The
Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s flyweight division has a
new top contender as Manon
Fiorot impressed against Erin
Blanchfield in the
UFC on ESPN 54 main event.
The five-round fight began with Blanchfield (12-2) threatening with
a guillotine choke as a counter to a takedown by Fiorot (12-1). The
French fighter would survive the submission scare and find her
rhythm on the feet. Using a steady jab and leg kicks, Fiorot kept
Blanchfield at range and picked apart her foe. “Cold Blooded” lived
up to her nickname as she adjusted and started throwing more
recklessly in the fourth and fifth rounds. However, it wound up
being too little too late for the American as she lost a unanimous
decision with three scorecards of 50-45 for Fiorot.
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“The Beast” is now 6-0 inside the Octagon.
Buckley Powers Past Luque
The co-main event saw Joaquin
Buckley cement himself as a welterweight contender against
Vicente
Luque. The first round was a more tepid affair, with both men respecting
each other’s power and Buckley (18-6) slightly edging it. Things
would pick up in the second as “New Mansa” began throwing flying
knees and opening up more against Luque (22-10-1). Eventually, “The
Silent Assassin” would pull guard, which proved to be a mistake as
Buckley
unloaded on Luque with heavy punches forcing Keith
Peterson to step in.
The fight was officially stopped at 3:17 of Round 2.
Weidman Gets Technical Decision Over Silva
Former middleweight champion Chris
Weidman got back into the win column in a controversial
fashion.
Despite the recent leg break, Weidman came out throwing kicks with
his right leg. The 39-year-old hurt Bruno Silva
(23-11) early and took control of the first round in the clinch.
Subsequent rounds saw “The All-American” turn back the clock as he
went toe-to-toe with “Blindado” and hurt his opponent several times
with punches. Weidman eventually stopped Silva with a series of
punches
after the Brazilian went down from an eye poke (the third such
occurrence during the fight). After reviewing the replay, the fight
was declared a unanimous technical decision win for Weidman at 2:18
of Round 3, as the fight was judged up until the stoppage.
Weidman improves to 16-7 with the win.
Ruziboev Controversially Stops Dumas
Nursulton
Ruziboev benefited from an uncalled eye poke against Sedriques
Dumas.
During an exchange in the first round, Ruziboev accidentally poked
Dumas in the eye. Dumas informed Vitor
Ribeiro of the issue and motioned that he needed time due to
the damage. However, Ribeiro didn’t see the foul and allowed the
fight to continue,
which led to Ruziboev plowing through Dumas with an onslaught of
punches.
The stoppage officially came at 3:18 of Round 1.
Kyle
Nelson continued rising up the featherweight ranks by picking
up a TKO win over Bill
Algeo.
Nelson (16-5-1) found success early in the clinch but was still
getting the upper hand once the pair separated. Despite Algeo
(18-8) doing some damage with his kicks, the fight became a
slugfest late in the first round. Nelson had the sturdier chin and
the stronger punches,
allowing him to swarm a hurt Nelson with punches. Referee Gary
Copeland had seen enough and waved it off at 4:00 of Round 1.
“The Monster” has now won three straight fights.
Njokuani Outstrikes McKee
Welterweights Chidi
Njokuani and Rhys McKee
opened the main card with a closely contested scrap.
The first round saw McKee (13-6-1) disrupt the striking of Njokuani
(23-10, 1 NC) with takedown attempts. As the fight continued,
Njokuani damaged “Skeletor” with his jab and well-timed leg kicks.
After controlling the final five minutes and shaking off McKee’s
takedown attempts, Njokuani took a split decision with scores of
28-29 for McKee and then two 30-27 scorecards for “Chidi Bang
Bang.”
The win breaks a three-fight skid for Njokuani.
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