Outside Source
Paul Craig’s debut at 185 pounds featured a little bit of everything, but most importantly, a stoppage win over a dangerous opponent.
Craig faced Andre Muniz in a middleweight main card bout at Saturday’s UFC London event at The O2 Arena. After a slow start to the bout, things picked up in the second round, and after he took a brutal headbutt from Muniz, Craig was able to regain momentum and eventually brutalize Muniz with elbows on the ground for a second-round TKO win.
Watch the vicious finish from “Bearjew” in the video below.
After an intense staredown during the fighters’ introductions, the action began with range kickboxing for the first two-plus minutes, where Muniz was able to win some exchanges. Craig landed an occasional body kick, but there was a lot of swinging and missing, or blocking throughout the first stanza. Eventually, Muniz caught a kick and scored a takedown with under a minute to go in the first round.
After a surprisingly underwhelming opening round, Craig charged towards Muniz and secured a takedown, which led to Muniz throwing up a triangle that seemed tight.
Craig was able to escape that danger, but Muniz ended up on top, where he landed about as blatant of a headbutt as you’ll ever see. The referee at least stopped the action to change position, but didn’t take away a point. But it didn’t seem to deter Craig, who got a takedown, full mount, and landed a barrage of elbows to get the stoppage.
It was Craig’s ninth career octagon victory during his 16-fight promotional run. Muniz has now been stopped in two straight after winning his first five in the UFC.
This article first appeared at MMA Fighting – All Posts
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