ANOTHER HIGHLIGHT KO FOR @JudoRazak!
Less than 30 seconds in
#UFCVegas35 pic.twitter.com/1boiMBLTfB— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA)
August 29, 2021
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PFL and “The Ultimate Fighter” live on your smart TV, computer,
phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. Abdul
Razak Alhassan needed no time to warm up.
Now operating out of the
Elevation Fight Team camp, Alhassan brought down Alessio
Di Chirico with a head kick in the first round of their
UFC on ESPN 30 featured prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas. Di Chirico (13-6, 4-6 UFC) melted 17 seconds into Round
1, the unwitting victim in one of the most memorable finishes of
2021.
Seeking his first victory in nearly three years, Alhassan (11-4,
5-4 UFC) backed the Italian into the fence and caught him ducking.
Shin met skull, Di Chirico hit the deck in a semi-conscious state
and referee Herb Dean
called for the stoppage. No follow-up shots were necessary.
The win closed the book on Alhassan’s three-fight losing streak
inside the
Ultimate Fighting Championship’s middleweight division. It was
the seventh sub-minute finish of his career.
Turman Edges Reeling Alvey
Wellington
Turman fought through two separate point deductions for eye
pokes and eked out a split decision over former
Maximum Fighting Championship titleholder Sam Alvey in a
three-round middleweight affair. All three cageside judges struck
28-27 scorecards: Derek Cleary and Ron McCarthy for Turman,
Adalaide Byrd for Alvey.
Turman (17-5, 2-3 UFC) landed the most significant blow of the
match in the first round, where he opened a horrendous gash under
the
Team Quest product’s left eye with a spinning back elbow. Alvey
(33-16-1, 10-11-1 UFC) shut down the Brazilian’s bid for takedowns
and scored in two-punch bursts but spent too much time moving
backward and hunting for counters. Turman’s inability to maintain a
closed fist made it closer on the scorecards, but he nevertheless
skated through by a razor-thin margin.
Alvey remains winless since June 1, 2018.
Jacoby Buries Replacement Stewart
Factory
X export Dustin
Jacoby put away Darren
Stewart with punches in the first round of their light
heavyweight confrontation. A short-notice substitution for Askar
Mozharov, Stewart (12-8, 5-7 UFC) succumbed to blows 3:04 into
Round 3.
Jacoby (15-5-1, 3-2-1 UFC) conceded two early takedowns from “The
Dentist” but managed to negate them and ultimately moved into open
space. He backed Stewart to the fence with punches, mixed in a knee
strike and cut loose with both hands at close range,
drawing the interest of referee Jason Herzog. One final left from
Jacoby buckled the
Cage Warriors Fighting Championship veteran and resulted in a
standing TKO.
Unbeaten across his last six outings, Jacoby has not tasted defeat
since Jan. 16, 2015.
Aldrich Sinks Debuting Demopoulos
Well-timed takedowns and effective ground-and-pound carried
Elevation Fight Team’s J.J. Aldrich
to a unanimous decision over former
Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Vanessa
Demopoulos in a three-round women’s flyweight encounter. All
three cageside judges scored it the same: 30-27 for Aldrich (9-5,
5-4 UFC).
Demopoulos (6-4, 0-1 UFC) fought at a deficit, on the feet and on
the mat. Aldrich took top position in the first and third rounds,
where she chipped away at the promotional newcomer with elbows and
short punches. She also shined in the standup exchanges and
especially so in the middle stanza, where shut cut off Demopoulos’
advances, doubled over the
Black House product with a body kick and flurried with
punches.
Aldrich has won six of her past eight bouts.
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phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.
Sabatini Heel Hook Dismisses Emmers
Former
Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder Pat
Sabatini submitted Jamall
Emmers with a heel hook in the first round of their
featherweight pairing. Emmers (18-6, 1-2 UFC) conceded defeat 1:53
into Round 1, albeit too late to save his left knee from
significant damage.
Initially, the situation did not look promising for Sabatini (15-3,
2-0 UFC). Emmers clipped him with a right cross, followed with an
uppercut and powered into mount before advancing to the back and
threatening with a rear-naked choke. Sabatini handled the adversity
and settled for a ground exchange in which the two men turned to
dueling leg locks. Emmers went with a toe hold, while Sabatini answered with the fight-ending heel
hook.
Sabatini will carry a four-fight winning streak into his next
assignment.
Emotional Martinez Downs Cannetti
Less than two weeks after the death of longtime coach Saul Soliz,
Metro Fight Club standout Leomana
Martinez overcame a sluggish start to claim a split decision
over “The Ultimate Fighter Latin America” semifinalist Guido
Cannetti in a three-round bantamweight clash. All three judges
scored it 29-28: Derek Cleary and Junichiro Kamijo for Martinez,
Adalaide Byrd for Cannetti.
Cannetti (8-6, 2-5 UFC) enjoyed success with crushing inside leg
kicks and a sneaky jab but lacked the firepower necessary to keep
the promotional newcomer at bay. Martinez (9-2, 1-0 UFC) walked him
down with pressure, flurried with clean body-head combinations and
scored with kicks of his own, some directed at the body, others to
the legs. He punctuated his performance with a takedown in the
final minute of the fight, pairing it with positional control and
robust ground-and-pound.
Martinez, 25, has rattled off three straight victories.
