Athletes
Erin Blanchfield: Sharpened and Ready
Flyweight Erin Blanchfield Looks To Bounce Back As She Returns Against Rose Namajunas In A Five Round Co-Main Event
There’s a very select group of fighters who can have immediate success at the UFC level and Erin Blanchfield is one of them. Her UFC career began in September of 2021. Since then, “Cold Blooded” has gone 6-1, with three submissions, along with wins over former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade and Talia Santos.
This Saturday, Blanchfield faces former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas in a five-round co-main event, a matchup both athletes were pushing for before its announcement.
“I had a lot of notice for this fight, so I feel like I was really able to game plan how I wanted my camp to go, and being able to execute that, I’m really excited for this to be my last hard week of training. I’ve been putting in a lot of work. I feel in great shape and I’m excited to get out to Canada.”
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Last time out, Manon Fiorot handed the New Jersey native just the second loss of her professional career and first in the UFC. Fiorot neutralized Blanchfield’s attack largely by fighting on the outside and maintaining her distance, resulting in a unanimous decision victory.
It wasn’t her night in Atlantic City last March, but Blanchfield uses it as a learning experience.
“It’s all experience; every fight you gain some insight on your own game and what you need to improve on,” Blanchfield said to UFC.com.
“That was also my first time going five rounds, so I know now that I feel really good going five rounds. And I can use that to my advantage. I feel like in that fight my distance was a little bit off and things like that. Not every night is going to be your best night, so I feel like there’s definitely some things to learn, but I’m not harping on it too much.”
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While preparing for Namajunas, Blanchfield made some notable additions to her training camp, and made a trip to the UFC Performance Institute before dialing in on the next challenge.
“I have a (new) boxing coach I’ve been working with now and I went out to the UFC PI before my camp started because they do metabolism testing and physical testing for strength and conditioning, so they wrote me out a whole program. I’ve been working with their dietician for my weight cut and for supplements and everything like that. So I’ve added a couple new things.”
Erin Blanchfield Submits JJ Aldrich | UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs Rozenstruik
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Erin Blanchfield Submits JJ Aldrich | UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs Rozenstruik
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Blanchfield owns a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and first started training at seven years old. Her development so far in the UFC has been evident in each fight. The grappling has proven to be elite, particularly her control style wrestling and submission game. On the feet, she has the fundamentals down, which can get her by most of the division, but the 25-year-old is constantly evolving.
“I just wanted to sharpen up my hands. I’ve done a lot of Muay Thai and kickboxing growing up, but I haven’t really focused primarily on my hands. I’ve always done something that had kicking, knees and elbows, so I wanted to have a coach and some sessions just focusing on the hands.”
Fighting Namajunas is a problem to solve as is, and during the lead-up, Blanchfield leaned on teammate and newly-signed UFC athlete Fatima Kline to help get ready.
“Fatima’s been helpful, she’s always been a fan of Rose, too, a bigger fan than maybe even I was. I feel like she knows her style pretty well so, she’s helped me emulate that during sparring and training.”
Being a longtime fan of the sport, Blanchfield has watched Namajunas for more than a decade and even considers herself a fan. Even with that respect towards a legend, “Cold Blooded” is excited for the opportunity.
“I remember her fighting in TUF, I remember watching that whole season; I had to be 13 or 14, I think.”
“I love fighting people that I’ve been watching since I was a kid.”
Adjustments have been made following the first setback of her UFC career, and she’s eager to get back in the Octagon.
With two of the division’s best set to meet, Blanchfield and Namajunas is a critical battle that can shape the future title picture at 125 pounds.
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