Jairzinho
Rozenstruik administered a prolonged beating and made sure the
door to the
Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight elite stayed
shut.
The American Top Team-trained kickboxer called upon a crushing jab
and improved takedown defense, as he forced a stoppage against the
previously unbeaten Shamil
Gaziev in the
UFC Fight Night 238 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas. A battered and beaten Gaziev (12-1, 1-1 UFC) was deemed
unfit to continue in between the fourth and fifth rounds.
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Rozenstruik (14-5, 8-5 UFC) handled his business after being taken
down late in the first round. He bloodied Gaziev’s nose with a
lightning-quick jab, varying its pace and intensity while
occasionally incorporating leg kicks. Rozenstruik’s combinations
picked up steam as time went on, and it became clear after the
fourth round that his opponent had no interest in absorbing more
damage.
Meanwhile, CM System’s Vitor
Petrino took another step forward at 205 pounds with a
slow-placed—it was downright plodding at times—unanimous decision
over Tyson Pedro
in the three-round light heavyweight co-main event. All three
judges submitted scorecards for the undefeated Petrino (11-0, 4-0
UFC): 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
Pedro (10-5, 6-5 UFC) tried but ultimately failed to keep the
chiseled Brazilian at bay with kicks to the lower leg. Petrino
answered with a punishing jab and sporadic low kicks of his own. He
did his best work in Round 3, where he secured multiple takedowns,
applied moderate ground-and-pound and eventually made a loose pass
at an arm-triangle. While the finish failed to materialize, the
outcome had longe been decided.
Afterward, the 32-year-old Pedro announced his retirement from
mixed martial arts.
Further down the bill, KHK MMA Team prospect Muhammad
Mokaev remained unbeaten with a grimy and clinch-heavy
unanimous decision over former Tachi Palace Fights champion
Alex
Perez in a three-round flyweight showcase. Mokaev (12-0, 6-0
UFC) swept the scorecards with matching 29-28 marks from the
cageside judiciary.
Perez (24-8, 6-4 UFC) made the Russian earn every inch of ground he
gained. The Team Oyama mainstay managed to deny the majority of
Mokaev’s takedowns with an effective sprawl, but in doing so, he
failed to generate much offense of his own. It resulted in repeated
back-and-forth grappling exchanges between the two men. Mokaev
connected with most of the consequential strikes on the feet and
closed out his night’s work with a nice belly-to-back suplex in the
third round.
The 23-year-old Mokaev has won seven straight bouts since his June
2021 pairing with Ibragim
Navruzov ended in a no contest under the Brave Combat
Federation banner.
Elsewhere, undefeated American Kickboxing Academy export Umar
Nurmagomedov withstood an early knockdown and kept his perfect
professional record intact with a unanimous decision over
promotional newcomer Bekzat
Almakhan in a three-round bantamweight feature. All three
judges sided with Nurmagomedov (17-0, 5-0 UFC): 30-25, 30-26 and
30-26.
Almakhan (14-2, 0-1 UFC) sat down the ex-Eagle Fighting
Championship titleholder with a clubbing right hand to the temple
in the first round but could not follow it with anything of
substance. Nurmagomedov cleared the cobwebs and scrambled into top
position, where he flexed his stifling control and steady
ground-and-pound. He took down and mounted Almakhan twice in the
second round and again in the third, slashing away with elbows and
punches from above.
The setback closed the book on Almakhan’s eight-fight winning
streak.
Finally, former Eternal MMA champion Steve Erceg
punched out Matt
Schnell in the second round of their flyweight appetizer.
Schnell (16-8, 6-6 UFC) bowed out 26 seconds into Round 2, having
been victimized by the surging Australian in spectacular
fashion.
Erceg (12-1, 3-0 UFC) set the tone with a persistent jab and clean
punching combinations in the first round, where he opened a cut
above the Fortis MMA rep’s left eye. Schnell shrugged off the
damage, lured his counterpart into extended exchanges and got his
attention with a few punching volleys of his own. However, it all
came crashing down for the American early in the middle stanza.
Erceg folded him in the center of the cage with a textbook left
hook. Schnell collapsed downward, his head bouncing violently off
the canvas. No follow-up shots were required.
The 28-year-old Erceg has rattled off 11 consecutive victories.
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