose Namajunas has re-entered her name into the mix. The division is brimming with lethal talent, and it’s clear a trilogy fight may well be in the future of the aforementioned fighters.