Gillian Robertson ties Amanda Nunes’ UFC record, retires Marina Rodriguez
Canada’s Gillian Robertson earned a huge TKO win at UFC Des Moines to tie former two-weight champion Amanda Nunes for most finishes in women’s UFC history.
Canada’s Gillian Robertson earned the 10th stoppage victory of her UFC career Saturday night, which ties her with former two-weight champion and Hall of Famer Amanda Nunes for most finishes in women’s UFC history.
Robertson made her 19th UFC appearance at a UFC Fight Night event in Des Moines, Iowa where she picked up a dominant technical knockout victory over Marina Rodriguez in the second round of their strawweight contest.
Rodriguez, a dangerous striker from Brazil, announced her retirement from mixed martial arts following what was her third consecutive loss and fifth in her past six outings.
The 38-year-old earned notable wins over Yan Xiaonan, Natalia Silva, Mackenzie Dern, Amanda Ribas, Tecia Torres and Michelle Waterson-Gomez (twice) during her career.
Rodriguez leaves the sport with a professional record of 17-6-2.
Robertson, 29, used her high-level grappling to force the action to the canvas throughout the fight and from there advanced positions on the ground, looked for submissions and inflicted ground-and-pound damage. Robertson has taken down 17 of her 19 UFC opponents.
In the second round, Robertson secured a high mount position and rained down elbows and punches until the referee halted the action.
Robertson is moving closer to the title picture at 115 pounds with four wins in a row. She called out former title challenger Amanda Lemos for her next bout.
The only fighters in the strawweight division currently riding longer win streaks than Robertson are champion Zhang Weili and No. 1 contender Virna Jandiroba.
Robertson was the No. 12-ranked contender enter the weekend, while Rodriguez sat at No. 9, which means the Niagara Falls, Ont., native will be in the top 10 next week.
