Jack
Shore adapted to his new surroundings just fine.
The Welshman upshifted to the
Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division and
disposed of Makwan
Amirkhani with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their
featured UFC
286 prelim on Saturday at the O2 Arena in London. Shore (17-1,
6-1 UFC) drew the curtain 4:27 into Round 1, as he bounced back
from his July 16 defeat to Ricky
Simon.
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Amirkhani (17-9, 7-7 UFC) dictated terms for much of the first
round after securing a takedown and chewing up clock. However, he
emerged for the middle stanza visibly diminished by fatigue. Shore
rang his bell with a few head kicks, executed a takedown and
progressed to half guard before climbing to full mount.
He bailed an attempted arm-triangle, wheeled to the back and
cinched the choke for the finish.
Meanwhile, American Top Team export Chris
Duncan made a successful Octagon debut with a split decision
over fellow Dana White’s Contender Series graduate Omar
Morales in a tepid three-round lightweight tussle. Judge
Paul
Sutherland saw it 30-27 for Morales, while Ben Cartlidge and
Vito Paolillo scored it 29-28 for Duncan. Neither of them went out of their way to seize the reins. A
short-notice substitution for Michal
Figlak, Morales (11-4, 3-4 UFC) landed a blistering one-two
near the end of the first round, then teed off on the Scotsman.
Duncan (10-1, 1-0 UFC) weathered the storm, extended the bout and
changed course. The 29-year-old leaned on time-stealing clinches
and sporadic ground-and-pound across the final 10 minutes, doing
just enough to get by on the scorecards.
Morales, 37, has lost three fights in a row.
Elsewhere, K Dojo Warrior Tribe prospect Yanal
Ashmoz wiped out Sam
Patterson with
punches in the first round of their lightweight duel.
Patterson (10-2-1, 0-1 UFC) succumbed to blows 1:15 into Round 1,
the Team Crossface standout having suffered his first setback in
more than five years.
Ashmoz (7-0, 1-0 UFC) tripped the Englishman off of a caught kick,
blasted him with a left hook while he was on the way down and tuned
up the band from there. The 27-year-old Israeli jumped into top
position and unleashed a ferocious barrage of punches that left
Patterson facedown, unconscious and bleeding from multiple facial
lacerations.
The defeat halted Patterson’s run of consecutive victories at
six.
Further down the card, Muhammad
Mokaev kept his perfect professional record intact, as he put
away Nova Uniao’s Jafel Filho
with
a neck crank in the third round of their flyweight
confrontation. Filho (14-3, 0-1 UFC) conceded defeat
4:32 into Round 3.
Mokaev (10-0, 4-0 UFC) nosed in front with repeated takedowns,
positional advances and mild ground-and-pound across the first 10
minutes. However, he ran into serious danger in the third round,
where Filho trapped him in a tight kneebar and bent the joint
beyond its bounds. A lesser man likely would have tapped. Mokaev
eventually scrambled to the back, grimacing in pain as he did so,
and clamped down on the neck crank to force the tap. Afterward, he
limped away from the scene, either unable or unwilling to put
weight on his damaged left leg.
The loss closed the book on Filho’s five-fight winning streak.
Finally, former Cage Warriors champion Jake Hadley
cut down Malcolm
Gordon with
punches in the first round of their flyweight
encounter. Gordon (14-7, 2-4 UFC), who missed weight
for the match by 3.5 pounds, checked out 61 seconds into Round
1.
Hadley (10-1, 2-1 UFC) walked through a few leg kicks, bided his
time and folded the Adrenaline Training Center rep with a wicked
left hook to the body. Gordon turtled in a defensive shell, only to
be met with a burst of follow-up punches and hammerfists that
prompted referee Marc Goddard
to act.
The 26-year-old Hadley has recorded back-to-back victories since he
suffered a disappointing decision defeat to Allan
Nascimento on May 14.
In other action, Lerone
Murphy (12-0-1, 4-0-1 UFC) took a contentious split
verdict—28-29, 29-28, 29-28—from Gabriel
Santos (10-1, 0-1 UFC) in a three-round featherweight scrap;
Christian
Leroy Duncan (8-0, 1-0 UFC) was awarded a technical knockout
when Dusko
Todorovic (12-4, 3-4 UFC) suffered
a knee injury 1:52 into the first round of their middleweight
pairing; Joanne Wood
(16-8, 8-8 UFC) eked out a split decision—28-29, 30-27, 29-28—over
Luana
Carolina (8-4, 3-3 UFC) in a three-round women’s flyweight
affair; Jai Herbert
(12-4-1, 2-3-1 UFC) lost a point due to repeated groin strikes and
fought to a majority draw—29-27, 28-28, 28-28—with Ludovit
Klein (19-4-1, 3-2-1 UFC) in a three-round lightweight tilt;
and Veronica
Hardy (7-4-1, 2-4 UFC) returned from a three-year layoff to
upset “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 30 winner Juliana
Miller (3-2, 1-1 UFC) by unanimous decision in their
three-round women’s flyweight clash, sweeping the scorecards with
30-27 marks across the board.