UFC 237: Namajunas vs. Andrade | Event Profile, Full Results & Legacy
- Tito Wordsmith
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
Introduction
UFC 237: Namajunas vs. Andrade — May 11, 2019, Jeunesse Arena, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Rose Namajunas arrived as the UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion, riding a remarkable run that had begun when she knocked out Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 217 and included two subsequent defences. In Rio, in front of a partisan Brazilian crowd, Jessica Andrade ended that run with one of the most violent and visually arresting finishes in Women’s MMA history: she picked Rose up off the canvas, slammed her head-first onto the mat, and referee Marc Goddard stopped the contest as Rose lay unconscious at 4:07 of round one. Andrade became the new UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion, the first Brazilian woman to hold the title, and Rio erupted.
The co-main event was equally memorable. Paulo Costa and Yoel Romero spent three rounds destroying each other in what many observers scored among the ten best MW bouts in UFC history — a sustained physical exchange that left both men bloody but standing, with Costa winning every round on the scorecards. For the 2019 context see UFC 236.
Quick Stats
📅 Date: May 11–12, 2019
📍 Venue: Jeunesse Arena, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
📺 Broadcast: ESPN+ (non-PPV)
🏆 Main Event: Namajunas (c) vs. Andrade — UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship
✅ Result: Andrade def. Namajunas via TKO (slam) — R1 4:07
🥇 Champion: Jessica Andrade — NEW Women’s SW Champion (first Brazilian woman to hold the title)
The Build-Up
Rose Namajunas had earned her status as one of the most respected champions in the UFC by the time she arrived in Rio. She had ended Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s extraordinary reign at UFC 217 with a stunning first-round KO, defended against Joanna in a decision rematch at UFC 223, and made a third defence at UFC 228. Andrade was a powerful, aggressive brawler who had fought her way into contention through a series of brutal finishes and who had already lost to Rose once before, by TKO in 2017. The rematch in Rio — Andrade’s home country, with a capacity crowd emphatically behind her — gave the challenger a distinct psychological edge.
The co-main was one of the year’s most anticipated MW matchups. Paulo Costa had torn through the division with one-sided dominance since his debut, accumulating seven consecutive UFC wins without taking serious damage. Yoel Romero was the sport’s most physically imposing middleweight — a former Olympic silver medal wrestler with explosive power and an uncommon ability to absorb enormous punishment. Both men had been involved in the most violent MW fight of the previous year; their styles seemed designed to produce chaos.
Main Event — Namajunas vs. Andrade
Rose Namajunas (c) vs. Jessica Andrade — UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship
Rose controlled the opening exchanges, moving well and landing her clean technical striking. Andrade pressed forward, absorbing punishment with the durability that had made her dangerous against every opponent she had faced. The decisive moment came suddenly: Andrade secured a clinch against the fence, lifted Rose completely off the mat in a fireman’s carry, and slammed her head-first onto the canvas with full force. Rose was unconscious before she hit the mat. Marc Goddard stopped it immediately at 4:07 of round one.
The slam was immediately iconic — the kind of finish that reframes a champion’s legacy in a single moment. Rose had been winning the fight before it, and will forever be defined partly by the manner of this loss. Andrade’s celebration, surrounded by a sold-out Rio crowd, was one of Brazilian MMA’s great post-fight images. The finish was replayed thousands of times in the hours that followed and remains one of the most referenced moments in the history of the women’s strawweight division.
Co-Main Event — Costa vs. Romero
Paulo Costa vs. Yoel Romero — Middleweight
Three rounds of sustained, mutual violence at the highest level. Costa and Romero met in the centre of the cage and traded heavy shots for the duration of the fight — neither backing down, neither employing more than the barest minimum of defensive technique. Romero was cut above both eyes in round one. Costa had blood streaming from his forehead. The crowd was on its feet for the majority of the contest. Costa landed the cleaner shots and did more cumulative damage, winning all three rounds on all three judges’ scorecards despite absorbing enormous punishment throughout.
