HEAVYWEIGHT SLAM 💥
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pic.twitter.com/PxvAbhNp7h— ESPN MMA (@espnmma)
August 21, 2022
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Marcin
Tybura sent a message to the
Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight division by
defeating Alexander
Romanov in the featured UFC
278 prelim.
Romanov (16-1) wasted no time clinching with Tybura (23-7) seconds
into the fight. Landing damaging knees, Romanov would then slam the
252-pound fighter like it was nothing. Romanov would begin landing
stellar punches and elbows that put an exclamation mark on a
dominant Round 1. Tybura would fare much better as the fight went
on as Romanov slowed down, and even managed to take his opponent’s
back shortly in the second round. Embarrassingly, Romanov would
showboat in Round 3 despite being outstruck.
The judges awarded the fight to Tybura via majority decision as one
judge had a 28-28 draw while the other two had it 29-28 Tybura.
Gordon Decisions Santos
Leonardo
Santos showed his age against Jared
Gordon.
Gordon (19-5) was able to keep the Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend
standing during the first frame and controlled the action. Santos
(18-6-1) was almost able to get the fight to the ground in the
second round, but several fence grabs by Gordon kept him upright.
Gordon would cruise to a unanimous decision win in Round 3 as
Santos was unable to muster a comeback at 42 years old.
“Flash” has now won four of his last five fights.
Saldana Draws With Woodson
Featherweights Sean
Woodson and Luis
Saldana had a wild fight filled with exotic submission attempts
and an illegal knee.
Midway through the first round, a gorgeous left hook by Saldana
(16-7-1) would badly rock Woodson (9-1-1). After knocking Woodson
down with a jab, Saldana would blatantly land an illegal knee on
the downed opponent. After referee Mike Beltran paused the fight to
the crowd, Saldana celebrated as if he won before getting a point
taken away. Woodson would continue fighting, edging out the second
round with a buggy choke submission attempt, and then the final
frame was a messy stand-up affair as both fighters were tired.
After 15 minutes, the judges scored the fight 29-27 Woodson, 29-27
Saldana and 28-28 for a split draw.
Loosa Outlasts Fletcher
The card’s first welterweight contest saw A.J.
Fletcher test his skills against Ange
Loosa.
It was likely a must-win fight for Loosa (9-3), who was happy to
fight in close and was looking to damage Fletcher to the body.
Landing solid hooks, Loosa was able to bloody the face of Fletcher
(9-2), who was just a step behind on the feet early on. However,
Fletcher was able to badly hurt Loosa in the second round with an
onslaught of punches and elbows that left both men exhausted.
Despite the beating he sustained in Round 2, Loosa was the fresher
fighter in the finale frame and easily took control, landing solid
elbows on the ground until the fight expired.
Loosa took a unanimous decision win with scores of 29-27, 29-28 and
29-28 in his favor.
Albazi Taps Figueiredo
Amir
Albazi made his point in a showcase fight against Francisco
Figueiredo.
Albazi (15-1) was in full control the entire fight, getting a nice
takedown early on. After taking the back of Figueiredo (13-4-1),
Albazi locked in a rear-naked choke for the win. The tap
officially came at 4:34 of Round 1.
Albazi has now won four straight fights and is 3-0 inside the
Octagon.
Aori Outstrikes Perrin
The first bantamweight bout of the night saw Qileng Aori
take on Jay
Perrin.
The “Mongolian Murderer” lived up to his nickname as he outstruck
Perrin (10-6) with sharp punches to win the first round. Aori
(24-9) would mix up his attack with jumping knees, but “The Joker”
would secure a takedown in Round 2 to show off his superior ground
game. However, Perrin couldn’t keep his opponent down and Aori
would continue scoring for the rest of the bout with elbows and
punches. Perrin would rally late, hurting Aori with a wild flurry
as the fight expired.
After 15 minutes, Aori would take a unanimous decision with three
scorecards of 29-28 in his favor.
Altamirano Pounds Out Lacerda
The opening flyweight contest between Daniel
Lacerda and Victor
Altamirano was an exciting back-and-forth affair.
It was Lacerda (11-4) that showed off some impressive striking
early on, scoring with punches and even a spinning back fist.
However, Altamirano (11-2) would show heart and get back into the
fight by flooring Lacerda with a knee to the body.
Once it was on the ground, Altamirano unloaded punishing punches
until the fight was stopped.
The TKO victory for Altamirano officially came at 3:39.