It is probably fair at this point to call Jailton
Almeida a serious problem for the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight
division.
In the main event of
UFC on ABC 4 on Saturday at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North
Carolina, Almeida (19-2, 5-0 UFC) needed just 3:43 to overwhelm
Jairzinho
Rozenstruik on the ground. The chiseled Brazilian entered as an
overwhelming favorite and the bout played out more or less as
expected, with Almeida exploiting Rozenstruik’s porous wrestling
and grappling on his way to an effortless-looking win. “Bigi Boy”
managed to turn aside Almeida’s first takedown attempt, a
double-leg from too far outside in the opening moments, but Almeida
tried again seconds later and was successful, wrapping up
Rozenstruik’s legs and tipping him over in the middle of the cage.
“Malhadinho” immediately moved to half-guard and worked to advance,
chipping away with short strikes and moving the bigger man to the
fence. With under two minutes to go in Round 1, Almeida moved to
mount, dropped a couple of strikes and waited for his opponent to
turn his back. Rozenstruik did so, and
Almeida immediately took the position, sank a rear-naked choke and
flattened his man out. Rozenstruik tapped within
seconds and Dan Miragliotta intervened for the stoppage. The win
was Almeida’s 13th straight overall, the last five of which have
come in the UFC Octagon—all by knockout or submission, four of them
in the first round.
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Walker Punishes Smith
Johnny
Walker (21-7, 7-4 UFC) used his reach, heavy hands and a solid
investment in leg kicks to cruise to a unanimous decision win over
former light heavyweight title challenger Anthony
Smith (36-18, 11-8 UFC) in the co-main event. Walker’s
frightening power was on display throughout, notably late in the
first round when he caught Smith with a punch combination that
dropped him to his knees. Smith managed to grab a single leg, then
somehow survived the onslaught of hammerfists from the titanic
Walker and secured a takedown that allowed him to recover and ride
out the round. The second round was a more competitive affair, as
both men landed numerous hard strikes amid several swings of
momentum. By the final round, however, Walker’s steady stream of
leg kicks had paid dividends, as Smith’s left calf was visibly
swollen, and his movement compromised. Walker hurt Smith again with
punches, this time evading the desperation takedown, and by the
time Smith struggled back to his feet in the second half of the
round, he appeared to have little left to offer. The Brazilian by
way of Dublin was rewarded for his efforts with a unanimous
decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) and the opportunity to call out
light heavyweight champ Jamahal
Hill, who was present in the arena and seemed receptive to the
notion.
Garry Head Kicks Rodriguez
In the feature fight of “UFC Charlotte,” welterweight
super-prospect Ian Garry
passed his latest test with flying colors by knocking out Daniel
Rodriguez with a beautiful right high kick and a torrent of
follow-up punches. Facing his first opponent ranked in the UFC’s
official Top 15, the 25-year-old Irishman engaged in the kind of
firefight that has characterized his run in the Octagon thus far,
taking Rodriguez’s heavy jabs and low kicks and returning fire with
kicks to the body and legs. When “The Future” decided to go
upstairs, he made it count, nailing Rodriguez with a completely
unblocked head kick that sent him stumbling backwards in a daze.
Garry gave chase, hustled “D-Rod” to the canvas and poured it on
with a couple of huge ground strikes. Rodriguez turned away,
offering nothing in return, and referee Dan Miragliotta was forced
to intervene at 2 minutes, 57 seconds. The win elevated Garry’s
record to a perfect 12-0, 5-0 since joining the UFC as a former
Cage Warriors Fighting Championship
titleholder. Rodriguez fell to 17-4 overall, 7-3 in the UFC.
Ulberg Lamps Potieria
Carlos
Ulberg (8-1, 4-1 UFC) continued his inexorable march through
the light heavyweight division, dropping Ihor
Potieria (19-4, 1-2 UFC) with a left hook and finishing him
with punches and hammerfists on the ground in the first round.
Ulberg calmly absorbed his foe’s aggressive approach, evading most
of Potieria’s strikes, measuring him and biding his time for the
right moment to counter. That moment came two minutes in, when the
Ukrainian charged forward with a big overhand right. Ulberg
responded with a short left that dropped Potieria onto his face,
then pounced and followed up with a series of uncontested blows on
the ground. “Black Jag” appeared to decide on his own that Potieria
had had enough and stood up to celebrate, but referee Keith
Peterson evidently agreed, as he moved in to make the stoppage
official at 2:09 of Round 1. The win is Ulberg’s fourth straight
since dropping his UFC debut and his third by first-round knockout,
marking the City Kickboxing export as a contender on the rise.
Morono Taps Out Means
The main card opener saw Alex Morono
(23-8, 1 NC) and Tim Means
(32-15-1, 1 NC) deliver on their respective reputations as
welterweight action merchants, engaging in a back-and-forth first
round before Morono closed things out with a second-round
guillotine choke. Both men had their moments in the opening five
minutes, with each landing head kicks on the other and exchanging
heavy punches in close quarters. The second round seemed set to
offer more of the same, until Means changed levels for a sneaky
double-leg takedown attempt. “The Great White” was all over it,
snaring Means’ neck and falling to guard, briefly trapping one of
Means’ arms as he did so. Morono adjusted his grip and cranked, and
by the time Means extricated his right arm, he was tapping with his
left. Referee Wayne Spinola stepped in at 2:09 of Round 2, giving
Morono the submission victory. The win brought the Houston native’s
Octagon mark to 12-5 and put him back in the win column after his
December TKO loss to Santiago
Ponzinibbio; Means fell to 14-12 with one no contest in the UFC
with the loss, his third in a row.
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