Ion
Cutelaba excels in chaos.
“The Hulk” continued to reassert himself in the Ultimate Fighting
Championship light heavyweight division, as he dismissed Ibo Aslan
with an arm-triangle choke in the first round of their featured
UFC Fight Night 252 prelim on Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena
in Seattle.
Cutelaba (19-10-1, 8-9-1 UFC) slammed the door 2:51 into Round 1,
nailing down his first submission win since April 4,
2015.
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They traded barbs throughout their brief but eventful encounter.
Cutelba sat down the Gym 23 product with an overhand right and
later delivered a double-leg takedown. He laced the legs, climbed
toward mount and scrambled into position for the arm-triangle. It
soon became clear that there was no escape for Aslan (14-2, 2-1
UFC), who tapped with resignation.
Meanwhile, onetime Predador Fighting Championship titleholder
Melquizael
Costa turned away Andre Fili
with a guillotine choke in the first round of their featherweight
confrontation.
Fili (24-12, 12-11 UFC) raised the white flag of surrender 4:30
into Round 1, suffering his first submission defeat in almost a
decade.
Costa (22-7, 3-2 UFC) kept the Team Alpha Male mainstay occupied
with kicks to the legs, body and arms, mixing in punching bursts
when the mood arose. Fili eventually wandered right into a
well-sprung trap from the Brazilian. He took down Costa and looked
to improve position, only to leave his neck exposed. Costa snaked
his arm in place, locked in the guillotine and let his squeeze do
the rest.
The 28-year-old Costa has won 10 of his past 13 bouts.
Further down the undercard, Xtreme Couture prospect Mansur
Abdul-Malik dispatched Nick Klein
with punches in the second round of their middleweight affair. A
short-notice substitution for Antonio
Trocoli, Klein (6-2, 0-1 UFC) packed his bags 3:24 into Round
2.
Sailing was far from smooth for Abdul-Malik (8-0, 2-0 UFC). Klein
staggered him with a spinning backfist—he actually connected with
the elbow—in the first round and swooped in for a takedown before
getting some work done in the clinch. Abdul-Malik cleared the
cobwebs between rounds and picked his spots from there. He shoved
Klein to the mat, closed the distance, forced the Pure Vida BJJ
representative into a defensive shell and snuck in a right hand
underneath the armpit.
It set off a savage punching flurry from Abdul-Malik that prompted
referee Jason Herzog to act.
Abdul-Malik, 27, has finished all eight of his opponents inside two
rounds.
Elsewhere, ex-Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Ricky Simon
punched out Javid
Basharat in the first round of their bantamweight tilt.
Simon (21-6, 9-5 UFC) brought it to an emphatic close 3:58 into
Round 1, posting his first win since July 16,
2022.
Basharat (14-2, 3-2 UFC) negated the Team Oyama standout’s only
takedown, hunted counters and delivered a pair of knee strikes—one
to the head, the other to the body. Simon was unimpressed. He
crashed forward behind glancing left hook and zapped the Xtreme
Couture rep with a surgical straight right behind it. Unconscious
on impact, Basharat collapsed to the canvas and was met with an
unabated hammerfist before referee Mike Beltran could rope off the
scene.
It was the first stoppage loss of Basharat’s career.
Not to be outshined, American Top Team’s Austin
Vanderford put away former Fury Fighting Championship
titleholder Nikolay
Veretennikov with punches in the second round of their
175-pound catchweight clash.
Veretennikov (12-6, 0-2 UFC) succumbed to blows 4:13 into Round
2.
Vanderford (13-2, 1-0 UFC) set the tone in the first round, where
he executed a takedown, opened a cut on the Ukrainian with a
slashing elbow strike, threatened with an arm-triangle choke and
ultimately progressed to full mount. By then, it was clear
Veretennikov had no answer for the American wrestler. Vanderford
secured another takedown inside the first 90 seconds of Round 2,
moved to a dominant position and battered his adversary with
unanswered punches until referee Keith
Peterson had seen enough.
The 34-year-old Vanderford eyes his next assignment on the strength
of back-to-back victories.
Deeper into the prelims, Nursulton
Ruziboev disposed of promotional newcomer Eric
McConico with punches in the second round of their middleweight
scrap.
Ruziboev (35-9-2, 3-1 UFC) drew the curtain 33 seconds into Round
2, winning for the 11th time in 12 appearances.
McConico (9-3-1, 0-1 UFC) was a non-factor against the monstrous
6-foot-5 Uzbekistan native. After a tepid first round, Ruziboev
sent a devastating right cross slicing through the MMA Lab rep’s
defenses at the start of the middle stanza. McConico stumbled
backward and crashed to the canvas, leaving him in no position to
shield himself from the onslaught that followed. Ruziboev let fly
with punches, drove his counterpart to the mat a second time with a
clubbing right hook and triggered the stoppage.
The setback snapped McConico’s five-fight winning streak.
Finally, former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder
Modestas
Bukauskas cut down Raffael
Cerqueira with punches in the first round of their light
heavyweight pairing. Cerqueira (11-2, 0-2 UFC) checked out 2:12
into Round 1 and remains winless inside the Octagon.
Bukauskas (17-6, 5-4 UFC) crashed forward with power punches from
both hands, walked through the return fire and kept his foot on the
gas.
A looping left hook from the Lithuanian set Cerqueira on unsteady
legs. Bukauskas then swarmed with rapid fire punches along the
fence until the Galpao da Luta product folded at his
feet.
The 31-year-old Bukauskas has rattled off six wins in seven
outings.