Rabindra Dhant edged Kasib Murdoch on the scorecards in Shanghai, and a country dealing with terrible flooding got a reason to cheer. The Nepali bantamweight’s split decision was one of seven fights on Friday, August 28, at the Oriental Sports Center that set the four finals of Road to UFC Season 5. The finales will be held early next year.
Two UFC bouts followed the semifinals, and a returning Chinese lightweight closed the night.
Bantamweights
Dhant against Murdoch went the full 15 minutes. Murdoch, a New Zealander, tried to turn it into a grappling match and pulled the Nepali into entanglements. Dhant kept getting out and landing the cleaner strikes. He looked in control in the third, battering Murdoch until the Absolute MMA fighter drove through a takedown and landed ground-and-pound from back mount. Dhant took the verdict 29-28 on two cards and lost one 28-29. His run to the final has been something of a Cinderella story, and the win was historic for Nepal.
Ryo Tajima of Japan, waiting in the final, beat India’s Chungreng Koren by unanimous decision. It took Tajima most of the first round to find his range. After that his volume and precision decided it.
Flyweights and featherweights
At flyweight, 21-year-old Takaya Suzuki of Japan stopped Australia’s Joseph Larcinese by TKO at 0:15 of the third round. Larcinese seemed to roll his ankle late in the second, and seconds into the third he could barely stand. A heavy body kick and a flurry of follow-up blows ended it. Suzuki’s opponent in the final is China’s Jiniushiyue, who got there by walkover when Takeru Uchida failed to make weight.
The featherweight side produced two submissions. Dagiisuren Chagnaadorj of Mongolia took YoungJae Song down at once, worked to the back and sank in a rear-naked choke at 2:51 of the first round. He has won four in a row and joins last year’s flyweight winner Namsrai Batbayar as only the second Mongolian to reach an RTU final.
Australia’s George Mangos then met Ahejiang Ailinuer. Mangos threatened with two triangles in the first, but Ailinuer survived and found some ground-and-pound of his own. Early in the second the fight hit the mat, Mangos took the back, adjusted when the tap almost came, and finished a rear-naked choke at 2:03. The 23-year-old is now 10-1 as a professional and will face Chagnaadorj for the title.
Strawweights
Meng Bo of China, a veteran of 31 fights, beat Japan’s Machi Fukuda by split decision. She was patient, controlled the grappling and defended each time Fukuda looked for another throw. Awaiting her is South Korea’s BoHyun Park, who beat Farida Abdueva of Kyrgyzstan by unanimous decision, 29-28 on all three cards. Abdueva won the opening round standing, but Park took her down late and then split her forehead open with strikes in the second. Whoever wins the final becomes the second female champion in the tournament’s history, after Shi Ming.
The UFC bouts
Yilizhati Maimaitijiang fought Tre’ston Vines to a split draw (29-28, 28-29, 28-28) in his promotional debut at middleweight. Vines worked from top position through much of the second round while Maimaitijiang appeared to wilt. In the last two minutes of the third, the Chinese fighter found a second wind and punished him, earning a 10-8 round on one card.
The main event belonged to Maheshate. The 26-year-old stepped in on short notice for Taiyilake Nueraji a week earlier and submitted Darrius Flowers with an arm-in guillotine at 2:31 of the first round. Flowers had pulled him into the clinch and left his neck exposed. It was Maheshate’s third UFC win.
Sources
- Road To UFC Season 5 Semifinals Results
- Road To UFC: Season 5 Semifinals – Full Results And Highlights
