UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs Emmett Results

In the UFC Austin main event at Moody Center, Josh Emmett improved his winning streak to five with a close split decision victory over fellow featherweight contender Calvin Kattar.

Scores were 48-47, 48-47, 47-48 for the No.7-ranked Emmett, now 18-2. The No.4-ranked Kattar falls to 23-6.

With the striking prowess of both men, neither fighter was reckless in the opening round, where each got in their shots and there were brief bursts of action, but nothing to give either Kattar or Emmett a wide lead.

Emmett opened the second stanza with a couple solid right hands, but Kattar took them well as he kept marching forward behind his jab, adding in combinations that nailed the bloodied Emmett as the round progressed. Emmett surged in the final minute, but Kattar answered with a knee before a late Emmett flurry.

The rights kept coming from Emmett in the third round, the Californian showing more urgency with his activity and power shots, prompting the now bruised and bloodied Kattar to start looking for elbows at close range to go with his long-range attacks.

Kattar got his elbows in during the second half of round four, and it was a good comeback frame for the New Englander, as Emmett again tried to steal the round with a series of hooks in the closing seconds.

The two featherweights looked fresh going into the fifth frame, but the wear of the bout showed on their faces. Despite this, neither was going to shy away from trying to win the round and the fight, and it was close, with Kattar holding an early lead until Emmett made his move late. 

Popular Texan Kevin Holland impressed in his second welterweight bout in the Octagon, as he submitted veteran Tim Means  in round two.

After some back and forth momentum shifts in the early going, Means (33-13-1, 1 NC) scored a takedown two minutes in. Holland (23-7, 1 NC) got up quickly and landed some hard shots to even the score, prompting a Means clinch. After separating, Holland landed a sharp combination, but Means answered back, the two going at it both physically and verbally. Late in the round, a right hand by Holland jarred Means, but it was “The Dirty Bird” ending the frame with a quick takedown.

Another Holland right hand wobbled Means in the second minute of round two, and as the fight went to the mat, he locked in the D’Arce choke that forced a tap out at 1:28 of the frame.

Middleweight prospect Joaquin Buckley was in top form as he halted Albert Duraev in the third round.

Nearly a minute into the fight, Buckley drew first blood with a thudding kick to the head that briefly wobbled Duraev, but he recovered quickly. At the midway point of the round, Duraev returned the favor, cutting his foe, but Buckley walked through the kick and kept throwing. Just before the four-minute mark, Buckley landed a stiff left hand that marked up Duraev’s eye, and the two 185-pounders had each gotten their licks in, with Buckley holding the edge.

After getting tagged a few more times in round two, Duraev went all-in for the takedown, but Buckley defended effectively as he kept the heat on his opponent, whose eye was rapidly swelling shut. With under two minutes left, Duraev finally grounded Buckley, who nonetheless got back to his feet with under a minute to go and scored a knockdown in the closing seconds.

Buckley was surging, but he wouldn’t need a full third round to finish his opponent, as Duraev was stopped due to his eye injury. The official time was :10 of round three.

Buckley moves to 15-4 with the win. Duraev falls to 15-4.

High-level action was expected from lightweight standouts Damir Ismagulov and Guram Kutateladze, and the pair delivered, going back and forth for three rounds before Ismagulov extended his winning streak to 19 via split decision.

Scores were 30-27, 29-28, 28-29 for Ismagulov, now 24-1. Kutateladze falls to 12-3.

Ismagulov’s in and out movement got him off to a good start as he got his strikes off effectively. But late in the round, Kutateladze was able to momentarily catch his foe against the fence, and some hard strikes followed, briefly rocking Ismagulov, who got through the brief spell of adversity and got back down to business for the rest of the frame.

Kutateladze was bloodied thanks to the jabs of Ismagulov, but the “Georgian Viking” was still scoring with his kicks and doing well in exchanges at close quarters, making it another close round.

Ismagulov tried to put some extra points in his favor with a takedown early in round three, but Kutateladze defended it, keeping the fight on the feet. Another takedown attempt by Ismagulov came up empty, but the third was the charm, but only briefly, and what followed was a halt to the action as referee Herb Dean warned Kutateladze for an illegal strike to the head of a downed opponent, but replays showed Kutateladze’s knee landing on Ismagulov’s chest. With less than 20 seconds to go in the fight, it didn’t affect the outcome, which ended up in the hands of the judges.

It was a wild one in the middleweight division, but when the dust settled, it was Gregory Rodrigues stopping Julian Marquez in the opening round.

Rodrigues got off to a good start with his strikes, dropping Marquez to the mat with a left in the second minute. Marquez took the ensuing strikes well and got back to his feet, but he continued to take more bombs, and at the midway mark he was dropped again. Once more, Marquez got to his feet and even scored a flash knockdown, but Rodrigues kept throwing, and after another knockdown, referee Mike Beltran stopped the fight at 3:18 of the first round.

Rodrigues moves to 12-4 with the win. Marquez falls to 9-3.

Bantamweight prospect Adrian Yanez  made the most of his promotion to the main card, as he halted Tony Kelley in a single round.

