Irene Aldana is back on the win column.
The UFC women’s bantamweight contender scored a TKO win over Yana Kunitskaya at Saturday’s UFC 264 event in Las Vegas. Aldana (13-6 MMA, 6-4 UFC) stopped Kunitskaya (14-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC) at the 4:35 mark of Round 1.
The women’s bantamweight bout was part of the UFC 264 main card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
It was a dominant showing by Aldana.
Kunitskaya pressured the Mexican fighter right off the bat, trying to initiate the clinch and smother Aldana against the cage. Aldana did a good job at getting out of close quarters and keeping her space. In an exchange, Aldana connected with a short left hook, dropping Kunitskaya.
From there, Aldana jumped on a downed Kunitskaya and began to drop ground-and-pound. Kunitskaya did a good job at keeping Aldana off for a few seconds, but eventually, she caved in to the shots.
With this win, Aldana successfully bounced back from a decision loss to Holly Holm back in October. She’s 6-2 in her past eight trips to the octagon.
Aldana did miss weight on Friday morning, coming in 3.5 pounds over the bantamweight limit. Aldana forfeited 30 percent of her purse to Kunitskaya, as a penalty for the weight miss.
Meanwhile, Kunitskaya saw a two-fight winning streak come to an end. She’s now 2-2 in her past four performances.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 264 results include:
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Irene Aldana def. Yana Kunitskaya via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:35
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Sean O’Malley def. Kris Moutinho via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 4:33
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Max Griffin def. Carlos Condit via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
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Michel Pereira def. Niko Price via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
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Ilia Topuria def. Ryan Hall via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:47
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Dricus Du Plessis def. Trevin Giles via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 1:41
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Jennifer Maia def. Jessica Eye via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
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Brad Tavares def. Omari Akhmedov via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
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Zhalgas Zhumagulov def. Jerome Rivera via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 2:02
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UFC 264 play-by-play and live results
