Felice Herrig and Karolina Kowalkiewicz put on quite a show for the UFC 223 crowd tonight at the Barclays Center.
The two touched gloves and started with an exchange of punches. In the first minute, the two tagged each other with a few jabs, but nothing substantial. Around the two-and-a-half minute mark there was a huge flurry that resulted in a clinch. Felice pressed her opponent up against the cage, but Karolina broke free.
There was another big exchange about a minute and a half in and Karolina landed some big knees. The two clinched and again Felice pressed her opponent on the cage. Karolina briefly turned the tables before the two broke apart.
Herrig tags Kowalkiewicz towards the end of round 3 and hurts her! #UFC223 pic.twitter.com/FLqCCsxL5A
— UFC (@ufc) April 8, 2018
After four and a half minutes standing the match finally went to the ground. Karolina landed some huge shots on Felice and even had her in what looked like a triangle from the top. The round ended with Felice in Karolina’s guard.
An exchange of leg kicks and some body shots got the second round going. Karolina even went for a spinning back fist but didn’t land anything. Felice tried to go in for a takedown, but couldn’t get anything. Karolina grabbed her opponent and landed some knees to the body. Both fighters landed some big punches and elbows. The two clinched and Karolina pressed Felice against the cage after they both landed more big punches and elbows on each other. Karolina went for a single leg, but couldn’t land anything. She then landed a hip throw, but Felice got right back up.
The two were back in the center of the cage. Karolina landed some knees to the body and then went for a throw, but couldn’t land it. Felice pressed her opponent against the cage, the Karolina turned the tables on her, landing another knee and going for another throw.
Back to the center of the cage they went to exchange more big punches before the round ended.
A slap of the hands got Round 3 going. Karolina held the center of the cage and Felice stayed light on her feet, dancing around her. Felice didn’t look interested in standing in front of her opponent and throwing fists in this round.
She gets the W!@KarolinaMMA gets the big win at #UFC223 pic.twitter.com/9V0J4EOyhG
— UFC (@ufc) April 8, 2018
Karolina landed a left and then hit Felice with another knee to the body. With one minute left to go, she was way ahead of Herrig in terms of strikes landed.
Felice pressed Karolina up against the cage and tried to land some shots, but couldn’t get much. A wild flurry of punches ended the match.
It was a close one, but Karolina Kowalkiewicz did what she needed to sneak by with a split decision win.
"Now you must win your fight." @KarolinaMMA has a message for her step-father. #UFC223 pic.twitter.com/fcjD4PLa5t
— UFC (@ufc) April 8, 2018
The post Results: Karolina Kowalkiewicz Narrowly Defeats Felice Herrig In Exciting Back-And-Forth Slug Fest appeared first on Jiu-Jitsu Times.