Gabriella Fernandes came into her fight with China’s Wang ‘Joker’ Cong, who once beat Valentina Shevchenko in kickboxing, as around a seven-to-one underdog.
The first round went poorly for the Brazilian Muay Thai specialist as she got out-struck, hurt to the body, and her desperation takedown denied.
The second round was going Wang Cong’s way once again, until an exchange where she tossed Fernandes into the fence, then stayed in the pocket to trade punches as Gabriella stood up.
The first shot stunned Cong briefly but she made the mistake of not retreating, resulting in a brutal knockdown.
Fernandes pounced on her prey and quickly transitioned to a back take. Wang Cong must have still been hurt yet she fought the choke valiantly, but with only six fights of MMA experience she could not escape being put unconscious.
With this win against a hyped-up prospect, Gabriella Fernandes turned her UFC career around, moving to 2-2 with the promotion after being 0-2 just one year ago. Maybe she can parlay this high profile win into bigger things to come still.
