Taila Santos Drops, Submits Joanne Wood In Dominant Win – UFC Vegas 43 Highlights

Taila Santos#10 ranked UFC flyweight contender, Taila Santos made short work of the returning #5 rated, Joanne Wood on short notice on the main card of UFC Vegas 43 tonight — stopping the Scottish striker with a late opening round rear-naked choke. Santos, who now moves to 4-1 in her five-fight UFC stint which began back […]

Taila Santos

#10 ranked UFC flyweight contender, Taila Santos made short work of the returning #5 rated, Joanne Wood on short notice on the main card of UFC Vegas 43 tonight — stopping the Scottish striker with a late opening round rear-naked choke.

Santos, who now moves to 4-1 in her five-fight UFC stint which began back in February 2019 in her native Brazil, replaced original opponent of Wood, Alexa Grasso on short notice. And will likely gazump Wood into the top-5 of the division come the release of the updated rankings next week.

The 28-year-old Santa Catarina native immediately dominated the center of the Octagon with her stature and forward movement, stalking Wood with strikes on the feet, eventually dropping the latter with a barrage of punches at the fence.

Taila Santos makes light work of Joanne Woode to lodge her first UFC stoppage victory

Taking the back after attempting to soften Wood up on the ground, Santos eventually took her back during a brief scramble, establishing a pair of hooks and locking up a rear-naked choke win with just over 10 seconds remaining in the opening frame.

Below, catch the highlights from Taila Santos’ stoppage win over Joanne Wood.

Joanne Wood Disses Murphy For Shevchenko Loss: ‘Die On Your Sword’

Joanne Wood (formerly Calderwood) was not impressed with Lauren Murphy’s performance against Valentina Shevchenko.

Wood was the last person that Murphy had to beat, in order to secure her shot with the flyweight champ, in a close fight that resulte…

Joanne Wood Murphy

Joanne Wood (formerly Calderwood) was not impressed with Lauren Murphy’s performance against Valentina Shevchenko.

Wood was the last person that Murphy had to beat, in order to secure her shot with the flyweight champ, in a close fight that resulted in a split decision. Then Murphy went on to face Shevchenko, but lost in devastating fashion, getting TKOd in the fourth round of a one-sided fight.

Ahead of her return to the Octagon at UFC Vegas 43, Wood bashed Murphy for her performance against Shevchenko, while speaking on The MMA Hour. She said that Murphy did not really do anything to push the pace, and that she should have taken more risks to beat the champ.

“I feel like Lauren Murphy, she scraped that win from me, and then she went out and did that performance. At least go out on your sword,” Wood said (h/t Sportskeeda).

“Go out there and take it to the champ,” Wood continued. “For me watching it as a fan, I was like, there’s nothing happening here. I know Valentina’s a calculated killer, but you can at least go out there and make it exciting. Die on your sword.”

Joanne Wood might have the chance to prove that she can do better than Lauren Murphy, if she is able to get past Taila Santos, this weekend. She is one of the few contenders at 125lb that the dominant champion has not already beaten, so it does not take more than a win or two to put someone into title contention in the flyweight division.

Either way, the important thing is for Wood to get back on track tonight at UFC Vegas 43. From there, time will tell if she gets the next title shot against the champ, Valentina Shevchenko.

Check out the full interview with Joanne Wood, in the video below:

Continue Reading Joanne Wood Disses Murphy For Shevchenko Loss: ‘Die On Your Sword’ at MMA News.

Joanna Calderwood vs. Alexa Grasso Set For Fight Night Card On Nov. 20

A pivotal fight between top-10 flyweights has been added to a Fight Night card on November 20. According to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Joanne Calderwood will face Alexa Grasso on November 20. The event location has not been announced, but it’s l…

A pivotal fight between top-10 flyweights has been added to a Fight Night card on November 20. According to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Joanne Calderwood will face Alexa Grasso on November 20. The event location has not been announced, but it’s likely it will take place at the UFC Apex. Calderwood also signed a new multi-fight […]

Continue Reading Joanna Calderwood vs. Alexa Grasso Set For Fight Night Card On Nov. 20 at MMA News.

