Sexton sharp as a tack–she’s studying to be a osteopathic doctor, she’s an MMA writer and oh by the way a professional fighter. Debi Purcell is a pioneer in women’s MMA, though at age 39 might be a little past her prime. She’s a big, tough looking fighter and based on appearances alone will have a significant size and strength advantage. This is the debut of EliteXC’s new 130 pound women’s division, which is a great development for the sport. Purcell has been fighting professionally since 2001, but obviously she came up during an era when opportunities for female fighters were few and far between. As Mauro Ranallo notes, Purcell looks very happy and excited to enter the ring which more often than not is a good sign assuming that the fighter has put in the work in training. It sure looks like she has. Tale of the tape reveals that Purcell is actually an inch shorter and a pound lighter than her opponent, though just looking at them she looks more muscular and ‘cut’. Could be an optical illusion since we can see more of her body due to her ringwear. Herb Dean will keep things on the straight and narrow and we’re ready to fight:

ROUND ONE:

Sexton looks intense, Purcell has a smile on her face. Now the picture goes blank and we’re trying to get it restored. Looks pretty even so far with Sexton trying to work a clinch and Purcell countering. Tough round to score, as much due to its closeness as the fact that the feed froze for almost a minute. Based on the fact that the standup favors Purcell we’ll give her a slight 10-9 edge here but could have gone either way.

ROUND TWO:

Purcell goes for a high kick, Sexton grabs the ankle looking for a takedown but no go. Purcell’s punching looks crisper but its somewhat deceptive sicne Sexton is counterpunching well. Sexton gets the takedown and is now working inside Purcell’s guard. Purcell has very long legs and is using them to keep Sexton out of side mount. Sexton now stacks up Purcell, but Purcell uses her leg strength and punching to get out of danger along with an old school ankle trip. Back to standup now. Clash of strikes as Sexton tries what Steven Qadros calls a “Superwoman Punch” and Purcell simultaneously tries a kick. Both fighters ended up off balance, but hard to see if any damage was done. Purcell now takes Sexton down and lands a couple of punches but doesn’t want to roll with the BJJ expert Sexton. Again, hate the 3 minute rounds for women–they need to let them go 5 minutes. Very close round. We’ll give it to Purcell again, 10-9 giving her a 20-18 lead but both rounds were very close and it could be completely different on the judges card.

ROUND THREE:

Purcell tries for another ’superwoman’ punch, Sexton counters it perfectly with a right. Clinch against the cage wall now for a moment, then we’re back to standup in the middle. Purcell tries a swinging backfist and misses. Sexton gets the takedown and tries a cartwheel guard pass that she almost pulls off. 30 seconds, Purcell tries for a leglock as the round draws to a close. Another excellent showcase for women’s MMA. Sexton 10-9 in round 3, we’ll give the fight to Purcell 29-28 in an excellent showing by both women. Wouldn’t really argue with a draw, as neither woman really deserves to lose this one.

30-27 Sexton
29-28 Purcell
30-27 Sexton

Strange decision–you can make a case that Sexton won, but a three round sweep is tough to justify. Then again, as we noted at the time rounds 1 and 2 were extremely close. Sexton is just adorable and well spoken-great smile for a fighter too. Great ambassador for the sport–just sharp as a tack as we noted at the outset. Excellent fight. Every time the women have taken the cage on EliteXC cards it makes Dana White’s indifference and Matt Hughes’ backwards-assed disdain for female MMA look more and more ridiculous.

ROSI SEXTON WINS BY SPLIT DECISION