Our team’s (Team Gastelum) win streak unfortunately ended this week. Julija took an absolute beating from Marciea, but managed to score a takedown and slap on an armbar to get the submission finish.
We knew Julija’s strengths and weaknesses going into the fight, and I was under the impression that we wanted to keep the fight standing at all costs. So, I was a little concerned when Marciea didn’t just back up and force Julija to stand after the first stuffed shot. Then, Marciea started dropping some serious leather down and it almost seemed like the beginning of the end, but Julija showed heart, got back up and scored a takedown. Marciea had the foot trapped from bottom, forcing Julija to stay in quarter guard, so I thought that if Julija spun for the armbar that she wouldn’t be able to finish without having the leverage from not being able to raise her hips, but when she dropped for the arm, Marciea, unfortunately, released the foot.
Next week I’ll be fighting Batista! There was only Juan and Batista left to fight and they’re both grapplers, so it didn’t really matter who the coaches picked for me at that point, because the game plan would be the same either way.
