WATCH OUT @KingImpa
showing no Octagon jitters in his debut.
#UFCVegas8 pic.twitter.com/Z4HsaxG0Uo— UFC (@ufc)
August 30, 2020
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If first impressions are any indication, Impa
Kasanganay has a bright future in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship’s middleweight division.
The still-green Gym-O
prospect kept his perfect professional record intact and impressed
in his promotional debut, as he captured a unanimous decision over
fellow
Dana White’s Contender Series graduate Maki Pitolo
in the featured
UFC Fight Night 175 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas. Kasanganay (8-0, 1-0 UFC) swept the scorecards with
identical 30-27 marks from the judges.
It boiled down to horsepower, and Kasanganay had more of it. He
moved Pitolo backward and sent spit flying with chopping right
hands, mixed in a few leg kicks and ripped the body and head with
left hooks. Kasanganay took a round to get up to full throttle, but
once he was there, the outcome became more and more of an
inevitability. Bleeding from a cut near his left eye, Pitolo (13-7,
1-3 UFC) did his best to return fire but could not make any real
headway.
Cummings Upends Reeling Di Chirico
Glory MMA and Factory
X export Zak
Cummings recorded his third win in four appearances, as he took
a unanimous decision from Alessio
Di Chirico in a three-round undercard confrontation at 185
pounds. All three cageside judges scored it for Cummings (24-7, 9-4
UFC): 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27.
Di Chirico (12-5, 3-5 UFC) found a home for his right hand during
their initial exchanges but offered little else in what was a tepid
start for both men. Cummings slowly took control in the second and
third rounds with cracking lefts and inside leg kicks, using his
veteran guile and iron chin in concert. He put a punctuation mark
on his performance in the waning seconds of Round 3, where he
floored Di Chirico with a clean head kick at the buzzer. The
Italian stumbled back to his corner in a dazed state and managed to
avoid the stoppage, but his fate on the scorecards was sealed.
The 30-year-old Di Chirico has lost three fights in a row.
Caceres Throttles Replacement Springer
“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 12 quarterfinalist Alex
Caceres submitted Austin
Springer with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their
featherweight encounter. A short-notice substitution for Giga
Chikadze and Kevin Croom,
Springer (12-4, 0-1 UFC) bowed out 3:38 into Round 1.
Caceres (17-12, 12-10 UFC) utilized his length, connected with
punches from both hands and integrated leg kicks at opportune
times. He then sprawled out of an attempted takedown from Springer,
transitioned to the back and secured the choke, cutting off avenues
of escape with a body triangle.
The resurgent Caceres has rattled off three straight wins.
Brady Guillotine Sedates Aguilera
Former
Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder Sean Brady
choked Christian
Aguilera unconscious with a guillotine in the second round of
their welterweight scrap. The unbeaten Brady (13-0, 3-0 UFC) drew
it to a close 1:47 into Round 2, as the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black
belt executed his first submission since October 2017.
Aguilera (14-7, 1-1 UFC) held his own in the standup exchanges but
conceded a takedown with roughly a minute remaining in the first
round. Brady exploited his clear advantage on the mat, applied his
ground-and-pound and set the stage for what was to come. The
27-year-old Philadelphian struck for another takedown inside the
first minute of Round 2,
locked in the guillotine choke, moved to a mounted position after
readjusting his grip and waited for Aguilera to lose
consciousness.
The setback stopped Aguilera’s run of consecutive victories at
three.
Viana Armbar Dismisses Whitmire
Former Jungle
Fight champion Polyana
Viana submitted “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 26
quarterfinalist Emily
Whitmire with an armbar in the first round of their undercard
tilt at 115 pounds. Viana (11-4, 2-3 UFC) tied the bow on her first
victory in more than two years 1:53 into Round 1.
Whitmire (4-4, 2-3 UFC) reversed a takedown into side control but
squandered position and allowed the Brazilian to reclaim guard.
Viana stayed busy from the bottom, battered the
Xtreme Couture product with slashing elbows to the side of the head and
executed a textbook armbar for the finish.
The win put a stop to Viana’s three-fight losing streak.
Martin Choke Submits Cifers
Elevation Fight Team’s Mallory
Martin stormed back from the brink of defeat to submit Hannah
Cifers with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their
strawweight pairing. Martin (7-3, 1-1 UFC) brought it to a close
1:33 into Round 2, then let out a few primal screams.
Cifers (10-7, 2-5 UFC) nearly finished it in the first round, where
she floored the DWCS graduate with an overhand right and swarmed
with follow-up punches. Martin regained her footing but remained in
danger for several tense moments, referee Chris Tognoni lurking
close by as she absorbed a number of power punches. However, she
withstood the assault, pushed the fight to a second round and
seized control. Martin tripped her counterpart to the floor, cut
loose with elbow-laced ground-and-pound, achieved full mount and
advanced to the back
before cinching a palm-to-palm choke. Cifers had no choice but
to tap out.
Martin, 26, has won six of her last seven bouts. 
