Erin Blanchfield turned up the volume, aggression and damage just in time to get the win.

After a lackluster first two rounds, Blanchfield (13-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) rallied in the final three of the UFC Fight Night 246 co-main event on Saturday, defeating former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas (13-7 MMA, 11 – 6 UFC) by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47). The women’s flyweight bout was the co-main event at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Namajunas confused Blanchfield with footwork, jabs and movement in the opening 10 minutes. Blanchfield seemed the much slower fighter and appeared to be stuck in a similar loop to the failed game plan execution that occurred in her loss to Manon Fiorot in March.

Blanchfield started to come alive in round 3, though, when she took down Namajunas and kept her under control. In round 4, Blanchfield’s attack found its home as Namajunas himself seemed to slow down in volume and attack.

Round 5 Blanchfield’s corner lit a fire under his fighter and she came out swinging with full aggression. She took Namajunas down and into the crucifix position. Namajunas defended well, but ended up in a non-dominant position for the remainder of the fight.

When the dust settled, Blanchfield had swept the jurors away. She was emotional on the mic, but still challenged former champion Alexa Grasso, who she would like to fight.

https://twitter.com/espnmma/status/1852907052219121702

Blanchfield is bouncing back from her first UFC loss, which came against Fiorot in March. The defeat was a fairly lopsided unanimous decision. Prior to that bump in the road, Blanchfield had victories over Sarah Alpar, Miranda Maverick, JJ Aldrich, Molly McCann, Jessica Andrade and Taila Santos.

As for Namajunas, her two-fight winning streak is snapped. She moves to 2-2 since moving up to flyweight in 2023.

The most up-to-date UFC Fight Night 246 results include:

• Erin Blanchfield def. Rose Namajunas via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
• Brendson Ribeiro def. Caio Machado via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Jasmijn Jasudavicius def. Ariane da Silva via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 3, 2:28
• Dustin Stoltzfus def. Marc-Andre Barriault via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:28
• Mike Malott def. Trevin Giles via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Aiemann Zahabi def. Pedro Munhoz via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Charles Jourdain def. Victor Henry via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 3:43
• Youssef Zalal def. Jack Shore via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 0:59
• Alexandr Romanov def. Rodrigo Nascimento via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Serhiy Sidey def. Garrett Armfield via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Cody Gibson def. Chad Anheliger via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
• Jamey-Lyn Horth def. Ivana Petrovic via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)

For more information on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s events hub for UFC Fight Night 246.