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Tom Aspinall kept his throne through the most anticlimactic means.
The Team Kaobon star retained the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title via no contest after he absorbed an inadvertent eye poke from Ciryl Gane in the first round of their UFC 321 headliner on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Aspinall (15-3, 8-1 UFC) made it clear he could not continue 4:35 into Round 1.
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Gane (13-2, 10-2 UFC) zeroed in on the champion’s lower extremities with side kicks and sent a handful of jabs crashing into his face. It left Aspinall with a bloody nose as the first round neared its conclusion. Action grinded to a halt when Gane extended his lead hand with his fingers outstretched and poked the Englishman in both eyes. Aspinall was given time to recover but indicated his vision was compromised, necessitating the stoppage.
Meanwhile, Mackenzie Dern completed her climb to the top of the 115-pound weight class and laid claim to the vacant women’s strawweight championship with a unanimous decision over Virna Jandiroba in the five-round co-main event. All three members of the assigned judiciary turned in scorecards for Dern (16-5, 11-5 UFC): 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46.
Jandiroba (22-4, 8-4 UFC) looked to make up for her shortcomings in the standup department with a steady diet of takedowns. She completed nine of them by the time it was over. However, Dern stayed active from her back and landed the far more damaging blows whenever she returned to her feet. The 2015 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Fighting World Championships gold medalist connected with leg kicks, overhand rights and intermittent teeps to the body, but the jab was perhaps her most effective weapon. It left Jandiroba with substantial damage to her right eye and put more distance between them in a closely contested battle. Dern tied a bow on her efforts in the waning seconds of Round 5, where she surprised the game but visibly fatigued Brazilian with a takedown of her own.
The loss closed the book on Jandiroba’s five-fight winning streak.
Further down the draw, Umar Nurmagomedov rebounded from his Jan. 18 loss to current champion Merab Dvalishvili and outgrappled MMA Lab mainstay Mario Bautista to a unanimous decision in their three-round bantamweight showcase. Nurmagomedov (19-1, 7-1 UFC) carried all three cards with 30-27 scores.
Bautista (16-3, 10-3 UFC), who entered the cage on the heels of six consecutive wins, made a pass at a toe hold in the first round and sat down the Russian with a knee strike to the head in the second. The spaces in between were dominated by Nurmagomedov. He countered effectively on the feet but made real gains with repeated takedowns and mat returns. Nurmagomedov progressed to the back on more than one occasion and secured position with a body triangle. It was a classic rinse-and-repeat approach. Bautista protected his neck but lost valuable time and momentum, a shot at a life-changing victory slowly but surely slipping through his fingers.
The defeat was Bautista’s first since March 6, 2021.
Elsewhere, onetime Bellator MMA and M-1 Global titleholder Alexander Volkov did just enough on the feet and utilized an active bottom game to eke out a split decision over Jailton Almeida in their three-round heavyweight showcase. All three judges turned in 29-28 scorecards: Michael Bell for Almeida, Tony Weeks and Clemens Werner for Volkov.
Almeida (22-4, 8-2 UFC) relied too heavily on takedowns alone, failing to consolidate them with any meaningful damage. Volkov reversed into top position after being taken down in the first round and hacked away at the Brazilian with elbows and forearm strikes from above, as he showed he was up to the challenge in their ground exchanges. Almeida completed two takedowns in the middle stanza and two more in the third, only to stall in the Russian’s guard. Volkov (39-11, 13-5 UFC) capitalized on his lack of activity and continued to fire punches from his back, giving Weeks and Werner the ammunition they needed to side with him.
The setback snaps a modest two-fight winning streak for Almeida.
Finally, former Brave Combat Federation champion Azamat Murzakanov kept his perfect professional record intact, as he punched out Aleksandar Rakic in the first round of their light heavyweight appetizer. Murzakanov (16-0, 6-0 UFC) shut the door 3:11 into Round 1, authoring the 10th first-round finish of his career.
Rakic (14-6, 6-5 UFC) tested the waters with kicks to the body and lead leg, then turned his attention to the clinch. He pestered Murzakanov with foot stomps and close-range knees but could not corral the K Dojo Warrior Tribe rep along the fence. Soon after, Rakic walked into a crushing counter right hand and hit the deck, at which point he shelled up to shield himself from further damage. Murzakanov brought it to a close with one last standing-to-ground right.
The 33-year-old Rakic has lost four fights in a row.
Continue Reading » UFC 321 Prelims: Another Heel Hook for Valter Walker
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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