Houston’s Yanez was hitting his mark early and often against his foe, and it just got worse for Kelley, who got gradually picked apart until a knockdown followed by flush follow-up shots brought in referee Kerry Hatley to stop the fight at 3:49 of the opening frame.

With the win, Yanez moves to 16-3. Kelley, who missed weight for the bout at 137.5 pounds, falls to 8-3.

Returning to active duty for the first time since 2019, UFC newcomer Natalia Silva impressed in her debut as she shut out Jasmine Jasudavicious over three rounds.

Scores were 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27 for Silva, now 13-5-1. Jasudavicius falls to 7-2.

Silva rocked Jasudavicius in the opening minute, but that allowed the Canadian to lock up with her foe against the fence. Silva stayed cool under pressure and got loose, allowing her to continue working her striking attack from long range, which she did so effectively, wrapping up a solid round.

After continuing to pepper Jasudavicius with strikes early in round two, Silva then turned a clinch to her advantage by throwing her foe to the mat. Jasudavicius got back to her feet and resumed clinching, but Silva got separation and kept the punches and kicks coming. With two minutes to go, the fight went back to the mat, with Silva landing several hard strikes to the face of Jasudavicius before the two stood, with the Brazilian continuing to control the action, and after another five minutes of effective striking and Octagon control, Silva had her victory.

Welterweight up and comer Jeremiah Wells kept the big finishes coming, as he moved to 3-0 in the Octagon with a stirring first-round knockout of veteran Court McGee.

Aggressively looking to get things over, Wells was swinging hard from the start, and in the second minute, a left hook struck paydirt, sending McGee to the mat. Two follow-up shots later and the fight was over, with referee Herb Dean stopping it at the 1:34 mark.

Wells moves to 11-2-1 with the win. McGee falls to 22-11.

Over four years after he ended his 2017 bout against Aiemann Zahabi via spinning back elbow, Ricardo Ramos repeated the feat against Danny Chavez, finishing their featherweight bout in the first round.

After a minute-long feeling out process, Ramos unleashed the spinning right back elbow that landed flush and had Chavez out on his feet. As he fell, referee Mike Beltran stepped in, stopping the fight at 1:12 of the opening stanza.

Ramos moves to 16-4 with the win. Chavez falls to 11-5-1.

In a meeting of Brazilian strawweights, Maria Oliveira eked out a three-round split decision win over Gloria de Paula.

Scores were 29-28, 29-28, 28-29 for Oliveira, now 13-5. De Paula falls to 6-5.

Oliveira was on the attack from the start,catching de Paula off-guard with repeated combinations. De Paula took the shots well and knocked Oliveira’s mouthpiece out with her own combination in the second minute. After the mouthpiece was replaced, the pace settled down, and that favored de Paula, who surged in the second half of the round.

Measured in her attack but aggressive throughout, de Paula continued to find her rhythm in the second round and even scored a takedown in the closing minute of the frame. In the third, though, Oliveira did enough on two of the three judges’ scorecards to nab a close and hard-fought victory.

Cody Stamann blitzed Eddie Wineland early and often in their bantamweight bout, with the result being a first-round TKO victory.

Intent on using his standup game against the Indiana veteran, Stamann scored two knockdowns moments into the fight courtesy of a right hand, then a left. Wineland bounced up both times, but the follow-up barrage of strikes left referee Jacob Montalvo no choice but to stop the fight. The official time was :59.

Stamann ups his record to 20-5-1. Wineland, who removed his gloves in the Octagon after the fight, likely signaling his retirement, leaves the sport with a 24-16-1.

Middleweight prospect Phil Hawes delivered the most devastating and complete performance of his UFC career, as he halted the gutsy, but outgunned, Deron Winn in the second round.

Hawes’ jab was sharp in the early going and he added in a knockdown in the opening minute.In the second minute, a right hand dropped Winn again, and Hawes was connecting at an alarming rate as his opponent couldn’t get out of the way of anything coming his way. Now bloodied, Winn (7-3) was game and fighting back, but Hawes’ right hands and elbows were putting him on rubbery legs almost every time they landed.

Opening up the second round with head kicks, Hawes (12-3) remained on target after what was clearly a 10-8 first frame, and in the second minute he scored a takedown, showing off a complete MMA game. More strikes followed before the two rose, and Winn’s face was a mess, with the blood clearly bothering him. Hawes kept coming with his varied attacks, and finally, referee Herb Dean stopped the fight. The official time of the stoppage was 4:25.

After a less than thrilling performance in his last bout, middleweight Roman Dolidze brought the thunder against Kyle Daukaus, ending the UFC Austin opener via knockout in 73 seconds.

A short left by Dolidze dropped Daukaus in the opening 30 seconds of the fight, and while the Philadelphian recovered and got to his feet, a left knee to the head while the two were locked up against the fence dropped Daukas again. This time, the follow-up strikes ended the fight, with referee Mike Beltran intervening at the 1:13 mark.

Dolidze moves to 10-1 with the win. Daukaus falls to 11-3, 1NC.