Hannah Goldy def. Kali Robbins by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Over the first two seasons on the Contender Series, three of the four women who have stepped into the cage and earned victories have been awarded contracts, while the one unsuccessful victor, Jamie Colleen, returned in Season 2 and was beaten by one of the series’ top graduates, Maycee Barber.
Tuesday night, Robbins and Goldy looked to add to the high female success rate right out of the gate in a battle between an experienced veteran and an impressive upstart looking to take a major step forward in her career.
For the majority of the opening round, Goldy was the one dictating the terms of engagement, moving backwards and catching Robbins as she came forward. Although Robbins landed a couple sharp overhand rights and had a brief moment of success when she got inside and looked to wrestle, Goldy did a very good job of getting back to her feet and avoiding any real trouble on the ground.
It was more of the same in the second, with Goldy dominating the exchanges and connecting with knees, elbows and kicks off the break whenever she clinched up with Robbins. Late in the frame, Robbins got a little desperate and dove on a leg, initiating a scramble in search of an opening, but she simply didn’t have enough time to do any real work.
Robbins found a little more success early in the third, pressing forward and connecting with greater frequency than she did over the first 10 minutes, but Goldy wasn’t fazed. She remained in constant motion, countering when the opportunity presented itself, landing at a higher clip. Down the stretch, the Florida-based single mother really opened up, stinging Robbins with punches and kicks, chasing her to the ground with hammerfists as the final horn sounded.
This was a strong showing for the unbeaten hopeful who pushed her record to 5-0 with a clean sweep of the scorecards.
