Karolina
Kowalkiewicz was overcome with emotion after earning her first
finish in the UFC š¤
#UFCVegas56 pic.twitter.com/FvdpCjdrdaā ESPN MMA (@espnmma)
June 4, 2022
Karolina
Kowalkiewicz is back in the win column for the first time in
four years.
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The former strawweight title challenger snapped a five-bout skid at
UFC Fight Night 207, as she submitted Felice
Herrig with a rear-naked choke 4:01 into Round 2 of their
preliminary clash at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. Herrig
has lost four straight fights and falls to 0-2 against
Kowalkiewicz.
Looking sharper than she has in years, Kowalkiewicz (13-7, 6-7 UFC)
attacked her foe with crisp punching combinations, close quarter
elbows and knees in an impressive opening stanza. She shifted gears
in Round 2, when she stuffed a Herrig (14-9, 5-5 UFC) takedown,
assumed top position and transitioned to her opponentās back. From
there, the former KSW champion alternated between ground-and-pound
and choke attempts before finally creating an opening to slide her
right arm under Herrigās chin for the finish. Herrig left her
gloves in the cage after the defeat and confirmed her decision to
retire in a post-fight interview.
Solecki Earns Majority Decision Over Coelho
Superior grappling acumen and a key point deduction carried Dana
Whiteās Contender Series alum Joe Solecki
to a majority decision triumph over Alex
da Silva Coelho at lightweight. Solecki earned scorecards of
28-27 and 29-27 from the cageside judges, while a third scored it a
28-28 draw.
The second round proved to be extremely costly for Coelho (21-4,
1-3 UFC). Solecki (12-3, 4-1 UFC) grounded the Brazilian early and
spent the majority of the period attached to his foeās back while
threatening with rear-naked choke attempts. During that time,
Coelho was penalized a point for repeatedly putting his toes into
the fence, making it a potential 10-7 round in his favor.
The rest of the fight went well for the Astra Fight Team
representative. He floored Solecki during an initial exchange in
Round 1 before spending much of the frame on top. He also enjoyed
success l in the final stanza, landing solid shots at range and
some heavy elbows from top position after securing a takedown.
Ultimately, it wasnāt enough to undo the damage from a pivotal
Round 2.
Jackson Outgrapples Argueta
Fortis MMA member Damon
Jackson used crafty scrambling and grappling to capture a
unanimous decision triumph over short-notice opponent Dan Argueta
in a bantamweight showdown. All three cageside judges scored the
fight in favor of āThe Leech:ā 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28. Jackson has
won three straight in UFC competition.
Jackson (21-4-1, 4-2-1, 1 NC UFC) spent much of the first 10
minutes attached to his opponentās back, where he threatened with
rear-naked chokes and generally neutralized any offense from
Argueta (8-1, 1-1 UFC), save for some short, no-look punches that
did cause some swelling under Jacksonās eye. Argueta fought with a
sense of urgency at the outset of Round 3, pressing the action and
landing short punches and elbows. However, an ill-advised attempt
at grappling ended with Jackson back in top position to seal his
victory.
St. Denis Submits Stolze
Frenchman Benoit St.
Denis rebounded from a difficult Octagon debut last year, as he
submitted Germanyās Niklas
Stolze in a lightweight clash. The 26-year-old Paris native
forced Stolze (12-6, 0-3 UFC) to tap to a rear-naked choke 1:32
into Round 2. St. Denis (9-1, 1-1 UFC) absorbed a hellacious
beating from Elizeu
Zaleski dos Santos in his first promotional foray at UFC 267
last October.
Itās safe to say St. Denisā sophomore outing went much better. St.
Denis absorbed a knee from Stolze early that opened a significant
gash on his left cheek, but from there it was all āGod of War.ā He
grounded Stolze repeatedly and threatened with a tight rear-naked
choke late in Round 1
before taking his foe down again in the second frame and securing
the finish. It was the first submission defeat of Stolzeās
professional tenure.
Gravely Rocks Munoz Jr.
Former CES MMA title holder Tony
Gravely made short work of ex-King of the Cage champ Johnny
Munoz Jr. in a bantamweight encounter. The 30-year-old American
Top Team product put his foe away with punches on the canvas just
68 seconds into Round 1 for his fourth win in five outings within
the Las Vegas-based promotion.
Gravely (23-7, 4-2 UFC) rocked Munoz Jr. (11-2, 1-2 UFC)
with a short uppercut to the jaw just as his adversary was
attempting a level change ā and from there it was academic.
Munoz crumbled to the canvas immediately, and Gravely put the
finishing touches on his victory with a series of follow-up shots
before referee Chris Tognoni stepped in to wave off the bout.
Molina Edges Zhumagulov
Glory MMA & Fitness representative Jeff Molina
continued his ascent through the flyweight division, earning a
hard-fought split-decision triumph against ex-Fight Nights Global
champion Zhalgas
Zhumagulov. Sal DāAmato saw it 29-28 and Anthony Maness had it
30-27 ā both for Molina ā while Michael Bell submitted a 29-28
tally in favor of Zhumagulov. Molina (11-2, 3-0 UFC) has won his
last 10 professional fights.
Zhumagulov (14-7, 1-4 UFC) spent significant portions of the fight
forcing Molina to defend takedowns and body locks, which allowed
the Kazakhstan native to log plenty of control time. However,
Molina was the slicker fighter at range, and he stayed busy landing
short strikes while defending his opponentās grappling attempts.
Zhumagulov landed what was arguably the most significant blow of
the bout when he buckled Molina with a left hook in Round 2, but it
wasnāt enough to sway the scorecards in his favor.
Fakhretdinov Wears Out Michailidis
Takedowns, unrelenting pressure and ground-and-pound carried
promotional newcomer Rinat
Fakhretdinov to a clear-cut unanimous decision triumph over
Andreas
Michailidis in a welterweight affair. The Russian received
scorecards of 30-26, 30-26 and 30-27 for his 18th consecutive
professional triumph.
Michailidis, who was making his 170-pound debut after a 1-2 UFC
stint at middleweight, gradually wilted against his hard-charging
adversary. Fakhretdinov (19-1, 1-0 UFC) quickly closed the distance
in each frame, landed multiple takedowns and controlled positioning
for the majority of the bout. The American Top Team representative
landed increasingly more forceful offense from above as the fight
progressed, including an elbow that had Michailidis (13-6, 1-3 UFC)
bleeding profusely in Round 3. Only toughness allowed Michailidis
to make it to the final horn.
Blanchfield Chokes Out Aldrich
Renzo
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu export Erin
Blanchfield won her sixth consecutive professional outing,
taking a submission victory over fellow Invicta veteran J.J. Aldrich
at flyweight. Blanchfield used a standing guillotine to bring the
show to a close at the 2:38 mark of Round 2. Aldrich sees a
three-fight winning streak come to an end in defeat.
The southpaw Aldrich (11-5, 7-4 UFC) did well early, working behind
a crisp right hand while keeping her opponent off balance with
occasional takedowns ā though Blanchfield was never down for long.
The stage for the finishing sequence was set when Aldrich was
knocked off balance during an exchange, allowing Blanchfield (9-1,
3-0 UFC)
to secure her foeās neck as she attempted to scramble to her feet.
From there, āCold Bloodedā cranked the maneuver and Aldrich had no
choice but to tap.