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The main event of UFC 237 ended with Jessica Andrade delivering a brutal piledriver to Rose Namajunas. But isn’t that illegal?

Saturday night’s UFC 237 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ended with huge bang when Jessica Andrade powerbombed her way out of a finesse fight against Rose Namajunas, knocking her opponent out with a slam in the second that earned her the UFC women’s strawweight title. You can watch the finish here, and we had to dig deep to find a legally authorized clip to share because the UFC isn’t exactly making it super accessible.

Maybe that scarcity is part of an effort to push more people to buy the pay-per-view through ESPN+ … or maybe it’s because it was an ugly knockout that saw Rose dumped directly onto her neck. Not the kind of thing you want people seeing on endless repeat while watching SportsCenter over Mother’s Day breakfast.

In addition to making us feel morally dubious for enjoying this kind of thing, the finish also had many wondering whether we’d just witnessed an illegal spike. ”Spiking the opponent to the canvas onto the head or neck (pile-driving)” is listed in the Unified rules of MMA as a foul, and wasn’t that just what happened? Not according to Marc Goddard, who was refereeing the fight.

Legendary referee Big John McCarthy also weighed in on the incident, declaring the finish legal.

And while we’re a bit unsure of Goddard’s 12 to 6 requirement, the Association of Boxing Commission fouls document clearly states a fighter must be ‘in control of their opponent’s body’ for a slam to be considered a spike. Here’s their clarification to the spiking rule:

A pile driver is considered to be any throw where you control your opponent’s body placing his feet towards the sky with his head straight down and then forcibly drive your opponents head into the canvas or flooring material. It should be noted when a fighter is placed into a submission hold by their opponent, if that fighter is capable of elevating their opponent they may bring that opponent down in any fashion they desire because they are not in control of their opponent’s body. The fighter who is attempting the submission can either adjust their position, or let go of their hold before being slammed to the canvas.

So basically anything other than a straight up Tombstone? Probably legal. What do you think, Maniacs?

Clay Guida was hoping to have a rematch against Nate Diaz, only for it to be shut down by a last-minute announcement.

UFC 237’s preliminary card opened up with a lightweight fight between Clay Guida and former UFC champion B.J. Penn. It was “The Carpenter” who picked up a unanimous decision win, dealing “The Prodigy” his seventh consecutive loss.

Guida entered the post-fight scrum with bandages on his face, ecstatic with the win. When asked whom he intends to face next, the UFC veteran immediately had a name in mind.

”There’s someone that still owes me some money from some hospital bills, and he knows who he is,” Guida responded. “I meant to say it in the post-fight interview.

“I’m still getting bills when Nate Diaz did this little thing (pointing to his left upper lip) from behind when I wasn’t paying attention. So Nate, it’s been ten years, man since I whooped your ass. You’ve had a long time to lick those wounds, man. I know that money’s running out. Do you want to built some stacks? Let’s do it, buddy.

”It was a fun fight back then, let’s do the ten-year reunion, man,” he continued. “No harm, no foul, let’s put one on for the sport, dude.”

Guida, however, was met with some disappointing news when one of the reporters announced the verbal agreement between Diaz and Anthony Pettis for a welterweight tiff at UFC 241.

”Geez, I sound stupid now,” Guida said upon finding out. “Alright. Well, hey, that’s gonna be a great fight. We got our hand raised against both of those guys and that’s gonna be a scrap.

“Geez, what the heck are the odds of that? Good for both of them. I guess (Nate’s) fighting again.”

Diaz vs. Pettis is planned to co-headline the event, which takes place on August 17th in Anaheim. It will be headlined by a heavyweight title rematch between Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic.

Clay Guida was hoping to have a rematch against Nate Diaz, only for it to be shut down by a last-minute announcement.

UFC 237’s preliminary card opened up with a lightweight fight between Clay Guida and former UFC champion B.J. Penn. It was “The Carpenter” who picked up a unanimous decision win, dealing “The Prodigy” his seventh consecutive loss.

Guida entered the post-fight scrum with bandages on his face, ecstatic with the win. When asked whom he intends to face next, the UFC veteran immediately had a name in mind.

”There’s someone that still owes me some money from some hospital bills, and he knows who he is,” Guida responded. “I meant to say it in the post-fight interview.

“I’m still getting bills when Nate Diaz did this little thing (pointing to his left upper lip) from behind when I wasn’t paying attention. So Nate, it’s been ten years, man since I whooped your ass. You’ve had a long time to lick those wounds, man. I know that money’s running out. Do you want to built some stacks? Let’s do it, buddy.

”It was a fun fight back then, let’s do the ten-year reunion, man,” he continued. “No harm, no foul, let’s put one on for the sport, dude.”

