Askar
Askar did not give Kevin Wirth
a moment to breath.
Merciless forward pressure, hyperaggressive standup and effective
grappling carried the former Hoosier Fight Club titleholder to a
unanimous decision over Kevin Wirth
in the Legacy
Fighting Alliance 92 headliner on Friday at Hartman Arena in
Wichita, Kansas. Askar (11-1, 2-0 LFA) swept the scorecards with
30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 marks from the judges, as he rebounded from
his Feb. 7 knockout loss to Saidyokub
Kakhramonov.
Wirth (8-2, 2-2 LFA) spent almost the entire fight moving backward
and playing defense. Askar floored him with an overhand right in
the first round, opened a cut near his left eye in the second and
paired his takedowns with ground-and-pound and positional control
at various times in the fight. He tied a bow on his latest victory
midway through Round 3, when he executed a high-amplitude takedown,
settled in half guard and continued to pile up points with short
punches and elbows.
In the three-round co-main event, former Jungle Fight champion
Antonio
dos Santos Jr. made a triumphant return from a three-year
layoff with a unanimous decision over
Professional Fighters League and Bellator
MMA alum Andre
Fialho at a 180-pound catchweight. All three cageside judges
scored it for dos Santos (9-4, 1-0 LFA): 29-28, 30-27 and
29-28.
Fialho (10-4, 0-1 LFA) had issues with output and cardio.
Nevertheless, the
Sanford MMA export staggered dos Santos with a left hook in the
second round and chased a possible finish on the feet before
completing an ill-advised takedown that allowed his counterpart to
recover. Fialho ran out of gas in Round 3, where he was met by a
dogged clinch, standing elbows and power punches from close range.
Dos Santos scrambled into half guard in the final minute to seal
the deal in a successful promotional debut.
Now operating out of the MMA Masters camp, dos Santos will carry a
three-fight winning streak into his next assignment.
Meanwhile, Dakota Bush
returned to the cage for the first time in more than a year, as he
submitted Brian Del
Rosario with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their
lightweight showcase. Del Rosario (5-4, 0-1 LFA) conceded defeat
2:38 into Round 1, then briefly lost consciousness.
Bush (7-2, 4-2 LFA) punched into clinch range, delivered a takedown
inside the first minute and did what he does best. The Smith Pit
standout floated between side control and half guard, then climbed
to full mount and forced Del Rosario to surrender his back. From
there, Bush set his hooks to secure his position, snaked his arms
around the neck and forced the tapout.
The 26-year-old Bush has rattled off three wins in four
appearances.
In other action,
Team Quest’s Ricky Furar
(5-2, 1-1 LFA) was awarded a technical knockout when Jacob
Thrall (6-4-1, 1-2 LFA) suffered a knee injury 1:08 into the
third round of their bantamweight pairing;
Jackson-Wink MMA export Rodney
Kealohi (5-1, 1-0 LFA) dispatched Mefi
Monterroso (5-2, 0-1 LFA) with a knee to the body and follow-up
punches 30 seconds into the first round of their flyweight
encounter;
Team Alpha Male’s Viecheslav
Borshchev (2-0, 1-0 LFA) took a unanimous decision from
Ali
Zebian (4-2, 0-1 LFA), drawing 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28 marks
from the judges; and
Arizona Combat Sports prospect Christian
Natividad (2-0, 2-0 LFA) cut down Jose
Holguin (0-1, 0-1 LFA) with punches 29 seconds into the first
round of their bantamweight clash.