Getty Images/UFC
Nathan
Maness appears to be a growing problem for the
Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division.
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In the top prelim bout of
UFC on ESPN 58 on Saturday, Maness (16-3) outworked Jimmy Flick
(17-8) in a flyweight attraction that felt much closer than the
final scores indicated, or than the nearly 5-to-1 odds in Maness’
favor seemed to predict. Maness plied his huge frame for the
division, working with his jab from the outset to keep dangerous
submission artist Flick on the outside. Flick seemed more than
willing to engage in a striking battle, throwing big punches and
trying to close the distance. Maness defended Flick’s first real
takedown attempt with a standing guillotine choke attempt, managing
to stay upright. Flick secured a takedown later in the round,
taking advantage of another guillotine attempt to set up a Von Flue
choke, but the round expired before the sequence could play out.
The second and third rounds followed a similar pattern, with Maness
and Flick both willingly engaging in the other’s wheelhouse. Maness
seemed hold the slight edge throughout, a view shared by the
judges, who saw the fight in his favor by 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28
scores. The win brought Maness’ UFC mark to 5-2 overall, 2-1 since
dropping from bantamweight. Flick, despite the subjectively
impressive performance, fell to 2-3 since joining the UFC out of
Season 4 of the Contender Series.
In a battle of flyweights looking for their first UFC win, Gabriella
Fernandes (9-3) spoiled the debut of Carli
Judice (3-2). The fight was contested almost entirely on the
feet, playing out as a contest between Fernandes’ power and
Judice’s reach and volume. While all three rounds were individually
competitive, Judice seemed to settle into a groove as the fight
went on, while Fernandes appeared to tire. The Brazilian came out
fresh and aggressive in Rounds 2 and 3, only to slow as Judice kept
up her steady stream of kicks and punches, peppered with solid body
work. The judges had their work cut out for them, and returned with
a split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29). The win brought Fernandes’
Octagon tally to 1-2, while two-time Contender Series veteran
Judice fell to 0-1.
Westin
Wilson delivered a big upset in a possible do-or-die fight for
his UFC roster spot and made it look easy. The lanky karate stylist
faced “Road to UFC” veteran Jeka
Saragih in a featherweight prelim attraction and used the
Indonesian’s aggression against him nicely, getting up after an
early takedown, landing a takedown of his own and immediately
snaring Saragih in a guillotine. After Saragih extricated his head
from the choke, Wilson applied an armbar.
When Saragih attempted to slam his way out of it, Wilson adjusted
the angle and switched to a triangle armbar, eliciting the tap at
just 1 minute, 49 seconds. With the quick and
impressive win, Wilson (17-9, 1-2 UFC) rebounded from back-to-back
knockout losses; Saragih (14-4) fell to 1-2 in the UFC.
Melquizael
Costa picked up a crucial win, surviving an early storm from
Nuerdanbieke
Shayilan en route to a third-round submission win in their
featherweight clash. Costa (2-2) was put on his heels early by
Shayilan’s aggression and forward movement, and “Wolverine” struck
for several easy looking, yet emphatic takedowns in the first round
and a half. Costa remained composed, however, and as the Chinese
fighter began to tire, Costa took over. By the end of the second
round, Costa was able to stave off Shayilan’s wrestling, and
managed to lump the shorter man with a high kick before the horn.
In Round 3, Costa reversed Shayilan off of a tired-looking takedown
attempt, took his back and worked for a choke.
In the end, he did not even need to get his arm under the chin, as
Shayilan tapped to the face crank at 1:50. The win
brought “Melk” to 2-1 in the featherweight division, while Shayilan
(39-12) fell to 3-3 in the Octagon.
In the opening bout of the evening, Josefine
Lindgren Knutsson kept her professional record spotless, though
Julia
Polastri made her work for it. Knutsson (8-0) got off to a
solid start, using long punch and kick combinations to outland the
Brazilian and frustrate her attempts to close the distance.
However, Polastri finally succeeded late in the round, scoring a
takedown and moving to mount in the final 30 seconds. That set the
stage for Round 2, Polastri’s best round, where she backed the
Swede up with big swings, took her down in the first half of the
round and did some damage from top position. Knutsson’s composure
on the ground was tested, as she struck Polastri with an illegal
upkick, then launched another one after the fight was restarted
that narrowly missed, but might have resulted in a point deduction
had it landed. The final round was the closest of the three, with
Polastri securing another takedown and threatening with an
arm-triangle choke, but Knutsson’s superior accuracy and volume on
the feet were enough to carry the round, and she prevailed by
unanimous 29-28 scores. Knutsson has now won two straight to begin
her UFC run, while Polastri fell to 12-4 overall, 0-1 in the
UFC.