Glendale, Arizona’s Cortney Casey earns 5th UFC win, submits Mara Romero Borella in Jacksonville, Florida

Cortney “Cast Iron” Casey, 33, of Glendale, Arizona, United States was one of the winners at “UFC on ESPN 8,” also known as “UFC Fight Night 172.” It was her fifth victory in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Featuring 10 mixed martial arts matches, “UFC on ESPN 8” took place at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, USA on May 16, 2020. In the second bout of the evening, Casey fought Mara “Maravilha” Romero Borella, 33, of Polpenazze del Garda, Piacenza, Italy in the women’s flyweight division.

Michael Cardoso served as the referee. He put a stop to the heavyweight contest after 3 minutes and 36 seconds in the first round when Casey submitted Borella via armbar.

Winning at “UFC on ESPN 8” improved the professional MMA record of Casey to 9 wins and 7 losses. It was the second time she won a UFC fight via armbar.

On the other hand, Borella now has 12 wins, 8 losses, 0 draw and 2 No Contests. She is now riding a three-bout losing streak.

Nine countries were represented at “UFC on ESPN 8” namely Brazil, China, Ecuador, Georgia, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland and the U.S. Casey was one of the 12 representatives of the U.S. while Borella solely represented Italy.

The UFC held “UFC on ESPN 8” amid the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic while almost all major sports events were either cancelled or postponed. In the main event of the evening, Alistair “The Demolition Man” Overeem, 39, of Amsterdam, Netherlands knocked out Walt “The Big Ticket” Harris, 36, of Homewood, Alabama, USA in the heavyweight division.

Casey and Miguel “Caramel Thunder” Baeza, 27, of Davie, Florida won the Performance of the Night bonuses, which were presented by HSS. Presented by Toyo Tires, the Fight of the Night was the featherweight bout between “The Terminator” Song Yadong (宋亚东), 22, of Harbin, Heilongjiang, China and Marlon “Chito” Vera, 27, of Chone, Manabi, Ecuador.

Competing professionally since 2013, Casey made her UFC debut in 2015. The first four opponents she defeated in the promotion were Cristina Stanciu, Randa Markos, Jessica Aguilar and Angela Hill.