LAS VEGAS — American J.J. Aldrich, able to keep the fight on the feet, won a unanimous decision over Canadian flyweight Gillian (The Savage) Robertson on the undercard of a UFC Fight Night card Saturday.
All three judges scored it 30-27 for Aldrich (11-4-0), who improved her record in the UFC to 7-3-0 with her third straight victory.
Robertson (10-7-0) took the fight on short notice, replacing Ariane Lipski.
The 26-year-old native of Niagara Falls, Ont., who trains out of Coconut Creek, Fla., was coming off a December submission win over Brazil's Priscila (Zombie Girl) Cachoeira. Robertson slipped to 7-5-0 in the UFC with Saturday's loss.
The main event at the UFC's Apex production facility featured Brazil's Thiago Santos, ranked fifth among light-heavyweight contenders, and No. 6 Magomed Ankalaev of Russia.
Robertson is an accomplished grappler who holds the most finishes in UFC history with six and boasts the second-most takedowns among UFC flyweights with 17. But she was unable to get Aldrich, who had a 4.5-inch reach advantage over Robertson, to the ground.
After a cagey opening, Robertson failed in a takedown attempt two minutes into the first round. Both fighters were warned to watch their fingers after Aldrich took an inadvertent eye poke midway through the round.
Aldrich began to find her striking range as the round wore on and fought off another takedown attempt with a minute remaining. It was Aldrich who landed a takedown just as the round ended.
Robertson kept coming forward in the second round. But she absorbed punishment in doing so and her face began to show damage under her left eye.
Robertson finally managed to drag Aldrich down, ending up on the bottom after Aldrich reversed position. The two got back to their feet with Robertson foiled on another takedown attempt.
Aldrich continued to have the better of the striking game and she lashed Robertson with a hard body kick as the round ended.
The two grappled at the fence in the third round before the fight returned to the centre of the cage with Aldrich continuing to connect.
Robertson pulled Aldrich to the ground in the final minute, looking for a submission off her back. But she ran out of time.
