30 year-old womens MMA fighter Bethe Correia (pictured right) made it a successful debut in the Octagon as whe won a split points decision over experienced Greg Jackson fighter Julie Kedzie (pictured left).
The bout began cautiously as both fighters chose to keep their distance early. It would be Brazilian born Correia who would be pushing the early action as she stayed on the front foot and landing heavy punches, before pushing Kedzie against the cage. There Correia landed some foot stomps before Kedzie was able to push off the cage. Late in the round, Correia half secured a takedown as Kedzie landed short strikes against the cage before the buzzer went to finish the round.
Correia remained on the front foot in the second round and was on the end of the better exchanges, including some big leg kicks. Correia attempted a powerful spinning back fist but was off target as Kedzie came back with a nice right. Correia then landed combination of her own before pushing Kedzie against the cage, where the round ended.
Midway in the last round Correia who is a BJJ Blue belt secured the takedown and immediately pushed Kedzie towards the cage. Correia attempted to transition which gave Kedzie the space to get back to her feet. Kedzie started to show some urgency as she began to come forward with combinations. As the final seconds came to an end, both females exchanged heavy shots before the fight ended.
Judges awarded the decision to Bethe Correia via split points decision 29-28, 28-29, and 29-28. Correia remains undefeated as a professional, taking her record to 7-0 in what was her UFC debut. Kedzie drops to 16-13 in her second outing in the UFC after losing another split decision earlier this year to Germaine de Randamie. (Update: Julie Kedzie went on twitter following the bout to announce her retirement from the sport).
It was the first time that two female fighters had contested a bout in the UFC in Australia. UFC Fight Night 33 was held at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Queensland, Australia and shown live in Australia on Fuel TV.
