Francis
Marshall re-established a foothold in the Ultimate Fighting
Championship featherweight division with a split decision over
Dennis
Buzukja in their featured
UFC on ESPN 62 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Judges Ben Cartlidge and Junichiro Kamijo scored it 29-28 for
Marshall, while Adalaide Byrd saw it 30-27 for Buzukja.
A short-notice replacement for Danny
Silva, Marshall (8-2, 2-2 UFC) stormed out to a strong start.
He employed a time-killing clinch for much of the first round and
floored Buzukja with a clubbing right hook in the second. Marshall
flurried for a potential finish, only to see the former Ring of
Combat champion survive and slowly turn the tide. Buzukja (12-5,
1-3 UFC) regained his faculties and found a home for his left hook,
both on the lead and on the counter. He also bloodied Marshall’s
nose with a penetrating jab. It was not enough. Marshall answered
in Round 3, where he stepped into right hands and managed to sneak
punches over the top of his counterpart’s guard before closing the
distance to chew the remaining seconds off the clock in the
clinch.
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Meanwhile, WAR Training Center export Zachary
Reese rode repeated takedowns and a series of savage body kicks
to a clear-cut unanimous decision over fellow Dana White’s
Contender Series graduate Jose Medina
in their three-round middleweight battle. All three cageside judges
struck 30-27 scorecards for Reese (8-1, 2-1 UFC), who has posted
back-to-back wins since his Dec. 2 knockout loss to Cody
Brundage.
Medina (11-4, 0-1 UFC) absorbed copious amounts of punishment but
refused to go away. Reese had him reeling more than once with liver
kicks in a dominant first round, pairing them with power punching
bursts, a takedown, heavy ground-and-pound and a tight guillotine
choke. Once it became clear a stoppage was not forthcoming, he
settled into a more manageable pace. Reese continued to zero in on
the body across the final 10 minutes and upped his takedown
activity in the third round, where he waded through fatigue and
frustration to the finish line. The 33-year-old Medina will enter his next assignment on the heels
of consecutive setbacks.
Further down the undercard, Team Alpha Male’s Viacheslav
Borshchev rebounded from a May 11 submission loss to Chase
Hooper and outstruck ex-Fusion Fighting Championship
titleholder James
Llontop to a split verdict in their three-round lightweight
affair. Judge Eric Colon
scored it 29-28 for Llontop, while Cartlidge and Michael Bell saw
it 29-28 and 30-27 for Borshchev (8-4-1, 3-3-1 UFC).
Llontop (14-4, 0-2 UFC) went tit for tat with the Russian kickboxer
and nearly sprang the upset. Borshchev doubled and tripled up on
his jab, excelled on the counter and aimed powerful kicks at the
legs body and head. He also overcame a nasty eye poke that resulted
in a two-minute pause to the action the first round. Llontop
rallied with pressure and output across the final five minutes,
only to have his efforts go for naught.
It was Llontop’s first decision defeat in almost six years.
Elsewhere, former Striker Cage Championship titleholder Jacqueline
Cavalcanti called upon smooth footwork, evasive lateral
movement and a multi-pronged standup attack ahead of a split
decision over Josiane
Nunes in a three-round women’s bantamweight tilt. Judge Ron
McCarthy saw it 30-27 for Nunes, while Sal D’Amato and Chris Lee
scored it 29-28 for Cavalcanti (7-1, 2-0 UFC).
Nunes (10-3, 3-2 UFC) was mostly reduced to being a one-trick pony,
as she relied heavily on concussive overhand lefts. Some landed.
Many missed. Cavalcanti circled away from her countrywoman’s power
and chipped away with a persistent jab, the occasional well-timed
counter and kicks to the legs, head and body. Her right uppercut
proved to be an effective weapon late in the bout, as Nunes crashed
into the pocket with reckless abandon and left her chin
exposed.
Cavalcanti, 26, has rattled off five consecutive victories.
Finally, Cong Wang
dazzled in her hotly anticipated organizational debut, as the 2013
World Wushu Championships gold medalist put away Victoria
Leonardo with punches in the first round of their women’s
flyweight pairing.
Leonardo (9-6, 1-4 UFC) checked out 62 seconds into Round 1, the
unwitting victim of the second-fastest finish in the history of the
125-pound weight class.
Wang (6-0, 1-0 UFC) picked her spots. She tested the water with leg
kicks and jabs, then unleashed her potent hands on Leonardo with
surgical precision. Wang walked the Elite Combat Academy rep into a
devastating one-two—a sharp jab followed by a crushing right
cross—and leveled her where she stood. No follow-up shots were
necessary.
The 32-year-old Wang has finished four of her first six opponents,
three of them inside one round.