Canadian flyweight Laframboise misses out on UFC contract again

LAS VEGAS — Brazilian Nicolle Caliari submitted Canadian flyweight Corinne Laframboise for a first-round win Tuesday on Dana White's Contender Series.

The Contender Series, held at the UFC’s Apex production facility, offers fighters a chance to impress UFC president Dana White — and possibly earn a UFC deal.

Caliari, showing no fear of Laframboise's black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, took the Canadian down twice in the first round. Laframboise worked her way out from underneath and landed some elbow strikes.

When Laframboise dragged the Brazilian down to the ground, Caliari (8-2-0) swung her legs up and locked in an armbar that forced her opponent to verbally submit with 15 seconds remaining in the round. It was her third straight submission win.

The performance earned the 27-year-old Caliari her UFC contract.

"I'm going to give her a shot in the UFC," said White.

Laframboise (8-5-0) was slated to fight on the Contender Series last September but pulled out after pre-fight medicals showed she was three months pregnant.

"A surprise happened," Laframboise said by way of understatement. Her daughter Aurélie was born in March.

Laframboise last fought in March 2022, submitting Venezuela's Carolina Jimenez on a UAE Warriors card in Abu Dhabi. She took time off from MMA that August after an injury that caused her to lose half of her hearing in her right ear.

The 35-year-old from Saint-Mathieu-de-Belœil, Que., eventually returned to training when initially invited to fight on the Contender Series, giving her a shot at her dream of making the UFC. But before she could start sparring, she sprained her ankle and had to avoid heavy contact in her training camp.

That proved to be fortuitous when she discovered she was pregnant.

Two of her losses came against future UFC competitors Jamie-Lynn Horth and Manon Fiorot. She also lost to Canadian Jade Masson-Wong, who fought unsuccessfully for the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship flyweight title last week.

The Contender Series has not been kind to Canadians recently. Shannon (MMA Barbie) Clark was knocked out in vicious fashion last week by Venezuelan flyweight Yuneisy Duben, an 8-1 underdog.

Canadians who previously earned UFC contracts via the Contender Series include Chad Anheliger, Jasmine Jasudavicius, Mike Malott, Yohan Lainesse and TJ Laramie. Others to have moved on via the feeder series include Serhiy Sidey, who moved to Canada from Ukraine when he was six and now calls Burlington, Ont., home, and Brazilian-born Caio Machado, who now fights out of Vancouver.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.