Guida, however, was met with some disappointing news when one of the reporters announced the verbal agreement between Diaz and Anthony Pettis for a welterweight tiff at UFC 241.

”Geez, I sound stupid now,” Guida said upon finding out. “Alright. Well, hey, that’s gonna be a great fight. We got our hand raised against both of those guys and that’s gonna be a scrap.

“Geez, what the heck are the odds of that? Good for both of them. I guess (Nate’s) fighting again.”

Diaz vs. Pettis is planned to co-headline the event, which takes place on August 17th in Anaheim. It will be headlined by a heavyweight title rematch between Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) made its presence known to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, last night (Sat., May 11, 2019) for UFC 237. In the main event, Strawweight queen Rose Namajunas finally made her return to the Octagon, looking to deny Jessica Andrade from giving her native Brazilian fans a new champion. Elsewhere on the card, Anderson Silva made the walk for what could possibly be the final time, Jose Aldo looked to destroy another dangerous contender, and Bethe Correia somehow found her way to the main card yet again.

It turned out to be a fun night of fights, so let’s take a look at the best techniques and performances of the night!

Brazil’s Much Needed Win

Jessica Andrade was crowned Strawweight queen last night in Rio de Janeiro, the first Brazilian to win a UFC title in his/her home country in what seems like a very long time.

Though the night was overall pretty full of action, it was a miserable night for Brazilian fans (recapped in further depth below). After a few hours of watching their favorite former champions and veterans get hammered and dominated by younger stars, Brazilian fans in attendance were not pleased.

The fight itself mirrored those fans’ situation. Andrade pushed forward valiantly in the early goings, but Namajunas was on fire. “Thug Rose” tee’d off on her marching foe, cutting open her foe with straight punches and repeatedly nailing Andrade with her left hook counter. It wasn’t like Andrade’s past title bid against Jedrzejczyk either, where Andrade marched through lots of punches with seemingly no effect.

Namajunas was hurting Andrade,

Andrade did not quit, however. The Brazilian continued to push forward, finding a success to build from with low kicks. Andrade committed very heavily to the low kicks and body shots — anything to slow down the frustratingly effective footwork of the champion. It was slowly beginning to work when Andrade wrapped up another single leg takedown, prompting Namajunas to attempt to counter with a kimura.

Instead, Andrade popped her head to the high crotch, where the counter to the kimura is a massive lift and slam, which ultimately ended the contest. For those local fans, I don’t know if Andrade’s amazing knockout and championship win is enough to overcome the bitter taste of Silva’s leg disintegrating in the co-main event, but it’s far better than the alternative.

Featherweight’s New Top Contender

In recent fights, Alexander Volkanovski has shown many of the tools of a champion. Dominating physical strength, excellent chain wrestling, smart distance kickboxing that leads him to wrestling exchanges, and an endless gas tank are among Volkanovski’s strong traits. More than anything else, Volkanovski bullies opponents, breaking their wills and bodies.

Last night, Volkanovski did not try to bully Aldo or rely on physicality all that much. Instead, the Aussie honed in on the small details, making sure to win the minute-to-minute exchanges of the fight. There were no seriously major moments for “The Great,” but he still won a clear-cut decision and vast majority of the fight.

It began with kicks. Volkanovski snapped out a quick lead leg kick to the inner thigh and mid-section, differing his target and focusing on speed to avoid counters. Afterward, Volkanovski would occasionally step into some punches, never boxing too long and allowing Aldo to grow comfortable. Whenever Aldo did start looking mean, Volkanovski would grab the Brazilian and jam him into the fence, where knees to the leg won Volkanovski yet more precious moments.

In future five round fights, this ability to focus on constantly winning the small battles will pay off.

No Country For Old Men

From top-to-bottom, old lions were repeatedly savaged by their younger counter parts.

Quite a few well-established names walked to the Octagon last night. Names like Nogueira, Aldo, Alves, Silva, Penn — veteran names who once held championship belts or at least challenged for them. Names that deserve the utmost respect from mixed martial arts (MMA) fans. Unfortunately for these legends and their fans, their opponents showed no such respect.

The cracks of age showed in different places. B.J. Penn actually fought fairly well in the opening five minutes, but against Clay Guida, who is admittedly no spring chicken himself, Penn fatigued. Guida pushed the pace and showed he still has some skin in the game, whereas Penn was forced entirely on the defensive for the final two rounds.

Jose Aldo, Thiago Alves and Anderson Silva all fell into something of the same trap. Each Brazilian allowed his opponent to throw a much higher volume of strikes, seemingly waiting for the perfect moment to spring a trap and end the contest. While no one’s moment ever materialized, Aldo and Alves found themselves on the wrong end of decisions where volume was the ultimate deciding factor. Both seemed aware of their situation in the third, but neither veteran fighter was able to really ramp it up enough to rally.

