It’s most likely truthful at this level to name Jailton
Almeida a major problem for the Final Combating Championship heavyweight
division.
In the primary occasion of
UFC on ABC 4 on Saturday at Spectrum Heart in Charlotte, North
Carolina, Almeida (19-2, 5-0 UFC) wanted simply 3:43 to overwhelm
Jairzinho
Rozenstruik on the bottom. The chiseled Brazilian entered as an
overwhelming favourite and the bout performed out roughly as
anticipated, with Almeida exploiting Rozenstruik’s porous wrestling
and grappling on his method to an effortless-looking win. “Bigi Boy”
managed to show apart Almeida’s first takedown try, a
double-leg from too far exterior within the opening moments, however Almeida
tried once more moments later and was profitable, wrapping up
Rozenstruik’s legs and tipping him over in the midst of the cage.
“Malhadinho” instantly moved to half-guard and labored to advance,
chipping away with brief strikes and transferring the larger man to the
fence. With underneath two minutes to go, Almeida moved to mount,
dropped a few strikes and waited for his opponent to show his
again. Rozenstruik did so, and
Almeida instantly took the place, sank a rear-naked choke and
flattened his man out. Rozenstruik tapped inside
seconds and Dan Miragliotta intervened for the stoppage. The win
was Almeida’s thirteenth straight total, the final 5 of which have
come within the UFC Octagon—all by knockout or submission, 4 of them
within the first spherical.
Walker Punishes Smith
Johnny
Walker (21-7, 7-4 UFC) used his attain, heavy arms and a strong
funding in leg kicks to cruise to a unanimous resolution win over
former mild heavyweight title challenger Anthony
Smith (36-18, 11-8 UFC) within the co-main occasion. Walker’s
scary energy was on show all through, notably late within the
first spherical when he caught Smith with a punch mixture that
dropped him to his knees. Smith managed to seize a single leg, then
in some way survived the onslaught of hammerfists from the titanic
Walker and secured a takedown that allowed him to get better and experience
out the spherical. The second spherical was a extra aggressive affair, as
each males landed quite a few onerous strikes amid a number of swings of
momentum. By the ultimate spherical, nonetheless, Walker’s regular stream of
leg kicks had paid dividends, as Smith’s left calf was visibly
swollen, and his motion compromised. Walker damage Smith once more with
punches, this time evading the desperation takedown, and by the
time Smith struggled again to his ft within the second half of the
spherical, he appeared to have little left to supply. The Brazilian by
approach of Dublin was rewarded for his efforts with a unanimous
resolution (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) and the chance to name out
mild heavyweight champ Jamahal
Hill, who was current within the area and appeared receptive to the
notion.
Garry Head Kicks Rodriguez
Within the function battle of “UFC Charlotte,” welterweight
super-prospect Ian Garry
handed his newest take a look at with flying colours by knocking out Daniel
Rodriguez with a stupendous proper excessive kick and a torrent of
follow-up punches. Dealing with his first opponent ranked within the UFC’s
official High 15, the 25-year-old Irishman engaged within the type of
firefight that has characterised his run within the Octagon to this point,
taking Rodriguez’s heavy jabs and low kicks and returning fireplace with
kicks to the physique and legs. When “The Future” determined to go
upstairs, he made it depend, nailing Rodriguez with a very
unblocked head kick that despatched him stumbling backwards in a daze.
Garry gave chase, hustled “D-Rod” to the canvas and poured it on
with a few big floor strikes. Rodriguez turned away,
providing nothing in return, and referee Dan Miragliotta was pressured
to intervene at 2 minutes, 57 seconds. The win elevated Garry’s
report to an ideal 12-0, 5-0 since becoming a member of the UFC as a former
Cage Warriors Combating Championship
titleholder. Rodriguez fell to 17-4 total, 7-3 within the UFC.
Ulberg Lamps Potieria
Carlos
Ulberg (8-1, 4-1 UFC) continued his inexorable march via
the sunshine heavyweight division, dropping Ihor
Potieria (19-4, 1-2 UFC) with a left hook and ending him
with punches and hammerfists on the bottom within the first spherical.
Ulberg calmly absorbed his foe’s aggressive strategy, evading most
of Potieria’s strikes, measuring him and biding his time for the
proper second to counter. That second got here two minutes in, when the
Ukrainian charged ahead with an enormous overhand proper. Ulberg
responded with a brief left that dropped Potieria onto his face,
then pounced and adopted up with a sequence of uncontested blows on
the bottom. “Black Jag” appeared to resolve on his personal that Potieria
had had sufficient and stood as much as have fun, however referee Keith
Peterson evidently agreed, as he moved in to make the stoppage
official at 2:09 of Spherical 1. The win is Ulberg’s fourth straight
since dropping his UFC debut and his third by first-round knockout,
marking the Metropolis Kickboxing export as a contender on the rise.
Morono Faucets Out Means
The principle card opener noticed Alex Morono
(23-8, 1 NC) and Tim Means
(32-15-1, 1 NC) ship on their respective reputations as
welterweight motion retailers, partaking in a back-and-forth first
spherical earlier than Morono closed issues out with a second-round
guillotine choke. Each males had their moments within the opening 5
minutes, with every touchdown head kicks on the opposite and exchanging
heavy punches in shut quarters. The second spherical appeared set to
provide extra of the identical, till Means modified ranges for a sneaky
double-leg takedown try. “The Nice White” was throughout it,
snaring Means’ neck and falling to protect, briefly trapping certainly one of
Means’ arms as he did so. Morono adjusted his grip and cranked, and
by the point Means extricated his proper arm, he was tapping along with his
left. Referee Wayne Spinola stepped in at 2:09 of Spherical 2, giving
Morono the submission victory. The win introduced the Houston native’s
Octagon mark to 12-5 and put him again within the win column after his
December TKO loss to Santiago
Ponzinibbio; Means fell to 14-12 with one no contest within the UFC
with the loss, his third in a row.
Proceed Studying »
UFC on ABC 4 Prelims: Debuting Lisboa Faucets Out Clark
