Mateusz
Gamrot was awarded a technical knockout when Rafael
Fiziev suffered an apparent knee injury in the second round of
their
UFC Fight Night 228 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas.
Referee Herb Dean called for the stoppage 2:03 into Round
2—an
unfortunate ending to what was shaping up as a compelling strategic
battle between two of the
Ultimate Fighting Championship’s premier lightweights.
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Fiziev (12-3, 6-3 UFC) inched ahead in a competitive first round,
where he leaned on multi-strike bursts, bulletproof takedown
defense and a heavy focus on the body with punches and kicks.
Gamrot (23-2, 6-2 UFC) completed a takedown to start Round 2, only
to have those efforts negated soon after. Fiziev scrambled to his
feet and moved to the safety of open space. The
Kill Cliff Fight Club collapsed after throwing a body kick—his
left knee buckled as he pivoted—and turtled in noticeable distress,
clearly unable to continue.
American Top Team’s Gamerot, a former two-division
KSW champion, will head into his next assignment with wins in
six of his past seven bouts.
Determined Mitchell Downs Ige
“The Ultimate Fighter 27” semifinalist Bryce
Mitchell rebounded from his Dec. 10 defeat to Ilia
Topuria and outgrappled Dan Ige to a
unanimous decision in the three-round featherweight co-main event.
All three cageside judges scored it for Mitchell (16-1, 7-1 UFC):
30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.
Ige (17-7, 9-6 UFC) did considerable damage to the Barata MMA rep’s
right eye in the first and second rounds, opening multiple cuts and
causing an alarming amount of swelling with thudding right hands
and clean left hooks. Mitchell countered with takedowns and
positional dominance. He progressed to full mount in all three
rounds—he also advanced to the back and flattened out the Hawaiian
at one point—and stymied Ige with stifling control, doing just
enough to get by on the scorecards.
The setback snapped Ige’s modest two-fight winning streak.
Dominant Rodriguez Brutalizes Waterson-Gomez
Marina
Rodriguez moved to 2-0 in her head-to-head series with Michelle
Waterson-Gomez, as she wrecked the onetime Invicta Fighting
Championships titleholder with elbows and punches in the second
round of their women’s strawweight rematch.
Rodriguez (17-3-2, 7-3-2 UFC) brought it to a close 2:42 into Round
2, though referee Kerry Hatley would not have been
criticized had he stopped it much sooner.
Waterson-Gomez (18-12, 6-8 UFC) executed a takedown inside the
first 20 seconds but could not corral the Dana White’s Contender
Series alum on the canvas. Rodriguez returned to her feet and
unleashed a hellacious barrage of close-range knee strikes and
elbows that left her counterpart with serious damage to her nose
and a significant cut near her right eye. The cageside physician
was brought into examine Waterson-Gomez at one point and cleared
her to continue despite the fact that she had turned away from
contact more than once. Rodriguez picked up where she left off in
Round 2, powered into a full mount on a failed takedown attempt
from “The Karate Hottie” and uncorked elbows and punches until the
job was done.
The 37-year-old Waterson-Gomez has lost four fights in a row.
Battle Coke Finishes Fletcher
“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 29 winner Bryan
Battle disposed of Factory X rep A.J.
Fletcher with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their
welterweight feature.
Battle (10-2, 5-1 UFC) drew the curtain 4:32 into Round
2, as he recorded his ninth victory in 10 outings.
Fletcher (10-3, 1-3 UFC) successfully navigated a 10-inch reach
deficit in the first round, where he crowded “The Butcher” and
floored him with a standing elbow off the break. Battle recovered,
pushed the fight deeper and made the necessary adjustments. He
trapped Fletcher along the fence in the middle stanza, slammed home
knee strikes to the body and assumed top position after shedding a
guillotine choke. Battle then advanced to the back and cinched the
choke.
A onetime Atlas Fights titleholder, Fletcher had never before been
finished.
Jourdain Guillotine Taps Ramos
Former TKO Major League MMA champion Charles
Jourdain put away Ricardo
Ramos with a guillotine choke in the first round of their
featherweight appetizer. In his first appearance since June 18,
2022,
Ramos (16-5, 7-4 UFC) checked out 3:12 into Round
1.
Jourdain (15-6-1, 6-5-1 UFC) cut loose with a straight left-right
hook combination and followed it with a knee, forcing the Brazilian
to engage him in the grappling department. Ramos shot for a
takedown, dodged a guillotine and passed to side control. Jourdain
then set off a scramble, caught the guillotine on the transition
and squeezed his way to the submission.
The 27-year-old Jourdain has recorded back-to-back victories for
the second time since joining the UFC roster in 2019.
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