The plot thickens: ahead of UFC Vegas 85, Luana Carolina missed weight by a full three pounds for her would-be flyweight fight with Julija Stoliarenko.
Whether the flub at the scales would have any bearing on the fight itself was a question heading into Saturday’s Fight Night card in Las Vegas.
Right out of the gate, Luana “Dread” Carolina had to endure an early onslaught from Stoliarenko, as the Lithuanian got out to a fast start, touching her opponent with her hands then driving Carolina into the fence. Carolina, aided by not having to cut an extra three pounds or not, was able to stay upright and reverse, stuffing the takedown attempt. Off the break, Carolina landed a left flush on the cheek of Stoliarenko.
At range, Carolina fired a head kick and circled, while Stoliarenko looked to close the distance for another clinch attempt. That failed, leading to more circling, but Brazil’s Luana Carolina then fired off a wild spinning back fist attempt that backfired, as Stoliarenko landed a key takedown. She could not keep Carolina down, however. Along the fence, back on the feet, it was Julija Stoliarenko with a spinning back elbow that missed.
In the final minute, Luana Carolina managed to get the fight down, only for Stoliarenko to latch on with an arm-bar from bottom. Time ran out before she could finish the submission attempt however.
Luana Carolina landed a well-timed knee to the body about a minute into round two, arguably the most significant strike in the fight to that point. If Carolina’s energy had been sapped from her weight cut, it wasn’t showing. Stoliarenko was still in the fight, but she was being beaten to the punch. And her takedown game had proved ineffective through the first half of the three-round affair. Another clinch underscored that, and when they finally went to the ground it was Carolina on top again.
Round three opened with an early clinch from Stoliarenko, but Luana Carolina reversed, only for Stoliarenko to reverse again. Carolina fired a knee to the body in the clinch while Stoliarenko held onto a high crotch looking for a takedown that wasn’t there. Again, Carolina reversed, firing knees. Once again, when they finally went down it was Lauana Carolina on top, dropping some heavy shots and forcing Stoliarenko into survival mode. That resulted in a triangle attempt, and suddenly Carolina was in a bad spot. Stroliarenko moved to an arm-bar, but couldn’t wrench the limb free.
Just as things were looking bad for Carolina, she found the space to back off, return to her feet, and then rocked Stoliarenko with a right hand! A head kick followed and Stoliarenko was in real danger! They went back to the ground in the dying seconds of the fight with Carolina on top, landing ground n’ pound and scoring the TKO win just ahead of the final horn!
The finish was Luana Carolina’s first as a UFC fighter.