The timeless Andrei Arlovski did it once more on Saturday, as he defeated Chase Sherman by unanimous choice in his 35th UFC look.
Arlovski (31-20) outpointed Sherman (15-7) through unanimous judges’ scores of 29-28, within the co-main occasion of UFC Battle Evening contained in the Apex facility in Las Vegas. In doing so, Arlovski joined former gentle heavyweight champion Jon Jones as the one two fighters in UFC historical past to file 20 wins in a single weight class.
The 42-year-old former champion, who made his UFC debut in 2000, is third all time in UFC appearances, behind solely Jim Miller (37) and Donald Cerrone (36). Instantly following the victory, Arlovski mentioned he intends to struggle “a pair extra years.”
Saturday’s bout was very aggressive, nevertheless it was Arlovski who landed the extra constant offense, particularly late. He focused Sherman’s lead leg with low kicks, and combined in two- and three-punch mixtures to the physique and head. There was loads of back-and-forth motion, though neither heavyweight appeared to land with any devastating energy.
Arlovski’s finest moments got here when he was transferring ahead. Sherman, 31, crowded him alongside the fence at instances, which was not a very good place for Arlovski. Sherman appeared to harm him briefly within the opening spherical, however could not shut the deal, as Arlovski pressured his manner ahead right into a clinch.
The loss snaps a four-fight profitable streak for Sherman. He confirmed his frustration late within the bout, yelling at Arlovski to fulfill him within the center, because the veteran circled away. Arlovski has now gained three of his final 4.
Middleweight: Jacob Malkoun (5-1, 1-1 UFC) def. Abdul Razak Alhassan (10-Four, Four-Four UFC) by unanimous choice (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
At age 25 with simply 5 earlier professional bouts on his resume, Malkoun confirmed that he is a fast learner. As soon as he noticed the takedown was there for the taking, he went for it. Once more and repeatedly. And he used all these takedowns to empty the hazard out of his opponent.
After spending the early going evading the ability and aggressiveness of Alhassan, Malkoun closed distance halfway by Spherical 1 and pressed his opponent in opposition to the cage earlier than taking him to the canvas. Alhassan managed to get the struggle again to standing, however Malkoun took him proper again down. Earlier than Spherical 1 was over, the Aussie had 4 takedowns.
And that, basically, was the struggle.
Alhassan has 10 profession wins. Each one in every of them got here through first-round knockout. Now we all know why. After the primary 5 minutes didn’t produce the end result for which he had been swinging his beefy arms, Alhassan supplied little resistance. Really, he supplied little however resistance. He managed to fend off 9 of Malkoun’s 15 takedown makes an attempt, however Alhassan by no means was capable of convert protection to offense, which allowed Malkoun to only preserve going after takedowns and clinches, protected from any winging punches his opponent was desperately throwing his manner.
It was a simple name for the judges, all three of whom scored the bout 30-27 for Malkoun.
It was his first UFC win after he’d dropped his Octagon debut in an 18-second knockout loss to Phil Hawes in October.
Alhassan, a 35-year-old native of Ghana who trains in Fort Value, Texas, has misplaced three in a row. Each earlier losses got here in fights scheduled for welterweight, with Alhassan lacking weight. This time he fought at middleweight, and appeared like a giant middleweight.
Girls’s flyweight: Tracy Cortez (9-1, Three-Zero UFC) def. Justine Kish (7-Four, Three-Four UFC) by break up choice (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
Cortez spent a number of time throughout this coaching camp with former UFC double champion and Olympic wrestling gold medalist Henry Cejudo. These hours paid dividends.
Cortez used her wrestling to seize a break up choice (29-28, 28-29, 30-27) over Kish. Cortez bought Kish down within the first and third rounds and did stable injury with floor and pound.
Within the first spherical, Cortez landed a visit takedown out of a bodylock and bought into prime place. From there, Cortez landed arduous punches, elbows and hammerfists from Kish’s guard. Kish was capable of scramble away, however Cortez bought her again in a scramble. Kish had moments within the second and third rounds. She landed arduous proper fingers and an elbow within the second and truly dropped Cortez momentarily within the third. Cortez, although, was capable of take Kish down once more with a visit within the third spherical and land arduous photographs with Kish turtled.
Cortez, 27, has gained 9 straight and all three of her fights within the UFC. The Phoenix native seems to be a prospect to control within the ladies’s flyweight division. Kish, a 33-year-old Russia native, has misplaced two in a row and 4 out of her final 5.
