Pooja Tomar and Leighanne Amanda dos Santos at the UFC Louisville weigh-in. Photo Credit: Youtube/UFC
Indian strawweight fighter Pooja Tomar made her promotional debut at UFC Louisville on Saturday, taking on Brazil’s Leanne Amanda dos Santos.
Tomer is a ONE Championship veteran (she has competed in both MMA and Muay Thai) but has struggled competing under the ONE banner, losing to the likes of Stamp Fairtex and Jihin “Shadowcat” Radzuan, but Tomer has won her past four fights, while Leighanne Amanda was looking to bounce back from a loss in her UFC debut.
As the bout began, both fighters started attacking early. Tomar closed the distance and landed kicks to the body. Dos Santos landed a right from the top at one point. Tomar landed a few kicks to the body that seemed to hurt Amanda, but she hid her pain well. Amanda was also landing kicks, but not with the same pace as Tomar. In terms of body kicks alone, Tomar was the better striker in the first round. This forced Santos to close the distance and attack from the inside with successive punches. She landed good combinations and was the fresher fighter to end the first round.
In the second round, Tomar started her attack with a side kick to the body. Tomar was too aggressive with effective kicks, forcing dos Santos to apply pressure. In addition to the body, Tomar was also attacking the legs. Dos Santos used a lot of feints, but it was ineffective as Tomar controlled the pace. As dos Santos closed the distance, she was successful with punches and kicks to the body. Dos Santos finally tried to get a takedown, but seemed to give up. In the final minute of the round, dos Santos came forward with punches and won a short, tight exchange.
The final round was close, leading to a final round. Again, Tomar was aggressive with side kicks to the body, but nothing else. She was landing, but it wasn’t impactful late in the match. Rayane Amanda dos Santos closed the distance at one point, pushing Tomar against the cage. Nothing happened, and Tomar landed another side kick to the stomach, throwing Santos off balance. Santos used her momentum to land some hard punches against the cage. Tomar fought back, yelling at dos Santos and fighting back. In the final seconds, dos Santos landed a wide hook to end the match, but it wasn’t enough, and Puja Tomar won by split decision.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Puja Tomar wins. Rayanne dos Santos wins via split decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
