Vanessa Melo

Karol Rosa vs. Vanessa Melo (141: Missed Weight)

Round 1
Shifting gears from men’s to women’s bantamweight, Rosa (12-3, 1-0 UFC) will try to make Melo (10-7, 0-2 UFC) pay more than a 30 percent fine for missing weight by five pounds. Our referee for this all-Brazil 141-pound women’s catchweight affair is Dan Movahedi, who claps the fighters in. Rosa opens up with a front kick and a few punches, coming out firing as Melo tries to dance out of the way. Melo comes back at her with a one-two that goes wide, and Rosa whips a low kick that nearly turns Melo around. Rosa lands a front kick and then a low kick, before firing one from the other leg to kick Melo off-balance. The kicks are flustering Melo, and as she continues to pepper her with them, Rosa sticks out the jab to good effect. Rosa wings up with a huge right hand, and drills Melo on the jaw so hard that Rosa nearly falls over, and Melo wears it well although her face is showing a little damage around her eyes. Melo sticks out a jab again a few times, all while avoiding the counter strikes. Melo tries to go to the body and the head, and Rosa sees it coming and backs away from the head shot. Melo is loading up on her shots now, but Rosa is content to just touch her with strikes from a distance. Rosa slips for the second time, this time while going for a kick, but she recovers before “Miss Simpatia” can take advantage of it. They start with a few single strikes, and Rosa changes levels as Melo throws an overhand left to take the fight down. In full guard, Rosa starts putting punches together, before posturing up to hack at her adversary with elbows. Melo closes her guard to try to trap Rosa and stop the damaging strikes from coming, and successfully ties her up to end the round.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Rosa
Ben Duffy scores the round: 10-9 Rosa
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Rosa

Round 2
Rosa opens the round with a front kick, which pushes back an advancing Melo right off the bat. Melo wings up with a few punches, and she is well short of her target as Rosa backs off and lands a slapping leg kick. Rosa steps in, nails her with a left hook, and backs away while a counter hook zooms by her. Rosa eats a solid punch up top and backs off to circle away, and peppers Melo with a low kick. Rosa tries to connect with a flying knee, and Melo pushes off to get out of danger. As Rosa lands a hard right hand, Melo shoots in low for a takedown but is rebuffed. Melo pushes Rosa against the fence as she ties her up, but Rosa quickly reverses position and presses her full weight on her opponent. With her back against the fence, Melo brings up a few short knees, and right after one such knee, Rosa drags her other leg out and puts Melo on her back. Sliding in on top, Rosa drops down a stiff elbow right on the forehead. Melo is stuck taking punches and elbows in the face, and cannot push off the fence as Rosa is comfortable in half guard raining down elbows. Rosa continues to grind with slicing elbows, and mixes those elbows up with some loud, thumping punches as Melo can do nothing but take them on the chin. Rosa starts to pour them on, forcing Movahedi to take a close look at the action. When Melo gets to her knees, Rosa batters her with a stream of left hands until she falls to her back. Fully mounted, Rosa rides out the round on top with a few punches.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Rosa
Ben Duffy scores the round: 10-9 Rosa
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Rosa

Round 3
Rosa begins the round with a body kick, and takes a step back to see a left-right hook combination fly before her eyes. Rosa picks at her with a jab, and avoids the counter two-punch combo again. A few more power jabs from Rosa snap the head back, and the two women trade heavy leg kicks. When Melo tries to charge in, Rosa stops her with a popping jab. This same type of exchange repeated two or three times, before Melo decides she has had enough and kicks to the leg. Rosa uses the moment to bust her in the chops with an elbow, and Melo takes it flush without much concern. Rosa feeds her opponent a steady diet of jabs, and Melo cannot connect with many if any power shots. Rosa shoots in for a double, but Melo stuffs her and makes her pay with a left hook that catches Rosa standing still. Rosa starts to retreat, circling away while Melo chases after her with looping punches. Rosa regathers herself and throws a jab out a few times, but Melo is in desperation mode throwing bombs at her. A few land square for Melo, getting Rosa’s attention and slowing the jabs from coming out. With momentum starting to come on Melo’s side, she presses in a little too close and clinches up with Rosa, allowing Rosa to tie her up and run out the clock. Rosa turns her around, and the two trade a few clinch strikes as precious seconds tick by. Rosa presses heavily on her foe, and stops a trip attempt to end the fight in dominant position against the fence.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Rosa (30-27 Rosa)
Ben Duffy scores the round: 10-9 Rosa (30-27 Rosa)
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Rosa (30-27 Rosa)

The Official Result
Karol Rosa def. Vanessa Melo via Unanimous Decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)