Cory
McKenna found the weakness and exploited it.
The Team Alpha Male standout leaned on takedowns, positional
dominance and spotty ground-and-pound, as she took a step forward
in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight division
with a unanimous decision over Cheyanne
Vlismas in the featured
UFC Fight Night 216 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas. McKenna (8-2, 3-1 UFC) swept the scorecards with 29-28 nods
from all three judges.
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Vlismas (7-3, 2-2 UFC) kept it standing for much of the first
round, countered effectively and pieced together two- and
three-punch combinations. McKenna wisely switched gears in the
second, controlled the Xtreme Couture rep in the clinch and slowly
but surely turned the tide in her favor. She powered into top
position in Round 3 on an ill-advised choke attempt from Vlismas,
attacked with short punches and walked away with her sixth win in
seven outings.
Semelsberger Handles Favored Matthews
Crazy 88 MMA export Matthew
Semelsberger rode three knockdowns to a unanimous decision over
“The Ultimate Fighter Nations” alum Jake
Matthews in a three-round welterweight clash. Scores were
30-27, 29-28 and 29-28—all for Semelsberger (11-4, 4-2 UFC), who
bounced back from an Aug. 30 loss to Alex
Morono. Matthews (18-6, 11-6 UFC) was in trouble often. Semelsberger
dropped him with a crushing right cross in the first round that
seemed to put the Aussie on autopilot. Matthews withstood the
follow-up onslaught but had dug a hole from which he could not
escape. Semelsberger also knocked him down with right hands in the
second and third round, seemingly exposing a blind spot. Matthews
fought well down the stretch—he pieced his punches together and
executed a few nifty trips from the clinch—but could never get his
head above water.
Semelsberger has won eight of his past 10 bouts.
Nurmagomedov Guillotine Stuns Kakhramonov
Akhmat Fight Team product Said
Nurmagomedov put away former Cage Fury Fighting Championships
titleholder Saidyokub
Kakhramonov with a guillotine choke in the second round of
their bantamweight tilt. Nurmagomedov (17-2, 6-1 UFC) brought it to
a close 3:50 into Round 2.
Kakhramonov (10-3, 2-1 UFC) controlled virtually every second of
the fight—up until the moment he tapped out. He took down
Nurmagomedov with surprising ease, excelled in scrambles, piled up
control time and applied his ground-and-pound. However, he left his
neck exposed late in the second round.
Nurmagomedov clamped down on the guillotine, adjusted his grip and
prompted the submission.
Nurmagomedov has won four fights in a row, three of them
finishes.
Bloodied Garcia Outduels Hayisaer
Former Combate Global champion Rafa Garcia
rebounded from a July 30 defeat to Drakkar
Klose with a unanimous decision over Maheshate
Hayisaer in a three-round lightweight bloodbath. All three
cageside judges scored it the same: 30-27 for Garcia (14-3, 3-3
UFC).
Hayisaer, who missed weight for the match by 2.5 pounds, had his
moments but too few of them to make real headway. He opened a
horizontal cut on the side of Garcia’s head with a standing elbow
in the second round, drenching both men and much of the Octagon in
DNA. Hayisaer needed more than unsettling visuals. Garcia outboxed
him during the majority of their standup exchanges and mixed in
takedowns when opportunities presented themselves.
The loss snapped Hayisaer’s seven-fight winning streak.
Dominant Fakhretdinov Mauls Battle
Repeated takedowns, damaging ground-and-pound and suffocating
control spurred American Top Team’s Rinat
Fakhretdinov to a unanimous decision over “The Ultimate
Fighter” Season 29 winner Bryan
Battle in their three-round welterweight encounter. Scores were
30-25, 30-25 and 30-27—all for Fakhretdinov (20-1, 2-0 UFC).
A short-notice replacement for Michael
Morales, Battle (8-2, 3-1 UFC) was out of his depth.
Fakhretdinov powered him to the mat in all three rounds, opened a
cut near his left eye with a slicing elbow strike and denied his
counterattacks at every turn. The former Gorilla Fighting
Championships titleholder decked Battle with a mean right cross
inside the first 30 seconds of Round 3, then resumed the
browbeating from top position.
An emerging threat at 170 pounds, the 31-year-old Fakhretdinov has
recorded 19 consecutive wins.
Surging Kape Handles Dvorak
Onetime Rizin Fighting Federation titleholder Manel Kape
continued his climb on the 125-pound ladder with a unanimous
decision over David
Dvorak in a three-round flyweight affair. Kape (18-6, 3-2 UFC)
swept the scorecards with 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 marks from the
cageside judiciary.
Dvorak (20-5, 3-2 UFC) executed a takedown with roughly two minutes
left in the first round, then found himself in grave danger. Kape
framed a kimura from the bottom, rolled into top position and
cranked on the shoulder in gruesome fashion. Dvorak somehow
survived but appeared physically compromised the rest of the way.
Kape had him reeling again in Round 2, this time with knees and
punches. Though a finish failed to materialize, his superiority was
nevertheless established. He navigated the final five minutes on
cruise control, picking apart Dvorak from the outside.
Kape will ride a three-fight winning streak into his next
assignment.
Relentless Morozov Smothers Newson
Takedowns and clinch control carried former M-1 Global champion
Sergey
Morozov to a unanimous decision over Journey
Newson in their three-round bantamweight pairing. All three
cageside judges scored it for Morozov (19-5, 3-2 UFC): 30-27, 29-28
and 29-28.
Newson (10-4, 1-3 UFC) enjoyed some success with stinging jabs and
sharp leg kicks but failed to manage distance effectively. Morozov
struck for takedowns in all three rounds, progressed to the back in
the middle stanza and wore down his counterpart in the clinch,
where he controlled the Impact Jiu-Jitsu rep from the rear
waistlock and fired knees to the thighs and glutes.
Morozov, 33, has rattled off eight victories in 10 appearances.