Gabriella Fernandes produced one of the biggest women’s upsets of the year earlier this morning (Sat., Nov. 23, 2024) at UFC Macau LIVE on ESPN+ from inside Galaxy Arena in Macau, China, as the Brazilian fighter delivered a shocking submission victory over surging favorite Wang Cong. This comes right after Fernandes learned that her sister had recently passed away.
Given Cong’s incredible UFC debut earlier this year (watch HERE), most fight fans were expecting her to steamroll Fernandes and punch her ticket to the women’s flyweight top 15. After all, Cong possessed an undefeated MMA record coming into today, holds a win over Valentina Shevchenko in kickboxing, and looked to have all the ingredients to be a future title challenger.
Unfortunately for Cong, there are levels to MMA and Fernandes proved that in the early going. She was able to withstand Cong’s incredible punching power and precise shot selection. Fernandes was even hanging in the pocket welcoming the action. Fists started to fly and it led to Fernandes landing a nasty left hand that dropped Cong to the ground in the second round. Fernandez quickly rushed in, grabbed a hold of the rear-naked choke, and eventually put Cong to sleep.
Check out the final moments below:
SHE DROPPED HER #UFCMacau pic.twitter.com/A5uTF8244T
— UFC (@ufc) November 23, 2024
GABRIELLA FERNANDES PULLS OFF THE UPSET AGAINST WANG CONG #UFCMACAU pic.twitter.com/k1a6ai1DHi
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 23, 2024
Fernandes, 31, was coming off a split-decision win over Carli Judice her last time out so she knows what it’s like to taste victory inside of the Octagon. However, nobody expected her to show up quite like this — days after learning of her sister’s death — and deliver an incredible upset submission to fraud check the highly-touted Cong.
For complete UFC Macau results, coverage, and highlights, click HERE.