Azamat Murzakhanov looked a bit tired but still managed to score a knockout in the second round.
#UFC Abu Dhabi pic.twitter.com/9J0v2ZRn9o
— Underrated MMA Tribal Chief (@MMAUnderrated)
August 3, 2024
Azamat Murzakanov made his biggest move to date in the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight division, knocking out Alonzo Menifield with punches in the second round of preliminaries at UFC on ABC 7 on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Menifield (15-5-1, 8-5-1 UFC) was knocked out 3 minutes, 18 seconds into the second round.
In his first appearance in over a year, Murzakanov (14-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) took down the Fortis MMA star with a variety of weapons, including uppercuts and knees, which left Menifield with a cut near his left eye. Murzakanov stepped up in the second round, parrying a counterattack and sending his opponent skating with a left uppercut. From there, he unleashed a flurry of heavy punches, sending Menifield to his back and finishing with two devastating standing-to-ground pound strikes.
The 35-year-old Murzakhanov has won 10 of his 14 professional wins by knockout or technical knockout.
Meanwhile, Nova Union prospect Kaue Fernandez knocked out former UAE Warriors champion Mohamed Yahya with punches in the first round of their lightweight bout. Yahya (12-5 MMA, 0-2 UFC) was eliminated 4 minutes, 45 seconds into the first round, suffering his second defeat inside the Octagon.
Fernandez (9-2, 1-1 UFC) tormented the Emirati fighter with a series of kicks to the underside of Yahya’s lead leg, leaving the Emirati fighter ugly, swollen and limited in movement, sending him into despair mode. Fernandez took Yahya down with two punches, then followed with punches and a hammerfist to stop the bout.
This was Fernandez’s sixth career appearance in the first round.
Further down the undercard, KHK MMA team president Shamil Gadzhiev bounced back from a loss to Jairzinho Rozenstruik on March 2 to earn a workmanlike unanimous decision win over Don “Tail” Mays in a three-round heavyweight showdown. Gadzhiev (13-1, 2-1 UFC) was dominated by scores of 30-27 from all three judges.
Mayes (11-7 MMA, 3-5 UFC) was helpless beyond a few hard right punches to the head and body. Gadzhiev used relentless clinching, scored multiple takedowns, played a suffocating top game and attacked with ground-and-pound to avoid the restart. Mayes offered little resistance and looked like a fish out of water with his back to the canvas.
Mays, 32, has lost three of his last five games.
Finally, All Stars Training Center transfer Guram Kutateladze overcame an inauspicious start to earn a unanimous decision win over former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder Jordan Vucenik in a three-round lightweight showdown, with all three cageside judges scoring the bout 29-28 for Kutateladze (13-4, 2-2 UFC).
Vucenik (13-3, 0-1 UFC), filling in for Abdul-Karim Al-Serwadi on short notice, fought well in his Octagon debut. He dropped Kutateladze with a sharp right punch in the first round, then followed it up with a flurry of elbows and punches to look for the finish. But Vucenik’s inability to finish hurt him. Kutateladze took visible damage under both eyes, but he slowly turned the tide in his favor over the final 10 minutes, opening a cut with a standing elbow in the middle and doing his best work in the most crucial moments of the third round, where he scrambled onto Vucenik’s back, secured position in a body triangle, and used ground-and-pound to earn points and waste valuable time.
The loss ended Vucenic’s four-game winning streak.
In other bouts, Sam Hughes (9-6, 4-5 UFC) won a tough three-round women’s strawweight bout over Victoria Dudakova (8-1, 2-1 UFC) by split decision 27-30, 29-28, 29-28, and Jai Herbert (13-5-1, 3-4-1 UFC) won a three-round lightweight bout by unanimous decision with scores of 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 on the scorecards. Cedriquez Dumas (10-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) defeated Denis Tiuriullin (10-10 MMA, 1-5 UFC) by unanimous decision in a three-round middleweight bout, receiving scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 from the cageside judges.