Silva may have suffered a similar fate, but a low kick in the closing minute of the first round shattered something in Silva’s formerly injured knee.

Lastly, Nogueira’s loss was a case of speed. The Brazilian elder had no problems with his timing or pulling the trigger, landing some pretty stiff left hands. Unfortunately, the speed difference was remarkably apparent, as Ryan Spann’s punches zoomed around Nogueira’s guard to knock him out.

To any recently retired mixed martial artists thinking of making a comeback … Maybe don’t?

Additional Thoughts

• Irene Aldana defeats Bethe Correia via third-round armbar: While it never should’ve found its way to the main card, this turned out to be a solidly entertaining fight and decent showcase for Aldana. Despite lacking in physicality, Correia kept up with her foe fairly well in the early kickboxing exchanges, landing some decent counter shots. However, the power and speed of Aldana would not be denied, as she continually landed the harder blows. Eventually, those strikes convinced Correia to shoot, granting Aldana top position when the Mexican athlete stuffed the shot and advanced into back mount.
• Warlley Alves defeats Sergio Moraes via third-round knockout (HIGHLIGHTS): In perhaps the best performance of his UFC career, Warlley Alves surgically picked apart “The Panther.” Alves destroyed the lead leg early, leaving Moraes fairly helpless. Even so, Moraes attempted to charge forward and spring into punches, but that’s difficult when the lead leg provides no base to explode from. Ultimately, Moraes’ attempts at offense only created more opportunities for Alves, who continued to chop at the leg while mixing in progressively more uppercuts. Eventually, a flurry along the fence saw Moraes duck down for too long, allowing Alves to slip in a fight-ending uppercut.
• Viviane Araujo defeats Talita Bernardo via third-round knockout (HIGHLIGHTS): Araujo proved to be the night’s most impressive debuting athlete. Up two weight classes and performing on short-notice, Araujo denied her opponents takedown attempts and picked her apart. There was a very apparent difference in the way each woman was delivering punches: Bernardo pushed with her arms, whereas Araujo was loose and turning strikes over with much more of her body weight behind them. In the final round, that difference proved the deciding factor, as Araujo’s crisp overhand smashed over the top of Bernardo’s jab to score the debuting fighter a devastating knockout victory.

For complete UFC 237: “Namajunas vs. Andrade” results and play-by-play, click HERE!

After losing to Jessica Andrade in Rio, Namajunas sounds like she may be done with fighting.

After a year away from competition, many wondered what kind of Rose Namajunas we’d see in the cage at UFC 237. The answer, it turns out, was the best damn “Thug Rose” we’ve ever seen. Her movement and striking had already been proven legit after two wins over Joanna Jedrzejczyk, but what we saw in Rio was a whole new level.

Unfortunately for Namajunas, that wasn’t enough to earn the win. After dominating Jessica Andrade through the first round, the powerful Brazilian landed a big slam in the second knocked “Thug Rose” out (watch the highlights here).

Interviewed in the cage, Namajunas sounded almost relieved to have lost her strawweight title, saying it felt like a huge pressure had been lifted off of her. She expanded on that comment with TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter and made it clear she was considering an end to her fighting career.

”It’s just a huge pressure, you always got to obsess about everything,” she said about the belt. “I think what it is, is prior to becoming a champ you put a lot of importance on getting the belt and all that stuff. It is important, but it’s only kind of financially important. Really, at the end of the day, it’s all about facing your fears and to me, I realized once I’ve become a champ and defending the belt, having the belt itself is … it’s cool, but it doesn’t mean as much as I think people put meaning on it.”

”It’s just a materialistic thing that ends up controlling your life, and really, it’s like … I went out there and had fun and I challenged myself. I have some many other things to look forward to. It’s just a part of me and it’s an accomplishment. Maybe I’ll get it again, maybe I won’t. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll never do this again. We’ll see.”

Namajunas didn’t seem particularly deflated by the loss and was even confident that a rematch would end differently.

“I definitely know I can beat her,” she said. “I just have to make sure that I want to and I want to do this.”

Soon after, Rose attended the UFC 237 post-event press conference and again voiced her thoughts on hanging up her gloves.

”I just want to do something else with my life right now,” she said. “I don’t know. We’ll see. I’m not going to make any decisions right now. I don’t know. It was just … hard to keep having fun with this.”

“I made it a point, a big motivation for me is to not waste my potential and stuff,” Namajunas said when asked if she’d be happy with her legacy if she retired now. “But maybe I should have said instead of ‘not waste my potential,’ like, ‘reach my potential.’ Like shoot for the top. Instead of kind of a negative thing. But I know if I sit down and think about it with some time, I’ll figure out mentally where I messed up. I already kind of know some of the reasons.”