Repeated fouls cost Long Xiao the
most important win of his career.
The “Road to UFC” Season 2 finalist was penalized two points for
three low blows and took a major step back in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division with a
unanimous decision defeat to Cody
Garbrandt in their featured
UFC 326 prelim on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. All
three cageside judges scored it the same: 29-28 for Garbrandt
(15-7, 10-7 UFC).
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Xiao (27-11, 1-3 UFC) battered the Ohio native’s body, legs and
head with kicks through much of the first two rounds. He then ran
aground. Xiao connected with three low blows—the second resulted in
Garbrandt dry heaving and ultimately vomiting into a bucket in the
center of the cage—in the third round and lost two points.
Garbrandt stayed on his bicycle and pot-shotted the Xin-Du Martial
Arts Club export after the deductions to snatch victory from the
jaws of defeat.
Meanwhile, Gnosis Combat Sports prospect Donte
Johnson stayed undefeated with a contentious split decision
over Cody
Brundage in their three-round middleweight battle. All three
judges turned in 29-28 scorecards: Derek Cleary and Tony Weeks for
Johnson, Junichiro Kamijo for Brundage.
Neither man fully took charge. A short-notice replacement for
Dusko
Todorovic, Brundage (11-9-1, 5-8-1 UFC) leaned on takedown
attempts, clinches and a surprisingly potent jab but seemed to run
out of steam midway through the bout. Johnson (8-0, 2-0 UFC)
answered with heavy counterpunching, an effective sprawl and modest
ground-and-pound, doing just enough to curry favor with two of the
three adjudicators.
Brundage now finds himself on a three-fight losing streak.
Further down the undercard, Goat Shed Academy rep Alberto
Montes excelled in his promotional debut and put “The Ultimate
Fighter” Season 29 winner Ricky
Turcios to sleep with an anaconda choke in the second round of
their featherweight clash.
Montes (12-1, 1-0 UFC) drew the curtain 0:40 into Round
2.
Turcios (12-6, 2-4 UFC) kept the Venezuelan off-balance initially
with forward pressure an unorthodox movements. However, by the time
the first round was over, Montes had seized the reins with a few
jumping front kicks to the body and quick punching bursts upstairs.
He cut off an attempted takedown from Turcios at the start of the
middle stanza, rolled into the anaconda choke and tightened his
squeeze until the job was done.
Montes, 31, has rattled off four straight victories.
Finally, American Top Team’s Rodolfo
Bellato sprang a mild upset and turned away the previously
unbeaten Luke
Fernandez with punches in the first round of their light
heavyweight tilt.
Bellato (13-3-1, 2-1-1 UFC) brought it to an emphatic close 2:42
into Round 1.
Fernandez (6-1, 0-1 UFC) controlled virtually every second of the
match, until the stunning conclusion. He cracked Bellato with
overhand rights, employed an effective jab and even incorporated a
few knee strikes to the body. Bleeding from a cut near his left
eye, Bellato decked the former Cage Fury Fighting Championships
titleholder with a counter left hook out of nowhere. The Brazilian
pounced on the fallen Fernandez, then unleashed a series of
rapid-fire punches and hammerfists to force the stoppage.
It was the ninth first-round finish of Bellato’s career.
In other action, Nyamjargal
Tumendemberel (10-1, 2-1 UFC) outgrappled Cody Durden
(17-10-1, 6-8-1 UFC) to unanimous decision—30-27, 30-27, 29-28—in
their three-round flyweight scrap; Su Mudaerji
(19-7, 6-4 UFC) laid claim to a unanimous decision over Jesus
Santos Aguilar (12-4, 4-3 UFC) in their three-round flyweight
encounter, as he drew 30-27 marks from all three judges; and
Diyar
Nurgozhay (11-2, 1-2 UFC) took a unanimous decision—30-27,
29-28, 29-28—from Rafael
Tobias (14-2, 0-1 UFC) in their three-round light heavyweight
affair.