Abega Gautier’s blast radius.
The burgeoning Manchester Top Team star revved his engines inside
the
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division and
punched out Osman Diaz
in the second round of their featured
UFC 328 prelim on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark,
New Jersey.
Diaz (10-4, 1-2 UFC) bowed out 70 seconds into Round
2.
Gautier (11-1, 5-0 UFC)—now on an impressive 10-fight tear—peppered
the onetime Legacy Fighting Alliance titleholder with leg kicks,
right uppercuts and one-twos to the head and body. He countered a
jab from Diaz with devastating consequences early in the second
round. Gautier floored the Cobra Team rep with an overhand right
and moved in for the kill just as referee Gary Copeland stepped in
to call for the stoppage.
Meanwhile, former Bellator MMA champion Yaroslav
Amosov dispatched Joel
Alvarez with an arm-triangle choke in the second round of their
welterweight confrontation.
Tapped for the first time in his 27-fight career, Alvarez (23-4,
8-3 UFC) met his end 1:13 into Round 2.
Amosov (30-1, 2-0 UFC) held his own on the feet but made his gains
with rinse-and-repeat tie-ups and takedowns. He eventually broke
Alvarez’s spirit. Amosov slammed the Spaniard to the mat early in
the second round, transitioned immediately to the arm-triangle and
compressed the neck to the point of no return.
The setback snapped Alvarez’s four-fight winning streak.
Deeper into the undercard, American Top Team’s Grant
Dawson disposed of ex-Fight Exclusive Night champion Mateusz
Rebecki with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their
back-and-forth lightweight encounter.
Rebecki (20-5, 4-4 UFC) waved the white flag 4:42 into Round
3.
Dawson (24-3-1, 12-2-1 UFC) rattled his counterpart with a
beautifully timed head kick in the first round, opening a
significant cut near the Pole’s left eye. Rebecki withstood the
adversity and made it to the middle stanza, where he floored the
Cambria, Wisconsin, native with a clean right hook during an
exchange. He followed with punches, but then let Dawson off the
hook by engaging him in the clinch. That set the stage for the
decisive third round. Dawson scrambled to the back, bit down on a
body triangle, scored with occasional ground-and-pound, flirted
with neck cranks and ultimately snuck his arms into position for
the fight-ending choke.
Rebecki, 33, has lost three fights in a row.
Elsewhere, former Ring of Combat and Cage Fury Fighting
Championships titleholder Jim Miller
put away Jared
Gordon with a guillotine choke in the first round of their
lightweight confrontation.
Gordon (21-9, 9-8 UFC) clocked out 3:29 into Round 1, suffering his
first submission defeat in more than four years.
They traded barbs at the start in a brief feeling-out process.
Gordon then broke a cardinal rule: He left his neck exposed while
attempting to secure a takedown against the grizzled New
Jersey-born veteran. Miller (39-19, 28-18) snatched the guillotine,
wrapped his opponent in full guard and prompted the tapout after a
prolonged struggle on the canvas.
It was Miller’s sixth career win via guillotine choke.
Finally, Kill Cliff Fight Club prospect Baisangur
Susurkaev kept his perfect professional record intact, as he
put Djorden
Santos to sleep with a rear-naked choke in the third round of
their middleweight clash.
Santos (11-3, 1-2 UFC) lost consciousness 4:12 into Round 3, losing
for just the second time in eight appearances.
Susurkaev (12-0, 3-0 UFC) inched in front over the course of a
competitive first 10 minutes, then turned up the heat. He executed
a takedown late in the third round, maneuvered behind Santos and
allowed the Brazilian to crawl toward the base of the cage. From
there, Susurkaev weaved his arms in place for the choke, threaded
both hooks to cut off escape routes and let his squeeze do the
rest.
The 25-year-old Susurkaev has finished 11 of his 12 opponents.
In other action, Roman
Kopylov (15-5, 7-5 UFC) laid claim to a unanimous
decision—29-28, 29-28, 29-28—over Marco Tulio
(14-3, 2-2 UFC) in their three-round middleweight battle; Pat
Sabatini (22-5, 9-2 UFC) outgrappled William
Gomis (15-4, 5-2 UFC) to a unanimous decision in their
three-round featherweight affair, as he earned 30-27, 30-27 and
29-28 marks from the cageside judges; and Jose Ochoa
(9-2, 2-2 UFC) outstruck Clayton
Carpenter (8-3, 2-3 UFC) to a unanimous decision—30-27, 30-27,
30-27—in their three-round flyweight tilt.