Azamat Murzakhanov and Alonzo Menifield, UFC Abu Dhabi Credit: Youtube/UFC
Unbeaten light heavyweight Azamat Murzakhanov remained unbeaten with a dominant performance over Alonzo Menifield on Saturday’s UFC Abu Dhabi preliminary card.
After suffering a brutal knockout loss to Carlos Ulberg a few months ago, Menifield, the 15th-ranked 205-pound boxer in the world, faced off against just his superior sambo fighter, Azamat Murzakanov. While Murzakanov had won his first three bouts at the UFC, Menifield was the Russian’s toughest opponent to date, having just defeated his last opponent.
The southpaw Murzakanov opened the bout with a clean uppercut, but then settled into a cautious striking match. Combinations from the opposing stances seemed to make it difficult for either fighter to close the distance. Only Murzakanov landed a clean hit, but Alonzo struggled in the second minute, landing his best shots in the bout to that point. Azamat then began to attack more and more before clinching. Menifield broke free and tried to press in. He had some success, but was met with a clean counter. Russia’s Samboist consistently dominated in the stand-up in the first round.
The second round was more of the same, only more brutal from Murzakanov. Menifield fought back with bigger and bigger hooks, which only made it harder for Murzakanov to fight back. The only thing Menifield didn’t allow Azamat to do was a takedown. With two minutes left, Alonzo thought he had his man rocked, but then the Russian landed a few hard punches that completely took the American down. With Menifield’s mouthpiece half way out and him completely unconscious, after two ground and pound attempts Murzakanov finished the bout as the referee called it a day.
In his post-fight interview, Murzakhanov cited his unbeaten record and impressive performance and called for him to face a top-five opponent next.
Official result: Azamat Murzakhanov defeated Alonzo Menifield by TKO (hook) at 3:18 of the second round
