Women are starting to make a mark in the male dominated sports on UFC. The Ultimate Fighting Championship debut the strawweight division at UFC Fight Night 45 which was held in Atlantic City last Wednesday. The debut match was opened by two fighters namely, Claudia Gadelha and Tina Lahdemaki.
Gadelha solidified her status in the UFC by winning and becoming the first female 115 pound fighter. She showed prominence inside the octagon throwing punches after punches with strong landing combination.
The 25 year old Brazilian was able to secure a takedown on Lahdemaki and delivered back to back punches both to the body and the head. The second round was the exact replica of events in the second round. Lahdemaki tried to land punches to Gadelha but she was takedown over and over. Although Gadelha was not able to knockout or finish the game by submission, she won the tournament via unanimous decision.
The undefeated Gadelha has 12 MMA records all of which were games that she has won, two by knock out, six by submission and four by decision. She trains at Nova União with current UFC Featherweight Champion José Aldo, current Bellator Bantamweight Champion Eduardo Dantas, former UFC Bantamweight Champion Renan Barão, and many more notable fighters.
She is currently the youngest BJJ black belt in Nova Uniao's history. She is ranked no 14 at the pound-for-pound female MMA fighter in the world basing from MMARising.com as well as #3-ranked female strawweight according to the Unified Women's MMA Rankings.
With her win in the strawweight division, she is the top contender to the eventual winner of The Ultimate Fighter 20.
On the other hand, this is Lahdemaki first ever loss in her MMA career. She has 6 total matches with 5 wins and 1 loss. Her wins came from 1 knockout, 2 submissions and 2 decisions. Lahdemaki trains under former Finnish mixed martial artist Janne Tulirinta at Hyvinkää's RNC Sport Club.
Lahdemaki is making her mark in the UFC and her career in the mixed martial arts is gaining more and more attention. This only means that she is on her way in making a name for herself and who knows who she will be facing in the future. But whoever it might be, her opponent will have a tough fight against her.
