It’s probably fair at this point to call Jailton Almeida a serious problem for the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title.
In the UFC main event on ABC 4 on Saturday at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, Almeida (19-2, 5-0 UFC) needed just 3:43 to beat Jairzinho Rozenstruik to the floor. The drilled Brazilian entered as an overwhelming favorite and the match went out more or less as expected, with Almeida taking advantage of Rosenstroijk’s porous grappling and grappling his way to a seemingly easy win. “Bigi Boy” managed to deflect Almeida’s first takedown attempt, a two leg up from a very wide outside in the opening moments, but Almeida tried again moments later and was successful, twisting Rozenstruik’s legs and tipping him into the middle of the cage. Malhadinho immediately moved to half guard and worked his way up, pulling away with short strokes and moving the bigger man to the fence. With less than two minutes left, Almeida moved to climb, landed a few jabs and waited for his opponent to turn his back. Rozenstruik did so, and
Almeida immediately assumed the position, doused the stern with a naked choke and flattened his leg. Rosenstroyk pressed within seconds and Dan Miragliotta stepped in to stop. The win was Alameda’s 13th in a row, the last five of which were in the UFC Octagon – all by knockout or submission, four of them in the first round.
Walker punishes Smith
Johnnie Walker (21-7, 7-4 UFC) used his reach, heavy hands and a solid investment in leg kicks to cruise to a unanimous decision victory over former light heavyweight rival Anthony Smith (36-18, 11-8 UFC) in the main event. subscriber. Walker’s fearsome strength was on display throughout, particularly late in the first round when he caught Smith with a combination of punches that dropped him to his knees. Smith managed to grab one leg, then somehow survived a hammer attack from Giant Walker and got a takedown that allowed him to recover and ride the round. The second round was more competitive, with both men landing many powerful blows amid numerous swings in momentum. However, by the final round, Walker’s steady stream of leg kicks had paid dividends, as Smith’s left leg was visibly swollen, and his mobility compromised. Walker hurt Smith again with punches, this time dodging a despondent shake, and by the time Smith struggled to get back on his feet in the second half of the round, it looked like he had little more to offer. The Brazilian was rewarded by Dublin for his efforts with a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) and the opportunity to call out lightweight champion Jamal Hill, who was present in the ring and seemed receptive to the idea.
Gary Head kicks Rodriguez
In the “UFC Charlotte” fight, middleweight contender Ian Garry passed his latest test with flying colors by knocking out Daniel Rodriguez with a beautiful high right uppercut and a barrage of subsequent punches. Facing his first opponent ranked in the UFC’s official Top 15, the 25-year-old Irishman engaged in the kind of shootout that has defined his career in the octagon so far, taking Rodriguez’s heavy jabs, low kicks and returning fire with body kicks and legs. When The Future decided to come upstairs, he made it count, nailing Rodriguez with a perfectly unlocked jab that made him stumble backwards in a daze. Gary chased “D-Rod” up to the canvas and poured it with two huge groundstrokes. Rodriguez walked away, giving nothing in return, and referee Dan Miragliotta had to intervene at 2 minutes 57 seconds. The win brought Gary’s record to 12-0, a perfect 5-0 since joining the UFC as the former Cage Warriors Fighting Champion. Rodriguez is down to 17-4 overall, 7-3 in the UFC.
Ulberg Potieria lamps
Carlos Olberg (8-1, 4-1 UFC) continued his relentless run through the light heavyweight division, taking down Ihor Potieria (19-4, 1-2 UFC) with a left hook and finishing him with punches and hammers to the floor in the first round. Ulberg calmly absorbed his opponent’s aggressive approach, avoiding most of Potieria’s blows, measuring and timing just in time to fight back. That moment came two minutes later, when the Ukrainian rushed forward with a big shot from the right. Ullberg responded with short left jabs that dropped Potteria to the face, then pounced and followed it up with a flurry of undisputed slams to the floor. Black Jag seemed to decide on its own that Buteria had had enough and stood up to celebrate, but referee Keith Peterson clearly agreed, moving in to rule the stoppage at 2:09 of the first round. Winning is Olberg’s fourth. Right since taking down his UFC debut and third first-round knockout, City Kickboxing has been exported as a competitor on the rise.
Morono taps means
Main card openers saw Alex Morono (23-8, 1 NC) and Tim Means (32-15-1, 1 NC) cement their reputations as welterweight action dealers, engaging in a first-round back-and-forth before Morono closed things down with a second-round choke from the guillotine . Both men had moments in the first five minutes, kicking at each other and exchanging heavy punches at close quarters. It looked like the second round was going to offer more of the same, until Means changed levels to attempt a double-legged takedown. Covering it all over, the Great White flailed up Means’ neck and dropped to guard, briefly trapping one of Means’ arms as it did so. Morono clenched his fist and flicked, and by the time Means took out his right arm, he was tapping with his left. Referee Wayne Spinola intervened at 2:09 of the second round, giving Morono the win. The win raised the Houston native’s Octagon mark to 12-5 and put him back on the win pole after losing by TKO in December to Santiago Ponzenepo. Means fell to a 14-12 no-contest in the UFC with the loss, their third in a row.
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