UFC 237: Bonus Coverage

Through nearly eight minutes of action Rose Namajunas was dominating Jessica Andrade in their UFC strawweight championship bout. But then seemingly out of nowhere, Namajunas’ incredible performance came to a crashing halt.

Andrade’s nickname is “Bate Estaca” which literally means “Pile Drivier,” and now the world knows why. Her second slam of the night was a thing of beauty, maneuvering her head to the side in order to bring Namajunas’ down to the canvas with force. It was objectively terrifying, and reminder of just how unpredictable MMA can be on any given night.

Before the slam, Namajunas was picking Andrade apart, particularly in the first round. Namajunas dropped Andrade with a big knee, and possibly looked to be in the finest form of her career thus far. She carried that momentum into the second round, but the night and the strawweight championship belt would belong to Andrade and Brazil.

Andrade also earned a $50,000 performance of the night bonus for the championship bout.

MORE FROM UFC 237: Final Results | Octagon Interviews: Cannonier and Silva | Alexander Volkanovski | Warlley Alves

Warlley Alves completely dominated Sergio Moraes in the first two rounds of their welterweight match-up and in the third round, Moraes came out with a new sense of urgency. Alves weathered the storm as Moraes pressured forward and did something that he has yet to accomplish in UFC competition.

Viciously knock his opponent out.

Alves has earned victories by submission and by doctor’s stoppage, but none of his seven UFC victories have come via KO/TKO. That changed Saturday night. The exchange started with a massive knee to the head of Moraes which Warlley and the followed it up with a devastating uppercut.

It was a great moment for Alves, who needed a performance just like this one to get back into the mix at welterweight.

It’s impossible to describe Jessica Andrade’s game without using the words “strong” or “strength.” Like nobody else in her division, Andrade packs one-punch knockout power.

On this night, her trademark strength was used to fend off an exceptional performance by her opponent, and get in just close enough to execute a slam that ended the reign of Namajunas as champion. For this Herculean feat, Andrade went home with a second bonus for Performance of the Night.

Jared Cannonier continues to make a name for himself. Last November he jumped into the middleweight rankings by starching David Branch. On Saturday night he did it by defeating Anderson Silva with a tremendous inside leg kick. As unfortunate as it is to see Silva end his night with an injury, you can’t take anything away from Cannonier, who performed well under the pressure of hostile territory.

Alexander Volkanovski is your number one featherweight contender, folks. “The Great” looked great indeed against the legendary Jose Aldo, out-striking and out-grappling The King of Rio on the way to a 30-27 x 3 unanimous decision win. It’s hard to imagine Volkanovski being left out of the next featherweight title shot considering he’s 7-0 in the UFC with wins over the likes of Aldo, Chad Mendes and Darren Elkins.