Ugh. Erin Blancfield is godawful to watch and should never be in 5 round main/co-main event again. If this was a 3 rounder, like it should have been, it would have been a 29-28 win for Rose, but Rose kind of sucks now so it doesn't really matter anyway. Why was this 5 rounds? Was it supposed to be a main event but got demoted to co-main in favor of Moreno, but they kept it at 5 rounds anyway? I hope this shitty sparring match forces the UFC to make a decision and never have any fights outside of main events go 5 rounds. In fact, only championship fights should be 5 rounds. The main event didn't really need 2 extra rounds either to be honest.
But Erin...I don't get the appeal whatsoever with some of you WMMA freaks. She just looks so amateurish and low level, even in winning. I'm trying to think of a male fighter to compare her to but I can't think of anyone who looks that bad striking. Even on the ground her strikes had nothing on them.
Rose should absolutely retire. Her career has been horribly mismanaged.
Well, you assume Erin Blanchfield was bad, and thus Rose sucked. I disagree. You have your own perception of boring fight, maybe you like to see only fights that finish in that flash KO. Many men fights can be "boring" if analysed under those lens.
Actually, it was far from boring. It was the first time Blanchfield felt confident enough not to shoot takedowns much until the third round, relying mainly on her strike... Facing one of the best female UFC strikers... So to actually force Rose to initiate the grappling due to increasing the pressure, landing good shots, and using those moments Rose needed that as her favor since she still excels on the ground speaks a lot.
She was getting outclassed in the first two rounds, but she also landed good combinations in those two rounds she lost. She didn't panick... The fact it was a 5 round fighter and the most inexperience fighter who has been in only one 5 rounds actually is a merit to her --- using the mid-late portion of the round to turn in the pressure, but this time with strikes (again, putting Rose in unfouvarable situations even relying initially on striking) and then turning the pressure real by applying effective takedowns that Rose just couldn't get up from.
Granted she didn't do much damage, but she was already landing good shots towards the end of the third round in the ground and pound and when the bell rung, she was already next for another takedown.
And in the final round, she didn't diminish the pressure, while Rose was already looking fatigued from the difference in striking power (I assume ) and very smart timed takedowns, making Rose worry both about standing with Blanchfield, and knowing she doesn't have a comfort zone by grappling since that's the enemy's main tool.
After a loss vs Manon in which Erin didn't manage to get a single takedown and was always at a disadvantage in exchanges, to not get affected by it in her next performance and actually improve her striking that, although still not as good as Rose's, was improved and good enough that made Rose look for the clinch instead, making it increasingly more uncomfortable for Rose.
What you see as a boring, non-worthy match, I see as a huge mental strength from Erin to rebound from the loss, pressure with strike alone one of the best strikers, and timing the takedowns so it wouldn't be predictable, as she was also increasingly doing better standing. She is a real talent there, some ppl like you just have it seems the huge craving to jump on the current bandwagon that WMMA sucks so even in good victories against very good, more experienced and dangerous opponents, there will be always a factor to just take the moment off by jumping on the bandwagon. She wasn't striking against a nobody. She had moments she was better than Rose in striking alone, forcing Rose to fight where she wouldn't like to.
And as Erin acknowledged, the emotion came because it was a really tough fight, because Rose is a top level opponent. Many fights she does lose, she doesn't get dominated at all --- they're mainly fights lacking too much activity and split decisions, competitive ones where Rose had her moments and unfortunate ones in which she was dominating and was slammed...
Much like vs Fiorot, her fight vs Blanchfield is in the category of Rose doing well, but her opponent managing to edge her out... Far from an inactive fight where both fighters were avoiding the fight --- if you think so, you may need to rewatch the fight.
