Ian
Garry had just enough in the tank to avoid disaster in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight division.
The former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder quelled
a late rally and held on for a unanimous decision over Carlos
Prates in the
UFC on ESPN 66 main event on Saturday at the T-Mobile Center in
Kansas City, Missouri. Garry (16-1, 9-1 UFC) swept the scorecards
with 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 marks from the judges.
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Prates (21-7, 4-1 UFC), who entered the cage on an 11-fight winning
streak, was slow out of the gate. Garry called upon kicks to the
legs, body and head, leaned heavily on his jab and kept the
Brazilian off-balance with level changes and deft footwork. Later,
he fired off accurate punches in combination and secured multiple
takedowns. The Irishman entered back half of the fight in front by
a significant margin. Prates, however, turned up the heat, forced
him onto his back foot and started to connect with increasing
intensity and regularity. Garry’s situation deteriorated to an
alarming degree in the fifth round. There, Prates made him pay for
reckless takedown attempts with brutal ground-and-pound, much of it
in the form of standing-to-ground punches and hammerfists. To his
credit, Garry found a way to scramble out of danger and survive
until the remaining time ticked off the clock.
Meanwhile, Mingyang
Zhang took out the retiring Anthony
Smith with elbows in the first round of their light heavyweight
co-headliner.
In his 60th and final professional assignment, Smith (38-22, 13-12
UFC) succumbed to blows 4:03 into Round 1.
The 26-year-old Zhang (19-6, 3-0 UFC) stood toe-to-toe with the
former Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder and did not
blink. He opened a gash on the top of Smith’s head with a sharp
elbow, battered him at close range and sprawled on desperate
takedown attempts from the American. Zhang eventually settled into
position above the bloodied veteran and uncorked elbows to the side
of the head until the job was done.
Zhang has recorded 12 straight wins, all by first-round finish.
Further down the main card, Factory X standout David Onama
withstood several harrowing moments and managed to outgrapple
Giga
Chikadze to a unanimous decision in their three-round
featherweight showcase. All three cageside judges struck 29-28
scorecards for Onama (14-2, 6-2 UFC), who now rides a four-fight
winning streak.
Chikadze (15-5, 8-3 UFC) utilized punishing kicks to all levels and
had his adversary on skates inside the first five minutes, only to
have his progress stymied by a well-timed takedown. Onama put the
Georgian on his back again in the second and third rounds,
controlled him with a shifty top game and applied his
ground-and-pound to lengthen his lead.
The 36-year-old Chikadze has lost three of his last four
fights.
Elsewhere, former Ring of Combat champion Randy Brown
punched out the notoriously durable Nicolas
Dalby in the second round of their welterweight attraction.
Finished for the first time in his 32-fight career, Dalby (23-6-1,
7-5-1 UFC) met his end 1:39 into Round 2.
The 34-year-old Brown (20-6, 14-6 UFC) peppered the Dane with a
consistent jab and left him with a badly mangled nose courtesy of a
sweeping right hook in the first round. Dalby, 40, went out on his
shield. Brown clipped him with two clubbing rights early in the
middle stanza and set off a wild exchange in the center of the
cage. The Budokan Martial Arts Academy rep kept his composure under
return fire and found the off switch with a devastating right hook.
Dalby faceplanted, the victim of one of the most memorable
knockouts of the year.
Brown has rattled off four victories in five appearances.
Finally, KHK MMA Team standout Ikram
Aliskerov rebounded from a June 22 loss to Robert
Whittaker and put away Andre Muniz
with punches in the first round of their middleweight appetizer.
Muniz (24-7, 6-3 UFC) checked out 4:54 into Round 1, losing for the
third time in four appearances.
Aliskerov (16-2, 3-1 UFC) probed for weaknesses from the center of
the cage, then closed the distance once the mood arose. He
staggered and dropped Muniz with a sweeping left hook along the
fence, assumed a dominant position above the fallen Brazilian and
unleashed hell. Aliskerov cut loose with a barrage of unanswered
punches and hammerfists, leaving referee Jason Herzog no choice but
to intervene.
The 32-year-old Alsikerov has won eight of his past nine bouts.
In other action, Abusupiyan
Magomedov (28-6-1, 4-2 UFC) outstruck a lethargic Michel
Pereira (31-13, 9-4 UFC) to a unanimous decision in a tepid
three-round middleweight feature, earning 30-27 marks from all
three cageside judges.
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