Arnold Allen Dominates Jordan Rinaldi in UFC Fight Night 147 Featured Prelims Bout
Exclamation mark to end round ! #UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/AbU3KWnV7i
— UFC (@ufc) March 16, 2019
Young featherweight contender Arnold Allen was masterful against American Jordan Rinaldi as he won a lopsided three-round unanimous decision in the headlining UFC Fight Night 147 preliminary bout.
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Emotional Diakiese Gets Much-Needed Win
After losing three straight bouts, lightweight contender Marc Diakiese was desperate for a win and he got it. “Bonecrusher” used his stellar striking to keep Ireland’s Joe Duffy at bay.
Diakiese (13-3) destroyed Duffy’s legs with kicks and peppered him
with punches and elbows upstairs. The Congo native tossed in a few
takedowns for good measure, nullifying nearly everything Duffy
(16-4) tried and wound up taking the fight via unanimous decision
when all three judges favored Diakiese 30-27.
Safarov Busts Up Negumereanu with Elbows
Light heavyweight contender Saparbek Safarov was nearly disqualified in the opening round when he was continuously warned for grabbing the fence and dropping an elbow onto Nicolae Negumereanu (9-1) when referee Leon Roberts told him to break.
The Russian was deducted a point, but from that moment onward, Safarov was dominant. Safarov (9-2) scored multiple takedowns of the Romanian and unloaded a steady ground-and-pound attack until the final horn. In the end, Safarov was awarded the unanimous nod via tallies of 29-26 (twice) and 29-27.
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Ige Makes Quick Work of Henry
Dan Ige (11-2) made his long flight to England a worthwhile one as the Hawaiian dispatched Scotland’s Danny Henry nearly as soon as their featherweight encounter began. “Dynamite” landed a left to the head, quickly shot in for a takedown and peppered Henry (12-3) with follow-up left hands.
While “The Hatchet” tried climbing back to his feet, Ige pounced on his back and immediately sunk in the rear-naked choke. Henry didn’t have time to react to it and bowed out, ending the fight in just 77 seconds.
McCann Displays Gutsy Performance in Victory
Molly McCann lived up to her nickname because she had a hematoma the size of a large meatball on her left eye, but she still got the win. “Meatball” tagged up Brazil’s Priscila Cachoeira with punches repeatedly and nearly subbed her flyweight foe with an armbar, but Cachoeira was tougher than expected.
With the fight seemingly in the bag, “Zombie Girl” tagged the Englishwoman with a right to the face, which immediately closed McCann’s left eye. From there, McCann (8-2) couldn’t see on one side, but never stopped fighting. But while Cachoeira (8-2) rallied down the stretch, it wasn’t enough to prevail as all three judges scored the bout for McCann 29-28, allowing her to be the first ever English woman to win inside the Octagon.
Grundy Impressive in Octagon Debut
Mike Grundy was successful in his UFC debut and he did it in terrific fashion.
After slowly picking apart Nad Narimani on his feet in the first frame, Grundy was cracked by a bristling right cross to the face. Grundy (12-1) backpedaled to recover from the punch and was in serious peril with “Smiler” chasing him down. But when Narimani (12-3) overextended himself with a volley of punches, Grundy dropped his fellow Englishman with a wicked left hook. Narimani staggered back to his feet and stumbled into the cage, where Grundy unloaded punches until referee Dan Movahedi intervened, ending the exciting featherweight brawl at 4:42 of the second.
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