Curtis
Blaydes has more than one dimension—a reality to which Chris
Daukaus can now attest.
Blaydes stayed relevant in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight division, as he took
apart the former Philadelphia police officer with punches in the
second round of their
UFC on ESPN 33 headliner on Saturday at Nationwide Arena in
Columbus, Ohio. Daukaus (12-5, 4-2 UFC) bowed out 17 seconds into
Round 2.
Curtis
Blaydes WITH THE TKO 😱
#UFCColumbus pic.twitter.com/jb8u5mLwa9— ESPN MMA (@espnmma)
March 27, 2022
The 31-year-old Blaydes (16-3, 11-3 UFC)—the UFC’s all-time
heavyweight leader in completed takedowns—chose to stand and
exchange, and the approach paid dividends. He ate a few right hands
from Daukaus early in the bout but stayed the course and let his
talent seize the reins. Blaydes buckled the former Cage Fury
Fighting Championships contender with a two-punch salvo in the
first round and opened a cut near his left eye, setting the table
for what was to come. At the start of the second, he countered
Daukaus’ with a crushing right hook that dropped him to his knees
and forced him to retreat to his back in a dazed and confused
state. Blaydes then pounced with follow-up punches and prompted
referee Herb Dean to
call for the stoppage.
In the immediate aftermath, Blaydes called for an interim title
fight with Ciryl
Gane.
Grasso Choke Stuns Wood
Lobo Gym star Alexa
Grasso submitted “The Ultimate Fighter 20” graduate Joanne Wood
with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their women’s
flyweight co-main event. Grasso (14-3, 6-3 UFC) drew the curtain
3:57 into Round 1, authoring the first submission of her 17-fight
career.
Wood (15-8, 7-8 UFC) operated behind front kicks to the body and
head, pressed the issue and connected with a spinning elbow
upstairs. Grasso scrambled behind the Syndicate MMA-trained
Scotswoman, moved to the back and secured position with her hooks.
She then focused her attention on the neck, re-adjusted her grip
and let her squeeze do the rest.
Grasso, 28, has won three fights in a row.
Determined Barberena Outlasts Brown
Bryan
Barberena marched into hostile territory, gave as good as he
got and escaped with a split decision over “The Ultimate Fighter”
Season 7 quarterfinalist Matt Brown in
a three-round war of attrition at 170 pounds that left both men in
need of stitches and ibuprofen. All three judges scored it 29-28:
Andrew Adkins for Brown, Michael Bell and Eric Colon
for Barberena.
Brown (23-19, 16-13 UFC) called upon on his guile and experience,
as he attacked the Gym-O representative with a variety of
techniques, from foot sweeps and standing elbows to takedowns and
knees to the body. Barberena (17-8, 8-6 UFC) absorbed it all and
fired back. He opened a cut beneath Brown’s left eye with a
stepping elbow in the first round and rang his bell with another in
the second. Neither of them seemed willing to give ground. Brown
lunged in front early in Round 3, where he opened a vertical cut
between his counterpart’s eyes with a close-range elbow strike,
scored with knees from the rear waistlock position and even mixed
in a takedown. Still, Barberena refused to wilt. “Bam Bam”
responded in the waning seconds, cut loose with accurate power
punches and appeared to have Brown in trouble as time ran out.
The 41-year-old Brown has lost three of his past four bouts.
France Tames Unbeaten Askarov
Damaging punching combinations and gritty submission defense
carried City Kickboxing’s Kai Kara
France to a unanimous decision over the previously undefeated
Askar
Askarov in a three-round flyweight showcase. France (24-9, 7-2
UFC) swept the scorecards with matching 29-28 marks across the
board.
Askarov (14-1-1, 3-1-1 UFC) struck for a takedown in the first
round, advanced to the back, secured himself with a body triangle
and threatened with rear-naked chokes from the backpack position.
It resulted in several precarious moments for France, but he
managed to withstand his counterpart’s efforts until the horn
sounded. The 29-year-old Kiwi stemmed the tide in the second, where
he stayed on his feet and assaulted Askarov with punches from both
hands. France shook the Russian grappler from his back in the third
round, mixed in a few leg kicks and flurried with punches when the
opportunities presented themselves. Most importantly, he stayed
upright.
France, 29, now finds himself on a three-fight winning streak and
very much in the title picture at 125 pounds.
Magny Dodges Griffin Bullet
“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 16 semifinalist Neil Magny
overcame a rough start to eke out a split decision over onetime
Tachi Palace Fights titleholder Max Griffin
in a three-round welterweight feature. All three cageside judges
struck 29-28 scorecards: Todd Schwarz for Griffin; Eric Colon
and Sal D’Amato for Magny.
Griffin (18-9, 6-7 UFC) floored the Elevation Fight Team mainstay
with a thudding right hand in the first round and swarmed for a
potential finish. Magny (26-8, 19-7 UFC) survived, put the brush
with adversity in the rearview mirror and exploited his height and
reach advantage behind a potent jab. He showed more initiative in
the second round and pushed a pace Griffin could not match in the
third. Magny dragged him to the mat, progressed to the back and
threatened the neck. Griffin refused to give in, kept his composure
despite visible fatigue and put his fate in the hands of the
judiciary. The ruling went against him.
Magny has rattled off five victories in six appearances.
Diakiese Slows Borshchev Rise
Former British Association of Mixed Martial Arts champion Marc
Diakiese turned an unexpected tactical wrinkle into a unanimous
decision over Dana White’s Contender Series graduate Viacheslav
Borshchev in a three-round lightweight attraction. All three
judges scored it 30-27 for Diakiese (15-5, 6-5 UFC), who rebounded
from back-to-back losses to Rafael
Fiziev and Rafael
Alves.
Borshchev (6-2, 1-1 UFC) was ill-prepared for the Brit’s
change-of-pace approach. Diakiese executed multiple takedowns in
all three rounds and paired them with suffocating positional
control. His efforts short-circuited whatever plans Borshchev
brought into the cage, leaving the Team Alpha Male-trained Russian
flummoxed and frustrated.
The setback snapped Borshchev’s four-fight winning streak.
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