LAS VEGAS, NV – MAY 18: Brazil’s Ariane Carnerossi punches Venezuela’s Piera Rodriguez in a strawweight bout at the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on May 18, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
The second of four women’s contests at UFC Vegas 92 pitted strawweights Ariane Carnerossi against Piera Rodriguez.
Carnerossi is 2-2 inside the UFC Octagon, coming off a loss against Loopy Godinez. Rodriguez is 2-1 overall and was looking to make amends for her loss to Gillian Robertson.
It was Carnerossi who advanced early in the third round of the preliminary card on Saturday evening. She applied pressure in the opening frame, forcing Rodriguez to fight back and counter on the back foot. The exchange was short, but Carnerossi was throwing hard when he fired. In the final 90 seconds, Rodriguez used lateral movement to land a well-timed takedown.
In the second round, Rodriguez was able to pin Ariane Carnerossi against the fence with a standing elbow. Carnerossi went on the defensive and trapped one of Rodriguez’s arms with his hands crossed while looking for a takedown. Carnerossi then switched to an overhook, but was unable to reverse, allowing Rodriguez to step back and land a combo instead. Moments later, Rodriguez returned to the open and dropped Carnerossi, but Rodriguez connected with a headbutt while they fought for the lead. Moments later, after a warning from the referee, Rodriguez did it again.
This caused the game to be stopped and a doctor was brought in to examine Carnerossi, who remained on his back during the timeout. Although she sat down and stood up a little, she was unable to continue and the match was declared a DQ as a result. When the results were read out, Ariane Carnerossi had already left the cage and headed to the back for treatment.
It is not entirely unheard of for an allegedly intentional headbutt (or more accurately, a headbutt) to occur. In March 2021, Petr Yan’s illegal knee kick to Aljamain Sterling changed the UFC bantamweight title, perhaps the most shocking result of intentional foul play.
Official result: Ariane Carnerossi def. Pierra Rodriguez, DQ (illegal headbutt), round 2, 3:16
