Thiago Moises and Ludovit Klein at the UFC Louisville weigh-in. Photo Credit: Youtube/UFC
To close out the UFC Louisville preliminaries, Brazilian lightweight fighter Thiago Moises looked to continue his winning streak against up-and-coming contender Ludovit Klein.
The Slovakian native had a 4-0-1 record in his last five UFC fights and was coming off a win over AJ Cunningham.
The bout began with both fighters taking a cautious approach, feeling each other out. Klein landed a few kicks, and Moises, showing a slight speed disadvantage, responded with a few kicks as well. About halfway through the round, Moises went for a takedown. Klein was able to sprawl, clinch, and separate, and the two fought at a distance again. With under 90 seconds left in the round, Moises landed a few leg kicks. Klein landed a left fist on Moises’ jaw, taking him down moments later. Thiago was able to get up in the clinch, but looked badly hurt at the end of the round.
The second round started with both fighters again cautiously in close quarters. Klein kicked out of range and landed a kick that hit his opponent’s cup. They stalled for a second, but when they resumed, Klein landed a powerful punch combination. Moises went for a takedown again, and Klein again successfully sprawled. Moises landed a nice punch and kick combination, but Klein countered with several powerful kicks. About halfway through the round, Moises landed a leg kick, and Klein countered with a multi-punch combination with a head kick. As the round progressed, Klein continued to land powerful kicks and put together combinations. Moises again tried a well-timed takedown attempt, but it was again foiled by Klein’s sprawling. With about 30 seconds left, Klein landed a single-leg takedown in the center of the Octagon. Moises was able to briefly threaten Klein with a kneebar. Klein escaped and then landed some hard punches on the ground to end the round.
At the start of the final round, Klein again landed a heavy leg kick, forcing him to block a head kick from his opponent. Thirty seconds later, Klein landed another teep on Kapp, forcing a brief stoppage in the bout. About a minute after the bout resumed, Moises again attempted a double leg takedown, but again missed. Moises landed some heavy knees and elbows, forcing the two fighters into a clinch. Moises again missed a takedown attempt as the fighters separated.
With about two minutes left in the round, Moises briefly took Klein to the ground with a wrestling sequence that ended with a throw. Thiago was unable to keep Klein on the ground and after a short time he had him against the cage, but after a few seconds they were airborne again. With about a minute left in the round, Klein landed a hard knee to the body of Moises, taking him down. Klein swarmed Moises on the ground, but was unable to land many punches to break his guard. With just a few seconds left in the bout, Klein was gaining the upper hand and landing a lot of ground-and-pound on his opponent.
Official result: Ludovit Klein defeats Thiago Moises by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
