UFC 286 Prelims: Jack Shore Upshifts to Featherweight, Throttles Makwan Amirkhani

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.

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.

Related » UFC 286 Round-by-Round Scoring

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.