Josh
Emmett’s first venture into the championship rounds proved to
be a successful one.
In a closely-contested bout that played out primarily as a boxing
match, Emmett (18-2, 9-2 UFC) captured a split-decision triumph
against Calvin
Kattar (23-6, 7-4 UFC) in the
UFC on ESPN 37 main event at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas,
on Saturday night. Judges Sal D’Amato and Chris Lee submitted 48-47
scorecards in favor of Emmett, while Douglas Crosby saw it 48-47 in
favor of Kattar. Emmett’s five-bout winning streak is tied for the
fourth-longest in the featherweight division.
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Emmett’s aggressive forays into the pocket proved to be some of the
most decisive moments of the fight. The
Team Alpha Male product landed with more impact than Kattar,
and several of his heavy right hands moved his opponent backwards
momentarily. Kattar, meanwhile, was effective with his jab
throughout the 25-minute affair, opening a cut above Emmett’s left
eye in Round 1 and gradually deepening the wound as the bout
progressed. Kattar’s best moment arguably came late in the fourth,
when he briefly made Emmett stumble upon landing a straight right
hand.
Emmett never wavered, however, and he did a good job mixing up
punches to the head and body along with the occasional uppercut.
Kattar appeared to get stronger as the fight progressed, but his
lack of threatening power in exchanges could have very well been
the difference in the judges’ eyes. Kattar’s last four fights have
gone the full 25 minutes; he is 2-2 in those contests.
Holland Wobbles, Submits Means
Kevin
Holland took a significant step toward contention at 170
pounds, submitting Tim Means with
a brabo choke in the UFC on ESPN 37 co-main event. “Trailblazer,”
who begin his promotional tenure at middleweight, elicited a tapout
1:28 into Round 2, ending Means’ three-bout winning streak in the
process. It was Holland’s first submission victory since a
rear-naked choke triumph over John
Phillips in his second Octagon appearance in November 2018.
Holland’s speed advantage was quite evident, as he tagged “The
Dirty Bird” with long punches while effectively mixing in kicks,
elbows and knees. Perhaps realizing he was outgunned on the feet,
Means (32-13-1, 14-10, 1 NC UFC) resorted to wrestling, but Holland
(23-7, 10-4, 1 NC UFC) was able to defend against his opponent’s
advances in that area. Holland set the stage for the finish when he
wobbled Means with a laser straight right to the chin in the second
round, and from there he quickly locked in the fight-ending
maneuver.
Means tapped out in a matter of seconds.
Buckley Stops Duraev
Joaquin
Buckley’s high-impact offense was too much for Albert
Duraev, as the Finney’s Hit Squad member earned a doctor
stoppage in a featured middleweight affair. A cageside physician
waved off the fight 10 seconds into Round 3 due to Duraev’s left
eye being swollen shut. The Russian known as “Machete” saw a
10-fight winning streak come to an end in defeat.
Buckley took some time to find his range, but once he did, Duraev
(15-4, 1-1 UFC) absorbed a beating. “New Mansa” made Duraev stumble
with a head kick early in an opening round that was otherwise
characterized more by Buckley’s big misses than his connections.
That changed as time progressed, and Buckley (15-4, 5-2 UFC)
repeatedly landed powerful left hands when his opponent attempted
to shoot, which in turn gradually led to Duraev’s left eye closing.
When the Russian did get the fight to the canvas, Buckley was able
to explode to his feet and dole out more punishment on his
vision-impaired adversary.
Ismagulov Extends Winning Streak to 19
Former M-1 Global
champion Damir
Ismagulov won his 19th straight professional fight, edging
Guram
Kutateladze via split decision in a matchup of underrated
lightweight contenders. Ismagulov earned tallies of 29-28 and 30-27
from the cageside judges, while a third submitted a 29-28 scorecard
in favor of Kutateladze.
In a highly technical matchup, Ismagulov’s jab was arguably the
fight’s most significant weapon. The Russian marked up
Kutateladze’s face with his lead hand repeatedly while exhibiting
outstanding movement to avoid some of his foe’s most damaging
offerings. Kutateladze (12-3, 1-1 UFC) did his best work in Round
1, when he briefly had his opponent reeling from a series of elbows
and knees in the clinch. Ismagulov (24-1, 5-0) quickly regained his
composure and maintained a slight edge down the stretch, landing
straight punches to the head while his adversary attacked with
strikes to all levels.
‘RoboCop’ Flattens Marquez
Gregory
Rodrigues unleashed heavy artillery on Julian
Marquez, relentlessly battering his adversary en route to a
first-round knockout victory at middleweight. “Robocop” ended
Marquez’s night with a right hand 3:18 into Round 1 for his fifth
win in his last six professional outings.
Marquez could hold up under fire for only so long. Rodrigues (12-4,
3-1 UFC) dropped Marquez during an initial exchange and threatened
to take his foe’s back, but grappling exchanges were limited from
that point forward. The
Sanford MMA product sent Marquez (9-3, 3-2 UFC) stumbling
backward with an uppercut and teed off near the fence, dropping his
foe to a knee following another salvo of offense. A desperate
Marquez returned to his feet and fired back to the best of his
abilities, but Rodrigues was locked in. The 30-year-old Brazilian
stayed on the attack and
unleashed about four more accurate punches, the last of which
put “The Cuban Missile Crisis” flat on his back for the finish.
Fired Up Yanez Rocks Kelley
An emotionally-charged Adrian
Yanez delighted the crowd in his home state with a rousing
technical knockout victory over Tony Kelley
in a bantamweight bout. The Metro Fight Club product overwhelmed
his opponent with a barrage of punches at the 3:49 mark of Round 1.
Kelley, who missed weight by 1.5 pounds, had been a controversial
figure in recent weeks due to comments he made while cornering
Andrea
Lee at UFC on ESPN 36.
Once he figured out the range and timing of his opponent, Yanez
(16-3, 5-0 UFC) was nearly unstoppable. He buckled Kelley (8-3, 2-2
UFC) on multiple occasions during exchanges, often while countering
kicks.
One final barrage sent Kelley tumbling to the canvas, and Yanez
sealed his victory with several more follow-up blows as the
Louisianan attempted to return to his feet.
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