Jasudavicius Outgrapples Blanchfield for Decision in Edmonton

Canada's Jasmine Jasudavicius beat Erin Blanchfield by unanimous decision in the co-main event of UFC Edmonton on October 17, with all three judges scoring the bout 29-28 in her favour at Rogers Place.

Before the bout, a title shot was mentioned as a possible next step for the winner. Blanchfield arrived on a two-fight winning streak, most recently submitting Tracy Cortez in the second round. Jasudavicius had rebounded from a knockout loss to Manon Fiorot with a decision over Karine Silva and was looking to make it two in a row.

Ground control decides it

Blanchfield found some early success with her striking, but Jasudavicius quickly shut that down. She took the American to the mat, climbed to her back and spent the opening round hunting for a rear-naked choke, though Blanchfield survived. The second round followed the same pattern, and Jasudavicius came close to finishing with an arm-triangle choke but could not quite set it up.

Needing a stoppage in the third, Blanchfield pushed forward and landed strikes on the feet as the two traded. With about 90 seconds left, Jasudavicius failed on a takedown attempt but kept Blanchfield pinned to the cage and later took her back. When they separated, Blanchfield ended on top and landed some ground strikes, but the horn sounded before she could do more.

Title picture

The 37-year-old Jasudavicius now has 16 professional wins. The current champion is Natalia Silva, who recently won the belt. Former champion Alexa Grasso is also among the possible challengers after a knockout of Maycee Barber and a unanimous decision over Manon Fiorot at UFC Noche in September.