@TracyCortezmma is an issue! #ufcvegas24
— Julian marquez (@JMarquezMMA) April 18, 2021
“Hopefully, by the tip of the yr, if all the pieces is finished proper, I might prefer to be ranked within the prime 5,” Cortez mentioned. “I do suppose I am about a number of fights away from being at the very least prime 15. I do not see why I would not be. Give me three or 4 extra fights, I will be prime 5, child!”
Light-weight: Luis Pena (9-Three, 5-Three UFC) def. Alexander Muñoz (6-2, Zero-2 UFC) by break up choice (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
A late offensive surge from Pena proved to be simply sufficient on the scorecards, as he picked up a break up choice over Munoz.
Pena, who fights out of American Prime Workforce, bought off to a sluggish begin within the light-weight bout, however appeared to be in an ideal rhythm by the tip. He picked Munoz aside on the ft from the surface, and peppered him with counter jabs any time he tried to shut distance. Two judges had it 29-28 for Pena, whereas a 3rd noticed it 29-28 for Munoz.
In accordance with UFC Stats, Munoz barely out-landed Pena in whole strikes, however Pena appeared to do extra injury because the struggle progressed. Along with his jab and boxing mixtures, Pena landed a number of arduous knees to Munoz’s physique and shortly labored again to his ft any time Munoz managed to take him down to alter up the tempo of the struggle.
Pena, 27, picks up his first win since February 2020. He has alternated wins and losses in his final 5 appearances. Munoz, who fights out of Workforce Alpha Male, falls to Zero-2 within the UFC.
Heavyweight: Alexander Romanov (14-Zero, Three-Zero UFC) def. Juan Espino (11-2, 2-1 UFC) by technical break up choice (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
The largest upset of the night time: The judges performed a job in deciding the result of this heavyweight bout.
Romanov got here in at 13-Zero with finishes in each struggle. Espino had gained eight in a row, with six of these wins coming by first-round end. If the judges had left their posts at cageside throughout introductions and gone for espresso, they may have been forgiven. Each of the fighters had proven a career-long aversion to leaving their destiny to the scorecards.
However the scorecards ended up coming into play on Saturday — bizarrely.
After two rounds by which every fighter had moments of seizing benefit, totally on the bottom and in clinches, they got here out for Spherical Three with the bout hanging within the steadiness. Each had been drained, however Romanov, a 30-year-old from Moldova, appeared particularly drained.
A minute in, Espino, who’s 40 and from the Canary Islands, Spain, had Romanov clinched in opposition to the cage and threw a knee. It landed to the groin, and Romanov dropped to the canvas. Referee Mark Smith paused the struggle, introduced in a health care provider and a translator, and after a number of minutes of debate, Romanov mentioned he couldn’t transfer his leg and couldn’t proceed.
The bout was waved off, and the judges had been requested to attain the unfinished Spherical Three in addition to the primary two rounds. All three scored it 29-28, with two seeing it for Romanov, who stays unbeaten.
Strawweight: Jessica Penne (13-6, 2-Three UFC) def. Lupita Godinez (5-1, Zero-1 UFC) by break up choice (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
After virtually precisely 4 years away from the Octagon, Penne is again — with a victory.
Utilizing her artful grappling, Penne picked up a break up choice (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) victory in opposition to the UFC newcomer Godinez. Penne had been out since April 22, 2017 on account of points involving USADA, the UFC’s anti-doping companion. She bought hit with a second anti-doping violation in 2019, however USADA diminished her sanction final yr from 4 years to 20 months.
Penne was very emotional in her postfight interview, saying she wasn’t 100% positive what the choice can be.
“I assumed I bought it, however you by no means know,” Penne mentioned. “It is actually nerve-wracking main as much as the judges. … I put my coronary heart and soul on the market. I am actually comfortable.”
Godinez had moments on the ft, doing injury with punches. She additionally had a pair of arduous slams. However Penne was capable of shut the gap commonly, get Godinez down and work for submissions. A number of instances, Penne tried to drag guard, together with going for a flying triangle twice within the third spherical.
Penne, 38, had misplaced three straight earlier than the layoff. Her final victory earlier than Saturday got here Dec. 12, 2014, her UFC debut. Godinez, a 27-year-old Mexico native preventing out of Canada, is the previous LFA ladies’s strawweight champion.
Middleweight: Gerald Meerschaert (32-14, 7-6 UFC) def. Bartosz Fabinski (15-5, Four-Three UFC) by first-round submission (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
1:01
Gerald Meerschaert avenges his loss with a giant submission of Bartosz Fabinski at UFC Battle Evening.
Meerschaert picked up a much-needed victory over Fabinski, within the type of an opening-round submission.
