Aiemann
Zahabi now bears the look of a legitimate threat in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division.
Economical standup and bulletproof takedown defense carried the
Tristar Gym representative to a unanimous decision over onetime
Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion Pedro
Munhoz in the featured
UFC Fight Night 246 prelim on Saturday at Rogers Place in
Edmonton, Alberta. Zahabi (12-2, 6-2 UFC) swept the scorecards with
30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 marks from the cageside judiciary.
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Munhoz (20-10, 10-10 UFC) forced the Canadian onto the back foot
but walked into heavy fire while doing so. Zahabi cut loose with
two and three jabs at a time, fired right hands over the top and
targeted the body whenever the mood arose. Munhoz stayed aggressive
from beginning to end, but by the time it was over, visible damage
had accumulated around both of the American Top Team-trained
Brazilian’s eyes and his counterpart had built a nice lead on the
scorecards.
Zahabi, 36, has won four fights in a row.
Meanwhile, ex-TKO Major League MMA titleholder Charles
Jourdain disposed of Victor
Henry with a guillotine choke in the second round of their
bantamweight clash.
Henry (24-7, 3-2 UFC), who had never before been finished, raised
the white flag 3:43 into Round 2.
Jourdain (16-8-1, 7-7-1 UFC) attacked the onetime Deep champion
with a variety of weapons at a variety of levels, as he utilized
kicks to the body and legs, probing jabs and occasional foot
sweeps. Henry struck for a trip takedown midway through the second
round, moved to the back with a body triangle and searched for
potential openings. Jourdain stayed composed under duress,
scrambled to his feet and surprised the Josh Barnett
protégé with the choke. Henry struggled briefly, then realized
there was no escape.
The win snapped a two-fight losing streak for Jourdain.
Further down the undercard, Factory X standout Youssef
Zalal put away former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship
titleholder Jack Shore
with an arm-triangle choke in the second round of their
featherweight encounter.
Shore (17-3, 6-3 UFC) checked out 59 seconds into Round
2, losing for the third time in four appearances.
The 28-year-old Zalal (16-5-1, 4-1 UFC) tested the waters with a
variety of techniques in the first round, then made his move on the
Welshman. He floored Shore with a devastating knee strike in the
center of the cage, flurried with follow-up shots, powered into
full mount and framed the arm-triangle. From there, he tightened
his squeeze and waited for the tapout.
Zalal has rattled off six consecutive victories, all of them
finishes.
Finally, Alexander
Romanov rebounded from a June 1 submission loss to Jailton
Almeida with a unanimous decision over American Top Team’s
Rodrigo
Nascimento in a plodding three-round heavyweight confrontation.
All three judges scored it the same: 30-27 for Romanov (18-3, 7-3
UFC).
Nascimento (11-3, 4-3 UFC) struggled to generate meaningful output
for much of the match. Romanov executed multiple takedowns in the
first round, corralled the Brazilian along the fence and fed him a
repeated knees to the thighs and glute. The Lion Club-trained
Moldovan conducted his business on the feet across the final 10
minutes, pecking away at Nascimento in two- and three-punch
intervals while show little regard for the return fire.
The 31-year-old Nascimento has suffered back-to-back defeats for
the first time as a pro.
In other action, ex-Battlefield Fight League titleholder Serhiy
Sidey (11-2, 1-1 UFC) eked out a contentious split
decision—28-29, 29-28, 29-28—against Garrett
Armfield in a three-round bantamweight affair; “The Ultimate
Fighter” Season 31 finalist Cody Gibson
(21-10, 3-5 UFC) cruised to a one-sided unanimous decision over
Chad
Anheliger (13-8, 2-3 UFC) in a three-round bantamweight scrap,
drawing 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26 marks from the cageside judges; and
former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Jamey-Lyn
Horth (7-1, 2-1 UFC) took a split decision—30-27, 28-29,
29-28—from Ivana
Petrovic (7-2, 1-2 UFC) in a three-round women’s flyweight
tilt.