Abdul-Kareem
Al-Selwady was virtually flawless in terms of execution.
The Fortis MMA lightweight was one of five prospective competitors
to nail down an
Ultimate Fighting Championship Championship contract during
Week 2 of
Dana White’s Contender Series, as he laid claim to a unanimous
decision over George
Hardwick on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Al-Selwady
(15-3, 1-0 DWCS) swept the scorecards with matching 30-27 marks
from all three judges.
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Hardwick (12-2, 0-1 DWCS) was never out of it but simply lacked
enough of the necessary answers. Al-Selwady leaned on educated
feints and stellar lateral movement, all while mixing in leg kicks
and clean punching combinations. The former Fury Fighting
Championship and Brave Combat Federation titleholder’s footwork
kept him out of danger and allowed his hands and gas tank to work
to maximum effect. When Hardwick landed, he was limited to single
shots.
The 28-year-old Al-Selwady will carry a five-fight winning streak
into the UFC, where bantamweight Charalampos
Grigoriou, women’s strawweight Eduarda
Moura, light heavyweight Ibo Aslan and
featherweight Hyder Amil
are slated to join him.
Serra Longo Fight Team’s Grigoriou put away Fury Fighting
Championship titleholder Cameron
Smotherman with
punches in the first round of their bantamweight
pairing. Grigoriou (8-3, 1-0 DWCS) brought it to a
close 60 seconds into Round 1.
Smotherman (8-4, 0-1 DWCS) operated behind his jab and a few
multi-punch bursts but never had a true opportunity to get in gear.
Grigoriou blasted the Metro Fight Club rep with a left hook and
floored him with a right cross, then pounced with hammerfists and
punches to prompt the stoppage.
Grigoriou, 31, has rattled off four straight victories.
Meanwhile, Moura kept her perfect professional record intact and
did so with cold and efficient calculation, as the former Demo
Fight champion dispatched Janaina
Silva with
a rear-naked choke in the first round of their women’s strawweight
clash. Silva (5-1, 0-1 DWCS) conceded defeat 4:00 into
Round 1.
Moura (9-0, 1-0 DWCS) completed a takedown inside the first 15
seconds and let her skills do the rest. She progressed from full
guard to half guard to side control, all while feeding Silva an
unhealthy dose of ground-and-pound. Moura then threatened to move
to a topside crucifix, transitioned to full mount and quickly
floated to the back. Soon after, the fight-ending choke was in
place.
It was the seventh first-round finish of Moura’s career.
Elsewhere, Gym 23’s Aslan wiped out onetime Inside Fighters League
champion Paulo
Renato Jr. with
punches in the first round of their light heavyweight
confrontation. Renato Jr. (12-3, 0-2 DWCS) checked out
2:22 into Round 1, suffering his first stoppage loss in 15
professional appearances.
Neither man seemed willing to lead the dance initially. That
changed in a hurry. Aslan (12-1, 1-0 DWCS) connected with a
clubbing right hook at short range, backed the Brazilian toward the
fence and flurried with punches. Renato Jr. collapsed under duress
and offered no intelligent defense from a seated position at the
base of the fence, leading referee Blake Grace to intervene on his
behalf.
Finally, El Nino Training Center’s Amil worked through exhaustion
to stay undefeated with a hard-fought, grimy unanimous decision
over Emrah
Sonmez in a three-round featherweight tilt. All three cageside
judges struck 29-28 scorecards for Amil (8-0, 1-0 DWCS).
Sonmez (14-4, 0-1 DWCS), who missed weight for the match by one
pound, certainly made him earn it. The two men were in non-stop
motion during a 15-minute struggle marked by scrambles and position
changes. Amil appeared to have a little more horsepower with which
to work down the stretch. He freed himself from takedowns, made
Sonmez pay with some ground-and-pound and even threatened the neck
on occasion, doing just enough to sway the judiciary.
The setback snapped a three-fight winning streak for Sonmez.