Claudia Gadelha vs. a man

Former women’s strawweight Claudia Gadelha had an amazing career in the UFC, becoming one of the first two women to fight in the 115 lb class, and the first to win. She fought for the UFC title, losing at the TUF 23 Finale vs. defending champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and lost the fight of the night. In that and the next three fights, she won a total of three performance bonuses. She currently works for the UFC doing athlete development in Brazil.

And long before that, she fought a man. Male vs. female fights, if they are of similar size, or if the man is larger, are not simply curiosities. Given the inherent size and strength differences between the sexes, they are a great test of how efficient the technique is. If a woman can beat a man in a fair fight, that’s a very strong indication that the method she employs is sound.

Back in 2009, Gadelha was still working her way up the ranks in her native Brazil with a 2-0 record when she agreed to fight a man on the Jackass-style TV show, “Panico na TV.” Gadelha, who was in her early 20’s at the time, was matched up with a middle-aged Brazilian TV personality/comedian named Vesgo. He had a major size advantage, but no previous fight experience.

What Happened

When the fight began, Gadelha, who trained out of the extraordinary Nova Uniao gym under Andre Pederneiras alongside the likes of former UFC champions Jose Aldo and Renan Barao, softened up Vesgo with strikes, and then worked for a takedown against the cage.

Dumping him to the mat, Gadelha then quickly moved from side control to full mount, and as Vesgo tried to escape she took his back and sunk in a rear-naked choke.

Realizing he couldn’t escape the submission, Vesgo began frantically tapping on the mat, but Gadelha showed her ruthless side by not letting go until he passed out, barely two minutes into the fight.

Looking to salvage some pride, Vesgo agreed to a second fight with Gadelha soon afterward, with blood still trickling from his nose from their previous encounter.

The rematch didn’t go any better for him than the first though, with Gadelha quickly latching onto a body lock from behind and bringing him down to the mat again.

From there she blasted him with ground and pound and threatened with another rear-naked choke attempt, though it would eventually be an armbar that produced the finish. Thankfully for the sake of Vesgo’s limb, this time she let go when he tapped …

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The Lesson

The techniques of MMA are so good, they can overcome a major strength and size advantage. Further, the practice typically imparts good conditioning, which is always a factor in unarmed combat.