An injury to Tom
Aspinall derailed the
UFC Fight Night 208 main event against Curtis
Blaydes.
The fight was extremely brief, lasting only 15 seconds. Blaydes
(17-3, 1 NC) opened the fight well landing several punches. After
Aspinall (12-3) countered with a leg kick, he then recoiled to the
floor.
On the step back, the British fighter appeared to have hurt his
right knee, clutching it, and the fight ended. Doctors attended to
Aspinall, who was able to get up and be assisted to the back after
several minutes on the ground.
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With the TKO victory, Blaydes has now won three straight.
Hermansson Schools Curtis
The co-main event saw middleweight contenders Jack
Hermansson and Chris
Curtis clash for three rounds. “The Joker” controlled the fight early by landing kicks from a
distance and some solid right hands. Curtis (29-9) failed to adjust
between rounds, which allowed Hermansson (23-7) to really amp up
his offense and land slashing standing elbows. Despite clearly
needing a finish, “The Action Man” failed to live up to his
nickname in the third round and was never willing to take the risks
needed to win the fight. The Swedish fighter took a wide decision
with scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27.
Hermansson has now won two of his last three fights.
Pimblett Submits Leavitt
Paddy
Pimblett proved that “The Baddy” is here to stay against
Jordan
Leavitt.
Pimblett (19-3) would scare “The Monkey King” with a tight
guillotine choke attempt early and showed off his superior striking
late in the first round. Leavitt (10-2) would continue rampant
takedown attempts in the second frame but
found himself in danger after “The Baddy” landed a damaging knee
and took his opponent’s back. A rear-naked choke was locked up and
the tap came shortly thereafter.
Pimblett picked up his third win inside the Octagon at 2:46 of
Round 2.
Krylov Dispatches Gustafsson
The mixed martial arts career of Alexander
Gustafsson might have come to an end against Nikita
Krylov.
Krylov (28-9) found success instantly as he cracked Gustafsson
(18-8) with a right hand early that floored the Swede. Krylov
didn’t give “The Mauler” any chance to recover as he kept
pressuring with punches and knees.
An uppercut would crumble the former light heavyweight title
challenger and the fight was waved off after a series of
strikes.
The stoppage came at just 1:07 of Round 1.
McCann Destroys Goldy
Molly
McCann followed up her knockout of the year contender with a
flyweight bout against Hannah
Goldy.
With a rare reach advantage, the game plan for McCann (13-4) was
clear as she wanted to strike and she did just that as she stuffed
takedowns from Goldy (6-3).
McCann showed heavy hands as she landed an overhand right and then
a spinning elbow that put Goldy on wobbly legs. A series of punches
followed and the fight was waved off at 3:52 of Round 1.
McCann has now won three straight fights.
Oezdemir Dominates Craig
The main card opened with a bout between light heavyweight
contenders Paul Craig
and Volkan
Oezdemir.
The power of Oezdemir (18-6) was immediately felt by Craig
(16-5-1), who struggled to bring the fight to the ground while the
Swiss fighter found momentum on the feet. Craig found some success
on the feet while changing levels and keeping a nonstop pace but
was never in control. “No Time” remained dangerous, landing several
hard shots that hurt the Scottish fighter in both of the final
frames that clearly put the fight in his favor.
After a hard-fought 15 minutes, Oezdemir took a unanimous decision
win with three scorecards of 30-27.
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