Tim Elliott was relentless in his pursuit of Ali Bagautinov in the main card opener at UFC 167 tonight, but it was the Russian who proved to have the more effective offense and that lead to him claiming a unanimous decision victory.
Round One
Elliott charges forward and throws a kick in the opening minute, but Baguatinov catches it and knocks him over to the mat for a second.
Undeterred, Elliott is straight back up and continuing to push the pace with his unorthadox style.
Elliott comes in looking for a takedown, but he’s not able to do so and settles for brief clinch. They break apart and Bagautinov lands a nice punch.
Soon after Bagautinov lands some more good strikes that for a moment looked like it had Elliott hurt, but he shows excellent recovery powers and looks unphased.
Nice takedown from Baguatinov near the cage, but Elliott is right back up again.
Elliott continues to move forward at all times with his hands low, but he’s playing a dangerous game as Bagautinov has found his range early in this fight and is continuing to connect well.
He proves that in the final seconds of the round as he again appears to have Elliott in trouble with punches that leaves him leaning over, only to then be met with a kick to the head. Great chin though, because he eats the kick and progresses to the second round.
Round Two
No change of gameplan for either man in the second round and Bagautinov is back to landing strikes again.
Suddenly Bagautinov is looking for a takedown, but Elliott goes for guillotine choke and it looks deep as they drop to the mat. Baguatinov in trouble, but he stands up and manages to drop his opponent down and escape the choke, though Elliott ends up on top.
Elliott attempting some ground and pound, but Bagautinov tries a submission attempt and uses it to get back upright.
Elliott moving forward and eats a good punch down the pipe from Bagautinov. More pressure from Elliott, but he’s not landing well with his punches.
Into the final minute of the round and Bagautinov tries for a takedown and there’s a nice scramble and they’re back up again.
Round Three
Bagautinov landing again early in the third, but Elliott does find a home for a punch of his own and a few light leg kicks.
Nice kick from Baguatinov. soon after he clobbers Elliott with a right hand. Pressure continues from Elliott, he just won’t be deterred, but he needs to be more effective with his offense.
A few big right hands find the mark for Bagautinov. Low leg kicks from Elliott without much power on them. Elliott unleashes a nice combination of short hooks that all connect, perhaps his best punches of the fight though they didn’t have a whole lot of heat behind them.
Into the final minute and Bagautinov lands a nice kick upstairs. He attempts a takedown, but Elliott stuffs it. Right and a left land for Bagautinov. Elliott responds with a brief takedown and then as his opponent stands he scores with a knee too.
Good way for Elliott to end the fight, but despite pushing the pace throughout, the more effective offense came from Bagautinov overall so let’s see what the judges think about it.
Decision:
It’s Bagautinov who rightly gets the nods from all three judges (29-28 x2, 30-27).