Joanne Calderwood vs Lauren Murphy ‘Makes The Most Sense’ Says Coach John Wood

Joanne CalderwoodThe future of the UFC women’s flyweight division is left uncertain. A title bout between Valentina Shevchenko and Jessica Andrade has been booked for April 24th. Strawweight emperor Zhang Weili is looming in the corner, potentially seizing the winner, should she beat Rose Namajunas the same night. Where does that leave perennial contender Joanne Calderwood […]

Joanne Calderwood

The future of the UFC women’s flyweight division is left uncertain. A title bout between Valentina Shevchenko and Jessica Andrade has been booked for April 24th. Strawweight emperor Zhang Weili is looming in the corner, potentially seizing the winner, should she beat Rose Namajunas the same night. Where does that leave perennial contender Joanne Calderwood and her fellow flyweights though?

Having been booked against Shevchenko before (with the champ pulling out due to injury), Calderwood is looking for another opportunity to strike gold. Unfortunately for the Scot, she risked her would-be title shot in fighting Jennifer Maia last fall. She would lose her chance to be fight the undisputed champ, however she may be well within reach with another win.

“JoJo 2.0” would upgrade to 3.0 with a muay thai clinic against former title challenger Jessica Eye at UFC 257. Being back in the win column, her fiancée and coach John Wood says she is now 1 or 2 fights away from challenging Shevchenko for the strap.

What opponent would possibly propel the flyweight into title contention? Team Calderwood had the answer. #3 in the world, Lauren Murphy.

“Lucky” Lauren Murphy is riding a 4-fight win streak, the second longest streak in the division. After finishing Liliya Shakirova at UFC 254, Murphy called for a title shot. Unluckily, the title shot would never come, with former champ Jessica Andrade stealing the spotlight with a 1st round KO of #1 ranked Katelyn Chookagian earlier that month.

“We definitely put it out on our side that we would love to have that fight.” Wood told MMA Island. “Jojo would love to have that fight. It makes the most sense. While Andrade and Shevchenko are fighting, the division doesn’t get log-jammed.”

Do you want to see Joanne Calderwood vs. Lauren Murphy?

UFC 257 Results: Dustin Poirier’s Stunning TKO of Conor McGregor Headlines Card

Dustin Poirier ended UFC 257 on a stunning note with a second-round TKO win over Conor McGregor in the main event Saturday from Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates…

Dustin Poirier ended UFC 257 on a stunning note with a second-round TKO win over Conor McGregor in the main event Saturday from Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates…

Joanne Calderwood Outpoints Jessica Eye – UFC 257 Results

Calderwood EyeNext up on the UFC 257 main card is a women’s flyweight tilt between Jessica Eye and Joanne Calderwood. Round 1: Both fighters go right after it with strikes early on. Calderwood goes for a takedown but Eye clinches her up against the fence. They separate and return to striking. Calderwood connects with a right […]

Calderwood Eye

Next up on the UFC 257 main card is a women’s flyweight tilt between Jessica Eye and Joanne Calderwood.

Round 1: Both fighters go right after it with strikes early on. Calderwood goes for a takedown but Eye clinches her up against the fence. They separate and return to striking. Calderwood connects with a right and follows it up with a knee as she clinches Eye up against the fence this time. Calderwood lands a right before chopping Eye’s leg with a kick. A lot of clinching and dirty boxing in this fight so far. Eye clinches her up against the fence now as she controls the wrist of Calderwood. They separate and return to striking. It’s a high pace for the rest of the round.

Round 2: Calderwood opens the round with a kick to the body. Eye lands a nice right and follows it up with some leg kicks. Eye lands another right before eating a front kick to the face. Calderwood lands a right now. The left side of Eye’s face is now swelling up. Calderwood takes Eye down but returns to her feet as she wants to continue striking. Eye lands a nice right. Calderwood lands a big knee. Eye takes Calderwood down and ends the round strong.

Round 3: Eye is aggressively early on as she pushes Calderwood to the fence and clinches her up. She looks for a takedown but Calderwood is defending well. Both fighters continue to dirty box. Calderwood is the more active, however, as she lands a wide array of strikes. She lands a big elbow as Eye is bloodied up. The fight comes to an end.

Official result: Joanne Calderwood defeats Jessica Eye via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).