UFC 209 : Fight Pass Results Recap

ARMANDO ROMO JUNIOR | March 4, 2017 | 0 Comentarios/ Comments

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Albert Morales celebrates win over Andre Soukhamthath
Photo by UFC

UFC 209 : Fight Pass Results Recap

Tyson Pedro (6-0) vs. Paul Craig (9-0)

(Light Heavyweight Bout – 3 Rounds)

A pair of unbeaten light heavyweights took to the cage for the second bout of the evening when Pedro and Craig collided. The United Kingdom representative started off with some nice high kicks and a straight punch before closing the range and shooting for a takedown on Pedro. The man whose father named him after boxer, Mike Tyson stuffed the shot and used his under hooks to defend temporarily before Craig dragged him to the mat. Pedro managed to pop right back up and reverse the position pushing his man along the cage wall as he pummeled for position. Craig then reversed using a modified head lock while pushing off of him and the two returned to action in the middle of the Octagon. A short right hand counter by Pedro over Craig’s leg kick sent him stunned backwards unto the canvas. Pedro walked away taunting him‎ while Craig lay on the mat in his guard, slapping away at him with some leg kicks before backing away from Craig.

Paul tried to work his way back up and power his man down using a single leg but Pedro’s balance kept him upright as he got top control on his man. From there he scrambled and used a partial crucifix to trap the European’s right arm, then held his left arm down before raking him across the face with some massive left elbows from top control. About 5 or 6 of them went unanswered before the referee stepped in to call a stop to the match.

Tyson Pedro:

“I’ve said it before every fight, I come to finish the fights and I finish them in the first round. I respected my opponent completely, I think he underestimated me a little bit going into the fight, so that’s not bad on his part – a lot of people think I’m immature in the sport. I’ve been doing this for a long time and my record doesn’t speak for what my experience is. All I need to do is keep coming in as the underdog, because I like that.”

“I don’t know if I’m in the top-15. My opponent asked for a top-15 opponent for this fight, he thought that I shouldn’t be in the Octagon with him. There were a couple things said before the fight, that I knew he should’ve walked through me if he’s going to be asking for top-15 opponents. Wherever I go from here, I’ll go back with my team, take a look at it and we’ll go from there.”

RESULTS: Tyson Pedro remains undefeated handing Paul Craig his first defeat by way of TKO at (4:10) of Round 1 via elbow strikes.

Albert Morales (7-1-1) vs. Andre Soukhamthath (11-4)

(Bantamweight Bout – 3 Rounds)

Kicking off the festivities from inside the beautiful T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for the UFC 209 event were 135ers, Morales and Soukhamthath. From the opening minute the two talented strikers traded crisp, and clean shots in the middle of the cage at close range. With the arena about 1/4 full, the lack of a loud audience enabled the fans to really hear the thudding kicks and slapping punches landed by both men echo throughout the arena. However, for those first 5 minute Morales landed the more telling and impressive strikes drawing the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from the audience while Andre gladly returned fire with some wicked-fast low leg kicks and overhand rights that while effective, didn’t have that impressive snap in comparison.

Heading into Round 2, Morales walked his man down along the cage wall after landing some strikes and working his angles. With a little over 3 minutes left he timed an Andre kick which he caught to push him along the cage wall and drop levels for a successful takedown. ‎Nonetheless, Andre managed to rise back to his feet immediately using a body lock and then attack with a kimura to force the fight back standing. Andre kept the hold to turn and throw his man to the mat where he scrambled to the back and landed some punches while looking to take Morales’ back, then scrambled to his foe’s half guard. Morales rolled then wound up in full guard unfortunately eating some of Andre’s ground and pound before getting to his feet and absorbing a crisp standing knee from Soukhamthath for his troubles.

Going into Round 3, Soukhamthath began landing a mean and clean left hook to ther body of his man. The shots came in a 5-pack set then he ripped at his foe’s body again with a standing knee to the body in the same spot. Morales returned fire with a counter right that landed then eventually he shot in for a takedown with about 3 minutes left. Once he hit the move he then took his man’s back along the cage wall to shut down Soukhamthath’s great offensive arsenal. Morales locked in a tight body triangle and started working on a rear naked choke attempt as he punched away with right punches to the head of Andre for the next two minutes. Soukhamthath defended the choke very well but could not get away from the body triangle nor the cage wall as the final minute of the match ticked away. Morales kept his man’s back for the remaining few seconds, tucking his own head behind his foe’s however, a tenacious Soukhamthath punched away at him with some modified uppercuts that found their mark to the cheering crowds delight as the battle came to an end.

Albert Morales: “It’s amazing, it’s a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to fight in Las Vegas, this is the best performing grounds that you can be in. I got to get my first UFC win in the T-Mobile Arena and just getting this win feels so good. Dana pumped us up right before the fight. He said the first fight takes it off, so I felt I had to perform. I’m here for the fans and my main this is I want to perform and get the crowd very excited. I feel like that’s my job and I need to pick it up every fight. I want to fight in Anaheim. I want to be at home and I want Thomas Almeida.”

RESULTS: Albert Morales defeats Andre Soukhamthath via split decision. 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28.