Jessica Andrade became the new women’s strawweight champion at UFC 237 following her scary slam knockout of Rose Namajunas. And it was completely legal.
Andrade was being picked apart on the feet by Namajunas for majority of the first round as it looked like the defending champion would emerge victorious.
However, in the second round, as she was defending a kimura hold, Andrade picked Namajunas up and effectively slammed her on her head.
Namajunas was knocked out instantly but fortunately suffered no major damage as there were initial fears she might have broken her neck. It also led to many questioning whether the slam was illegal.
However, respected MMA referees John McCarthy and Marc Goddard explained why it wasn’t — the main reason being Andrade was defending herself from a submission.
Andrade, for one, was relieved that nothing serious happened to Namajunas, as she explained why her slam worked.
“I saw her lying there, that she was out, and I still landed two punches before the referee stepped in,” Andrade said (via MMA Fighting). “But I hadn’t realized how serious it was. I got worried because we train to go in there and fight and everyone comes out okay. She woke up later and I relaxed, ‘Okay, I can celebrate for real now because she’s fine. Everything went fine, I didn’t kill her [laughs].’ I didn’t imagine that would happen.
“I believe the pile driver worked because she kept holding my arm and I think she was going for a submission, but since I took her too high and moved her over my head and threw her, there was no way, she fell on her face and went out immediately.”
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