UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk sucessfully defended her crown with a dominant third-round TKO victory at UFC Berlin.
Jedrzejczyk used her Muay Thai to neutralize the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and grappling of the #3-ranked Penne, a former Invicta FC champion.
Welcome back to The Crossfire.
Jedrzejczyk and Penne collected Fight-of-the-Night honours, while Mairbek Taisumov and Arnold Allen snagged performances-of-the-night. All fighters earned an additional $50,000 USD bonus.
MMA Crossfire Expert Kenai Andrews checks in.
NICK HEINZ VS LUKASZ SAJEWSKI
WINNER: NICK HEIN VIA UNANIMOUS DECISION (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
ANDREWS PREDICTION: NICK HEIN VIA UNANIMOUS DECISION
Andrews: As expected, the footwork and strikes of Hein were enough to befuddle Sajewski for most of the three rounds. A good win for Hein.
PETER SOBOTTA VS STEVEN KENNEDY
WINNER: PETER SOBOTTA VIA SUBMISSION (RNC)
ANDREWS PREDICTION: PETER SOBOTTA VIA SUBMISSION 2:57 R1
Andrews: Sobotta’s experience made all the difference, as he took advantage of Kenendy’s tentativeness. Sobotta took the fight to the ground, moved into the the choke postion and cranked out another rear-naked. Good win for the hometown hero.
#12 DENNIS SIVER VS #15 TATSUYA KAWAJIRI
WINNER: TATSUYA KAWAJIRI VIA UNANIMOUS DECISION
ANDREWS PREDICTION: TATSUYA KAWAJIRI VIA SPLIT-DECISION (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Andrews: Kawajiri landed a few takedowns and established some control, but did not do much damage. Siver landed a few strikes but spent too much time defending Kawajiri’s takedowns. This was a close fight, but Siver’s inability to land anything cleanly was the difference.
MAIN EVENT
JOANNA JEDRZEJCZYK VS #3 JESSICA PENNE
WINNER: JOANNA JEDRZEJCZYK VIA TKO R3 4:22
ANDREWS PREDICTION: JOANNA JEDRZEJZYK VIA TKO
Andrews: As expected, Penne showed her toughness and a willingness to stand and absorb shots to get the takedown, but it was not enough. Joanna picked her apart starting from the 10-8 second round onwards. Outstanding win and a message-sending one to the other contenders in the strawweight division.
