- American underdog Erin Blanchfield wrote a Rocky story of her own on Saturday in Las Vegas.
- The 23-year-old defied the bookmakers to defeat UFC titan Jessica Andrade with ease.
LAS VEGAS — America has a new combat sports star and her name is Erin Blanchfield.
It seems like it was only a few months ago when Insider named the 23-year-old as one of our breakout performers from the last 12 months, after the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt eviscerated JJ Aldrich with a guillotine, before submitting Molly McCann with a kimura, in 2022.
On Saturday, at the Apex in Las Vegas atop a UFC fight card broadcast on ESPN+, Blanchfield, though, passed the toughest test of her entire career.
She was originally supposed to fight Talia Santos, but the No. 1 contender at flyweight withdrew from the contest as her coaching team was denied visas.
Jessica Andrade then replaced Santos on a week's notice.
Just think about that — a rising star yet to fight anyone ranked inside the top 10 was tasked with a fight against Andrade, who is a former UFC strawweight champion and has wins over Larissa Pacheco, Rose Namajunas, and Amanda Lemos.
A testament to Andrade's pedigree is that strength and conditioning coaches at the UFC's Performance Institute told Insider this year that she's arguably the most physically impressive female fighter on the roster.
A star is born
There wasn't a moment in the 125-pound main event that suggested it would be Andrade's night.
The fighters were statistically inseparable after the opening round of action as the mostly-striking frame showed Andrade land 43 shots from 110 attempted, while Blanchfield returned 46 from 104.
What was perhaps surprising, though, was how well Blanchfield hung in there against a fighter who had a mastery of Muay Thai.
Blanchfield's striking was as sharp as it was varied. But it wasn't the only area of the fight game in which she looked comfortable, as she took control as soon as she succeeded with a takedown in the second round.
From there, she tightened a rear-naked chokehold around Andrade's neck, squeezed, and forced a tap from her experienced opponent.
It was all over. Brilliant Blanchfield had done it.
See the moment Blanchfield made Andrade tap right here:
—ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 19, 2023
Blanchfield then set her sights on the UFC championship
"Give me the winner of [Valentina] Shevchenko and [Alexandra] Grasso next," Blanchfield said in her post-fight victory speech. "I'm going to win the title and be the UFC champ."
Speaking to Insider backstage, she added: "I feel like I had the fight that I wanted to have."
On the match itself, Blanchfield said, "The first round I knew was competitive and close, and I don't feel I had the fight won completely until I had my arm around her neck."
The way in which Blanchfield has entered the UFC, set a division ablaze, and slayed big names in a short space of time is reminiscent of the trajectories past superstars Conor McGregor and Israel Adesanya had when they first arrived at the big show.
"You know, I knew I always could. I wouldn't necessarily put those expectations on myself, but I put the expectation of winning the next fight, and I know that doing that is what leads to this.
"I think keeping the mindset is what's helped me keep doing what I'm doing," she finished.
The victory advanced Blanchfield's pro-MMA record to 11 wins (two knockouts, four submissions, and five decisions) against one loss.