In bantamweight action at UFC Qatar on Saturday, Aleksandre Topuria, brother of lightweight champion Ilia, took on Bekzat Almakhan of Kazakhstan.
Topuria, with just seven professional fights to his name, entered with exactly half of Almakhan’s experience.
It was Topuria who pressed forward early, and for the first few minutes he showed a well-timed jab to match that aggression. However, Almakhan took Topuria to his feet with a well-placed leg kick and moments later came very close to him with a knee. Undeterred, Topuria marched forward, while Almakhan circled to the side, back to the fence. In a clinch with just under two minutes on the clock, Topuria landed a throw and came out on top, in guard, with plenty of time to work.
Flowing like water, Topuria moved up the mountain almost immediately. Almakhan was not lying on the ground and was able to climb, and while Topuria took his back for a moment, the Kazakh quickly escaped.
Round two saw more stand-up action, with Almakhan again focusing on the legs. Again in this round he stumbled Topuria, who did not go down, but came close to a sharp kick after about three minutes. To Topuria’s credit, he continued to march forward throughout, and with 90 seconds left, changed levels and shot in for a takedown, only to be denied. After completing that attempt, Almakhan circled away. More importantly, as the round progressed, and now that Topuria had found his range, Bekzat was bloodied. Particularly noticeable in the final minute was Topuria’s forward pressure finally paying off.
Topuria continued to walk over Almakhan in round three, whose nose had a Rudolph hue after being cracked again and again. Bekzat continued to circle on the outside, but the counters he fired were mostly ineffective, or simply hit the air as Topuria slipped away. Almakhan would turn things around late in the round, changing the levels for his own takedown attempt, allowing Topuria to break free. Topuria then took the lead in the final 30 seconds, and as time ticked down the clock it was clear that Almakhan needed something big to have any hope of winning. He ended up tagging Topuria a few times in the final seconds of the fight, but it was a classic case of too little, too late.
Official result: Aleksandre Topuria defeated. Bekzat Almakhan by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
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