Even the toughest men have their limits.
Manchester Top Team prospect Ateba
Abega Gautier found the off switch on Jose Medina
and announced his arrival in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division, as he
felled the durable Bolivian with a knee strike in the first round
of their featured
UFC on ESPN 64 prelim on Saturday at CDMX Arena in Mexico City.
Stopped by knockout for the first time in his 16-fight career,
Medina (11-5, 0-2 UFC) met his end 3:32 into Round 1.
Gautier (7-1, 1-0 UFC) took his time and waited for an opening to
present itself. He stunned Medina with a thudding left hook,
pressed him backward with follow-up punches, closed the distance
and brought the knee up the middle. Down went Medina. One look at
the dazed Dana White’s Contender Series graduate was enough for
referee Raul Porrata to intervene on his behalf.
The 22-year-old Gautier has won six fights in a row, all of them
finishes.
Meanwhile, Chute Boxe rep Melquizael
Costa outstruck and outmaneuvered Christian
Rodriguez to a unanimous decision in their highly competitive
three-round featherweight scrap. Costa (23-7, 4-2 UFC) swept the
scorecards with matching 29-28 marks from the cageside judges.
Rodriguez (12-3, 5-3 UFC) executed multiple foot-sweep takedowns in
effort to counteract his counterpart’s gains on the feet and in
their early grappling exchanges. Costa opened a cut near the
Roufusport product’s left eye in the second round, dragged him to
the mat and unloaded with hammerfists and elbows. To his credit,
Rodriguez did not fold. He did his best work in Round 3, where he
picked apart the fading Brazilian with clean one-twos, countered
effectively and secured four takedowns. However, a late flurry of
ground-and-pound failed to procure the stoppage Rodriguez
needed.
Costa has rattled off three straight victories.
Further down the undercard Lupita
Godinez outlasted fellow former Legacy Fighting Alliance
champion Julia
Polastri to a unanimous decision in a riveting three-round
women’s strawweight clash. All three members of the assigned
judiciary scored it the same: 29-28 for Godinez (13-5, 8-5
UFC).
Polastri (13-5, 1-2 UFC) struggled to find her footing initially.
Godinez mixed the arts between standup and wrestling for much of
the first two rounds, consolidating those efforts with effective
ground-and-pound and positional control. Polastri responded across
the final five minutes, as she flipped the switch to zombie mode,
marched forward behind heavy combinations and bloodied her
adversary’s nose with a steady stream of power punches. Godinez
withstood the rally, delivered a late takedown and chewed the
remaining time off the clock.
The victory snapped a two-fight losing streak for Godinez.
Finally, Pinnacle MMA’s Jamall
Emmers put away Gabriel
Miranda with punches in the first round of their featherweight
tilt. Emmers (21-8, 4-4 UFC) drew the curtain 4:06 into Round 1, as
he posted his third win in five appearances and moved back to .500
in the promotion.
Miranda (17-8, 1-3 UFC) struck for an early takedown but went
nowhere on the mat. Emmers freed himself, returned to his feet and
exploited his defensively challenged opponent. He decked Miranda
with an overhand right and allowed him to stand, then went to work
on closing the deal.
Emmers eventually pinned his counterpart to the fence, fired a knee
to the body and sent the Astra Fight Team crashing to the canvas
with a slashing right cross. A follow-up hammerfist polished off
what was left of Miranda.
It was the sixth first-round finish of Emmers’ career.
In other action, Rafa Garcia
(17-4, 5-4 UFC) took a unanimous decision from Vinc Pichel
(14-5, 7-5 UFC) in a three-round lightweight affair, drawing 30-27,
30-27 and 29-28 marks from the cageside judges; and MarQuel
Mederos (10-1, 2-0 UFC) eked out a split decision—28-29, 29-28,
29-28—over Austin
Hubbard (16-9, 4-7 UFC) in a three-round lightweight pairing.