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The biggest weekend in UFC history is finally upon us and sandwiched in between UFC Fight Night 90 and UFC 200 is the UFC Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale. The event will be headlined by a women’s strawweight title fight as Joanna Jedrzejczyk defends against Claudia Gadelha. Also, Khalil Rountree faces Andrew Sanchez and Amanda Cooper faces Tatiana Suarez for the TUF 23 Championships.
Main Card
Main Event
UFC Women’s Strawweight Title Fight
Joanna Jedrzejczyk (11-0-0) (Champion) vs. Claudia “Claudinha” Gadelha (13-1-0)
Jedrzejczyk will be making the third defense of her championship, last defending it against Valerie Letourneau at UFC 193. Gadelha has won two of three under the UFC banner, last defeating Jessica Aguilar at UFC 190. Jedrzejczyk won the first bout between the two via a controversial decision at UFC On Fox 13. Prior to suffering the defeat to Jedrzejczyk, Gadelha has an undefeated streak that had lasted six years. This bout is going to be Jedrzejczyk’s striking against Gadelha’s wrestling, Jedrzejczyk uses her striking to keep Gadelha at bay to earn the decision win.
Co-Main Event
TUF 23 Light Heavyweight Finals
Khalil Rountree (4-0-0) vs. Andrew Sanchez (7-2-0)
Rountree will be making his UFC debut in this fight and he is a veteran of the Resurrection Fighting Alliance. Sanchez will also be making his UFC debut in this fight and he holds a win over UFC veteran Dustin Jacoby. Rountree made it to the finals of TUF 23 as a second chance fighter, he was eliminated in the opening round of the reality show. Sanchez is a former Resurrection Fighting Alliance Light Heavyweight Champion, he defended the belt once before heading to the UFC. Rountree has a great striking game and a weak ground game, Sanchez grounds and submits Rountree in the first.
TUF 23 Women’s Strawweight Finals
Amanda Bobby “ABC” Cooper (1-1-0) vs. Tatiana Suarez (3-0-0)
Cooper will be making her UFC debut in this fight and she did compete once under the Invicta FC banner. Suarez will also be making her UFC debut in this fight and she has spent her entire pro career until this point in the Gladiator Challenge promotion. Suarez has one of the more powerful wrestling games going right now, she grounds and submits Cooper in the first.
UFC Lightweight Division Fight
“Ill” Will Brooks (17-1-0) vs. Ross “The Real Deal” Pearson (19-10-0-1NC)
Brooks will be making his UFC debut in this fight and he is a former Bellator MMA Lightweight Champion. Pearson has rotated wins and losses in his last eight UFC fights, with his last fight being a win over Chad Laprise at UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Mir. Pearson’s striking game will make things interesting for a little while, but Brooks uses his wrestling to grind out a decision win.
UFC Featherweight Division Fight
Doo Ho “The Korean Superboy” Choi (13-1-0) vs. Thiago Tavares (20-6-1)
Choi is currently undefeated under the UFC banner, defeating both Sam Sicilia and Juan Manuel Puig. Tavares has won three of his last four under the UFC banner, most notably defeating Clay Guida at UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson III. Tavares has had trouble with good strikers throughout his career, Choi catches Tavares early for the first round finish.
UFC Lightweight Division Fight
Andrew Holbrook (11-0-0) vs. Joaquim “Netto BJJ” Silva (8-0-0)
Holbrook will be returning to action after a year-plus layoff, last defeating Ramsey Nijem at UFC On Fox 16. Silva has also competed just once in the UFC, where he defeated Nazareno Malegarie at UFC 191. These are two fighters with excellent ground games, Holbrook notches a close decision win here.
Preliminary Card
Fernando Bruno over Gray Maynard
John Moraga over Matheus Nicolau
Cory Hendricks over Josh Stansbury
Anthony Smith over Cezar Ferreira
Jake Matthews over Kevin Lee
Li Jingliang over Anton Zafir
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