Nasrat Haqparast and Jared Gordon at the official weigh-in for UFC Saudi Arabia. Photo credit: Youtube/UFC
Lightweights Nasrat Haqparast and Jared Gordon concluded the UFC Saudi Arabia preliminaries card on Saturday at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The promotion’s Middle Eastern debut was scheduled to air as part of the main card on broadcast network ABC, but Haqparast and Gordon opted to have their bouts broadcast on ESPN. Both fighters came into the bout on wins, but Haqparast was riding a three-fight winning streak.
The first round began with both fighters measuring each other out, with Gordon quickly closing the distance and clinching. Gordon went for a single leg, but Nasrat recovered. Jared transitioned and landed a few punches. Gordon got the single leg again, and when he tried to throw a punch while his opponent was off balance, Haqparast landed a punch. Two minutes into the round, Gordon took Haqparast down, landing a left punch and then another takedown attempt. Nasrat successfully defended the takedown, got back to his feet, moving around on the outside and landing jabs.
With 90 seconds left in the round, Gordon attempted another takedown but missed, but continued to apply pressure on his opponent. Haqparast landed another punch on the feet before having to defend against a takedown. Nasrat landed some great short shots on her way to her feet after blocking the takedown. In the final 30 seconds of the round, Nasrat put her hand speed to good use, landing punches from multiple angles and surprising Gordon.
At the start of the second round, Haqparast quickly landed a left punch, which Gordon responded with a high kick, and the two began to trade in earnest. Gordon launched several punches at his opponent, landing some powerful punches that Nasrat successfully dodged. Gordon again attempted a takedown, but stopped attacking, seeming more interested in landing punches and moving forward. Gordon continued to advance, backing his opponent up against the cage and landing some short strikes. Midway through the round, Gordon’s movement was halted for a moment as the tape on his hand became exposed.
When the fight resumed, Gordon was tripped by a high kick, but got up and continued to move forward. With 90 seconds left in the round, Gordon continued to move forward, landing punches on Haqparast. Nasrat began to weaken a bit under the pressure. With a few seconds left in the round, the two stood in the center, trading punches. Both fighters looked tired.
To open the final round, Gordon landed a kick to the head as both men traded jabs. Gordon went for a single leg but quickly missed it. Both fighters continued to fight ferociously on the stand, with Gordon using mostly his lead hand to keep his opponent down while eating punches from Nasrat.
With two minutes left in the round, both fighters had significant facial damage. Gordon started to back off a bit, and Nasrat was able to get a little more use out of her jab. In the final seconds of the fight, both fighters continued to push in the center of the Octagon. This was clearly the fight of the night and a candidate for the fight of the year. It was a hard-fought fight, but the decision on the scorecards was questionable and many had it in Gordon’s favor, but Nasrat Haqparast was victorious.
Official result: Nasrat Haqparast defeats Jared Gordon by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
