Mohamed Naimov and Felipe Lima at the official UFC Saudi Arabia weigh-in. Photo credit: Youtube/UFC
After Mersik Baghdasaryan tore his labrum, Brazil’s Felipe Lima was pressed into action at short notice to face Mohamed Naimov in a featherweight bout at UFC Saudi Arabia.
The opportunity gave Lima a shot at the UFC, but as a highly-touted bantamweight prospect he found himself moving up a weight class on extremely short notice.
Lima landed kicks early in his UFC debut, then lunged across the cage and landed a flying knee that nearly ended the bout early. The fight then settled down, with Lima landing low kicks, while the larger Náimov clinched and landed a knee of his own. Lima was clearly holding his own on the stand, but late in the round Náimov managed to get the newcomer on his back and on top of Lima, but Náimov was cut and blood was dripping onto his opponent.
The second round continued with the fight on the stand. Naimov mixed in leg kicks, then fanned with a spinning kick. Lima combined strikes to the body and head, but Naimov was the busier fighter. He clinched and landed a few knees. Lima countered a short delay with a kick to the torso. Naimov was unable to gain top control in this round, and the two continued to fight mainly on the stand.
Between rounds, Lima’s corner berated him, telling him to keep boxing and not get tired. “You’d better do this,” his coach pleaded, telling him to do it for his mother, whom Lima hadn’t seen in years.
Naimov started the third round with kicks, Lima landed a knee, then a high kick that was blocked. Lima hit the body, went upstairs and landed a spinning back kick. When Naimov clinched and went for a throw, Lima reversed, took his back and nailed a tight rear-naked choke! It didn’t take long for Naimov to tap, and Felipe Lima had a big win in his promotional debut. And with a trip back to Brazil planned, he’ll be celebrating with his mother.
Official result: Felipe Lima defeats Muhammad Naimov by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 3, 1:15