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Nathan Manes appears to be a growing problem for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s flyweight division.
In Saturday’s top prelims at UFC on ESPN 58, Maness (16-3) dominated Jimmy Flick (17-8) in a flyweight bout that was much closer than the final score would suggest, or than the nearly 5-to-1 odds in favor of Maness would suggest. Maness used his jab to his advantage from the start, taking advantage of his large size for the weight class and forcing Flick, a dangerous submission artist, to the outside. Flick was more than ready to join the striking battle, trying to close the distance with some heavy punches. Maness managed to get to his feet, defending Flick’s first real takedown attempt with a standing guillotine choke. Flick secured a takedown late in the round and used another guillotine attempt to set up a Von Flue choke, but the round ended before the sequence could play out. The second and third rounds followed a similar pattern, with Maness and Flick both willing to fight in their opponent’s favored areas. Manes appeared to have a slight advantage throughout the bout, a view shared by the judges, who had him favored by scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28. With the win, Manes improves to 5-2 in his UFC career and 2-1 since dropping down from bantamweight. Despite a subjectively impressive performance, Flick is now 2-3 since joining the UFC in Season 4 of the Contender Series.
In a battle of two flyweights both looking for their first UFC win, Gabriela Fernandez (9-3) spoiled the debut of Carly Giudice (3-2). The bout was played almost entirely on the stand, with Fernandez’s power pitted against Giudice’s reach and volume. All three rounds were individual duels, but Giudice seemed to get better as the bout progressed and Fernandez looked tired. The Brazilian came in fresh and aggressive in the second and third rounds, but Giudice slowed the pace with a steady stream of kicks and punches mixed with solid bodywork. The judges had a tough time deciding the bout, scoring it by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29). The win brings Fernandez’s Octagon record to 1-2, while Giudice’s record in her two Contender Series appearances is now 0-1.
Westin Wilson pulled off a major upset in a showdown for a spot on the UFC roster, winning handily. The tall karateka faced off against Road to UFC veteran Jekah Saragi in a featherweight prelim bout. He took advantage of the Indonesian’s aggressive play, rising from an early takedown, scoring a takedown of his own and quickly putting Saragi in a guillotine position. After Saragi escaped the choke with his head, Wilson applied an armbar. When Saragi tried to ram his body to escape, Wilson adjusted the angle and switched to a triangle armbar, forcing the tap just 1 minute, 49 seconds into the bout. With the quick and impressive win, Wilson (17-9, 1-2 UFC) bounced back from consecutive knockout losses while Saragi (14-4) moved to 1-2 in the UFC.
Melquizael Costa withstood an early onslaught from Nuerdambieque Chaillan to earn an important third-round submission victory in their featherweight bout. Costa (2-2) was pushed back early by Chaillan’s aggressive movement and advances, with “The Wolverine” scoring a number of powerful, seemingly easy takedowns in the first and a half rounds. However, Costa kept his cool, and as the Chinese fighter began to tire, he took control. By the end of the second round, Costa was able to stave off Chaillan’s wrestling and take down the smaller man with a high kick before the horn. In the third round, Costa reversed a takedown attempt by a seemingly tiring Chaillan, getting behind him and going for the choke. In the end, Costa didn’t even need to get his arm under Chaillan’s chin as Chaillan tapped out with a face crank at 1:50. With the win, “The Merc” improves to 2-1 in featherweight competition, while Chailan (39-12) drops to 3-3 in the Octagon.
In the opening bout of the night, Josefine Lindgren Knutsson managed to keep her professional record clean, but found herself struggling against Julia Polastri. Knutsson (8-0) started solidly, outmaneuvering the Brazilian with long punch and kick combinations and thwarting her attempts to close the distance. But Polastri finally got it going late in the round, scoring a takedown and transitioning to mount position with 30 seconds left. This set the stage for the second round, which was Polastri’s best. She backed up the Swede with some big swings, taking her down early in the round and doing damage from top position. Knutsson’s composure on the ground was tested, as she landed an illegal upkick on Polastri and another kick after the restart that narrowly missed, but would have resulted in a point deduction. The final round was the closest of the three, with Polastri again getting a takedown and threatening an arm triangle choke, but Knutsson’s superior accuracy and volume on the stand dominated the round to win by a unanimous score of 29 – 28. Knutsson now has two consecutive wins since his first UFC bout, while Polastri falls to 12-4 overall and 0-1 in the UFC.