The fight was awarded Fight of the Night and generated immediate calls for a MW title shot for Costa. Romero’s record of never having been stopped remained intact; he lost by decision for the third time in the UFC, all three losses coming against fighters who would become or contend for the MW title. The bout elevated both men further in the MW rankings and helped cement Costa’s reputation as one of the division’s most terrifying challengers.
Full Results
Main Card
Andrade def. Namajunas — TKO (slam) | R1 4:07 | Women’s SW Championship (Andrade NEW champion)
Costa def. Romero — Unanimous Decision | R3 5:00 | MW
Magny def. Ponzinibbio — Unanimous Decision | R3 | WW
Teixeira def. Evans-Smith — TKO | R2 | Women’s SW
Anderson def. Hermansson — Unanimous Decision | R3 | MW
Preliminary Card
Da Silva def. Hooper — KO | R1 | FW
Alves def. Rencountre — Unanimous Decision | R3 | WW
Bonuses & Awards
🏅 Fight of the Night ($50,000 each): Paulo Costa and Yoel Romero, for one of the most violently entertaining MW bouts in UFC history.
⚡ Performance of the Night ($50,000): Jessica Andrade for her stunning slam TKO to win the Women’s Strawweight Championship.
Records & Milestones
Jessica Andrade became the first Brazilian woman to hold the UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship. The slam TKO is the only finish of its kind in the division’s title history. Rose Namajunas’ three-title-defence run ended in one of the most shocking upsets of 2019. Yoel Romero retained his record of never having been finished inside the cage despite absorbing enormous damage from Costa. For context on Romero’s previous bouts and Rose’s title history, see UFC 225 and UFC 221.
Legacy & Impact
The Andrade slam KO is one of the defining images of the Women’s Strawweight division’s history. In an era where title changes at 115 lbs had been rare and hard-earned, the finish’s manner — so sudden, so violent, so unexpected from a fighter who had been losing the round — made it genuinely iconic. Andrade became a champion through physical strength that no technical skill set had been able to neutralise. The Brazilian crowd’s reaction, and the image of Andrade celebrating in her home country, belongs among the sport’s great championship moments.
Costa vs. Romero is regularly cited in discussions of the UFC’s greatest MW fights. The fight’s sustained brutality across three rounds, with neither man willing to deploy defensive tactics, produced something close to a pure test of physical output and pain tolerance. Both fighters’ subsequent paths converged at the MW title picture, with Romero eventually getting a title shot and Costa following suit, the results of which are covered in later profiles in this series.
Frequently Asked Questions
How did Andrade knock out Rose Namajunas at UFC 237?
Andrade secured a clinch against the cage fence, lifted Rose completely off the mat in a fireman’s carry, and slammed her head-first onto the canvas with full force. Rose was unconscious before hitting the mat. Marc Goddard stopped the fight at 4:07 of round one.
How many times had Rose Namajunas defended the Women’s SW title before UFC 237?
Three times. She won the title at UFC 217 (KO of Joanna), defended at UFC 223 (UD of Joanna 2) and UFC 228 (TKO of Kowalkiewicz) before the loss in Rio.
Who won the Costa vs. Romero fight at UFC 237?
Paulo Costa, by unanimous decision, winning all three rounds on all three judges’ scorecards. The fight was immediately named Fight of the Night and is considered among the greatest MW non-title bouts in UFC history.
Did Jessica Andrade and Rose Namajunas ever fight again?
Yes. Rose won the rematch at UFC 251 in July 2020 at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, reclaiming the Women’s SW title by UD across five rounds. A third fight was made and Rose won that too.
Who received the UFC 237 post-fight bonuses?
Fight of the Night: Paulo Costa and Yoel Romero ($50,000 each). Performance of the Night: Jessica Andrade ($50,000) for the slam TKO of Rose Namajunas to win the Women’s SW Championship.
References
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