HIS EYE 😱
#UFC277 pic.twitter.com/9pUwEFtzDp— ESPN MMA (@espnmma)
July 31, 2022
UFC
277‘s prelims was topped by an entertaining featured
welterweight bout between Alex Morono
and Matthew
Semelsberger.
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Morono (22-7, 1 NC) was able to find success on the feet early on,
being able to land left hooks that stunned “Semi The Jedi,” who
ended the round with a swollen eye. Semelsberger (10-4) wasn’t
deterred by his eye closing as he continued to come forward and
ended Round 2 with a takedown and some solid ground-and-pound.
Shockingly, Semelsberger would floor Morono with a jumping knee to
start Round 3. Morono would recover and safely finished the round
without any other significant scares.
After 15 minutes of action, Morono took a well-deserved unanimous
decision win with scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27.
Dober Liver Shots Alves
Drew
Dober and Rafael
Alves put on a show in an action-heavy fight.
Dober (25-11, 1 NC) would land a head kick early against Alves
(20-11), though the Brazilian was able to take the fight to the
ground and control the American on top. Alves was slower in Round 2
before an eye poke gave him a break, which led to the Brazilian
rebounding with an energetic flurry of punches before the round
largely controlled by Dober ended.
Dober would bring the back-and-forth bout to an end with a gorgeous
left hook to the body that hit Alves’ liver and left “The Turn” on
the ground.
The stoppage at 1:33 of Round 3 improved Dober’s UFC record to
11-7, 1 NC.
Abdelwahab Passes Test Against Mayes
Hamdy
Abdelwahab made a statement in the heavyweight division against
Don’Tale
Mayes.
Abdelwahab (6-0) hurt “Lord Kong” early in the first and was able
to control the fight on the ground as well. Mayes (9-5) wound wind
up turning the tide in the second round as he connected with a big
left hand and several knees that clearly hurt “The Hammer.”
Abdelwahab would get a takedown late in Round 2 and went back to
that strategy in the third round as Mayes had little to offer off
his back. After a standup by the referee, the two would trade hard
blows on the feet to end the fight.
A split decision would go to Abdelwahab with two of three 29-28
scorecards being in his favor.
Klose Edges Garcia
The first lightweight bout of the night saw Drakkar
Klose go up against Rafa
Garcia.
A competitive first round was edged by Klose (13-2-1), who was able
to secure two takedowns on Garcia (13-3). The momentum switched in
the second round as “Gifted” took down Klose and was able to land
some solid ground-and-pound. Over the final five minutes, Klose
would defend against several takedown attempts from Garcia and
wound up landing the more damaging blows by pressuring his
opponent.
Klose took a unanimous decision with cards of 29-28 in his favor
and has now won two straight inside the UFC.
Morales Unloads on Fugitt
Undefeated welterweight prospect Michael
Morales stayed perfect against Adam
Fugitt.
Morales (14-0) came out firing an eccentric mix of punches that
included a Superman punch, although Fugitt (8-3) landed several
solid shots in the first round as well. The fight continued at a
measured pace, which allowed Morales to explode in spots and land
the harder strikes.
The Ecuadorian fighter would clip Fugitt coming in with a right
hand in the third frame and kept pouring on punches to secure a
finish.
Morales advanced to 2-0 inside the Octagon with the stoppage coming
at 1:09 of Round 3.
Edwards Takes Split Nod Over Kim
The first women’s mixed martial arts bout of the night saw
bantamweight Ji Yeon Kim
take on Joselyne
Edwards, who missed weight by 1.5 pounds.
Using kicks to keep Kim (9-5-2) at bay, Edwards (11-4) was able to
easily control the first round through superior striking. While “La
Pantera” was the naturally bigger fighter, her output dipped
significantly in Round 2, which allowed Kim to land the better
punches. The final round saw “Fire Fist” get taken down by Edwards,
who was able to momentarily threaten with an armbar and then land
the harder shots on the feet.
After 15 minutes, the judges awarded a split verdict in the favor
of Edwards with scores of 28-29, 29-28 and 30-27.
Negumereanu Outclasses Potieria
The night’s first light heavyweight bout was a battle between
Europeans in Nicolae
Negumereanu and Ihor
Potieria, which wound up being extremely one-sided.
It was the grappling of Negumereanu (13-1) that was the difference
maker in the opening frame, although “The Duelist” largely stayed
out of danger. Negumereanu began having more success on the feet
early in Round 2, hurting Potieria (19-3) with punches several
times.
A nonstop barrage would come with less than two minutes remaining,
which saw Potieria’s mouthpiece go flying and a knee from
Negumereanu put the exclamation mark on the performance as the
Romanian secured a stoppage.
The finish came officially at 3:33 of the second round.
Cosce Outgrapples Mathetha
Orion
Cosce came in 1.5 pounds overweight for his welterweight bout
against Mike
Mathetha, but the miss didn’t seem to impact his
performance.
Cosce (8-1) took Mathetha (3-2) down to the ground several times in
the first round and largely controlled the frame. The second round
was a different story as “Blood Diamond” was able to keep the fight
on the feet and landed a spinning back fist and knees to the body
that had Cosce severely damaged. However, the final frame would be
all Cosce as he took his opponent down and threatened with
rear-naked and arm-triangle choke attempts.
Cosce took a unanimous decision win with three scorecards of 29-28.