The Milwaukee native jumped on an early guillotine try as Fabinski appeared to take him to the bottom. The choke appeared tight from the second Meerschaert sunk it in. He briefly moved to full mount, then to a aspect place and put Fabinski to sleep. The end got here on the 2-minute mark.
Meerschaert, 33, wanted a win badly, as he misplaced his earlier two fights within the opening spherical. He suffered a 17-second knockout in opposition to Khamzat Chimaev in his most up-to-date look in September.
Regardless of the high-pressure spot, Meerschaert appeared comfy exchanging early punches with Fabinski and took benefit of the uncovered neck for his 24th profession submission. Meerschaert now owns the file for many submissions in middleweight division historical past.
“Any day now, I’ll be a model new dad so I’ve to get again and try this,” Meerschaert mentioned. “Excellent-case situation, I get again residence, spend a while with the household and hopefully come again another time earlier than the tip of the yr.”
Fabinski, of Poland, drops to Four-Three total within the UFC. He’s the sixth fighter to fall sufferer to Meerschaert’s guillotine.
Guillotine respect guillotine. Strong work @The_Real_GM3
— Brian BOOM Kelleher (@brianboom135) April 18, 2021
Light-weight: Austin Hubbard (13-5, Three-Three UFC) vs. Dakota Bush (Eight-Three, Zero-1 UFC) by unanimous choice (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
Some fighters’ finest weapon is their punching. For some, it is their kicking. And for others, it is their grappling. Hubbard’s profitable method was a mix of endurance and timing.
His hanging and grappling got here into play, as properly, for positive, however what gained Hubbard the choice (29-28 on all three scorecards) was his calm within the early going — when Bush got here out aggressively in his UFC debut — and well-timed takedowns and grappling reversals as soon as Bush’s power degree had dipped.
Bush clearly had been ready for this primary journey contained in the Octagon, and he wasted not a second earlier than moving into it. He got here out firing calf kicks, lead left hooks and a complete lot extra, relentlessly. Hubbard didn’t enable himself to be drawn right into a brawl, although. He maintained vary and countered when the chance introduced itself, and within the closing seconds of Spherical 1, he shot for a takedown and bought it.
That was a preview of what was to come back. Within the second and third rounds, Hubbard was step forward in the entire grappling exchanges, reversing wherever Bush tried and gaining full mount a number of instances. It wasn’t a blowout of a struggle, by any means, however Hubbard confirmed the brand new man who was in management.
“I am comfortable. It is all the time good to come back away with a win,” Hubbard mentioned. “He was very robust. He pushed me, his fuel tank held up slightly higher than I assumed it was going to — I’ll give him credit score for that. I simply needed to depart all of it in there, I felt like I did that.”
Hubbard, 29, who fights out of Denver, continued his pattern of alternating between wins and losses within the UFC. Bush, a 26-year-old from Cuba, Missouri, noticed his two-fight profitable streak finish.
Males’s bantamweight: Tony Gravely (21-6, 2-1 UFC) def. Anthony Birchak (16-Eight, Zero-2 UFC) by second-round TKO (Watch this fight on ESPN+)
Gravely harm Birchak badly with blows on the bottom within the first spherical. Referee Mark Smith did not suppose it was sufficient, although, and allowed Birchak to struggle on. Within the second spherical, Gravely left little doubt.
Gravely stopped Birchak through TKO at 1:31 of the second spherical to open UFC Battle Evening on Saturday. Gravely landed a depraved left hook that put Birchak down after which completed with hammerfists on the bottom as Smith got here in to drag him off.
The primary spherical was wild. Gravely knocked Birchak round on the ft, however when issues ended up on the bottom, Birchak was capable of sweep after which try a guillotine. Gravely survived, bought again on prime and landed big ground-and-pound. It appeared like Birchak was not intelligently defending himself as Gravely landed arduous punch after hand punch with Birchak turtled up, however Birchak nonetheless managed to outlive the primary.
Within the second spherical, Gravely landed a takedown, however Birchak labored his manner again up. On the ft, Birchak went for a kick, and Gravely countered with a whipping left hook that put Birchak down for good.
Gravely, 29, has gained two straight and 9 of his previous 10 fights. The Virginia native, who fights out of American Prime Workforce in Florida, is a product of Dana White’s Contender Collection. Birchak, a 34-year-old Arizona native, has misplaced each of his fights since returning to the UFC final yr.
Loopy forwards and backwards spherical to start out the night time!!#UFCVegas24
— Jamahal “Candy Goals” Hill (@JamahalH) April 17, 2021
Nonetheless to come back:
Middleweight: Robert Whittaker (23-5,13-Three UFC, -270) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (17-6 1 NC, 11-6 1 NC UFC, +220)