Alonzo Menifield edged past Julius Walker by split-decision tonight at UFC Fight Night 252 in Seattle.
Round One
Left hook for Menifield but Walker closes the distance and presses him into the cage.
Knee to the body for Walker. He lands another, and then a couple of the thigh for good measure.
Now they are jockeying for position as they both manage to get reversals. Walker reaching down with a double-leg, but doesn’t commit to it for long.
Walker breaks out from the clinch for a moment and blasts him with a couple of strikes that land clean, then straight back into the clinch again.
Menifield gets away now, but eats an uppercut on the way. Walker with a head kick attempt but completely loses his balance and falls to the mat.
Menifield looking to attack now, but Walker manages to clinch up again. Walker lands a good elbow strike. Menifield connects with a punch and Walker looked wobbled for a moment by that, but manages to go in for a takedown attempt to regain his bearings.
That’s given Menifield confidence now and he lands another good punch. Walker is looking tired after his early exertion as more heavy leather is slung his way, but he’s hanging in there for now.
Head kick from Walker but Menifield seems ok and goes back to landing strikes of his own late in the round.
Round Two
One-two for Menifield. He lands a jab. Left hand for Menifield as Walker moves in and clinches up against the cage again. A few knees from him.
Menifield pushes him away to get back to striking range. Low kick from Walker. Body punch for Menifield. Walker kicks to the calf again. Now Walker clinches up. He lands an uppercut. Menifield reverses the clinch.
Walker moves away. Glancing right hand from Menifield. He punches to the body. Jab for Walker. Now a left hook from Walker. Menifield avoids a few blows but then eats another punch and Walker clinches.
Walker with a head kick attempt. Menifield lands a few punches. Leg kick for Walker. Both men throwing tired blows looking blows now.
Head kick attempt from Walker is sloppy. Body punch from Menifield sends Walker stumbling backwards for a moment. Menifield with a leg kick and then back to the body with a punch.
A couple of big right hands from Menifield. Now a grazing left. Body kick from Walker. A couple of rights from Walker now. Bigger straight right comes back at him from Menifield though.
Walker misses a few punches but is able to clinch and lands a momentary takedown before Menifield stands again against the cage.
Round Three
Low kick for Menifield, but he also lands an eyepoke with his outstretched arm which forces a brief stoppage.
Left hand for Menifield on the reset. Another low kick from him and Walker’s mouthpiece falls out but is quickly put back in.
Body punch for Menifield. Left hooks land for Walker. Menifield fires back. Solid body kick for Walker. Now a jab. Jab for Menifield too now. Step-in knee from Walker, but it strays to the groin and forces a timeout.
Back to it they go after a verbal warning to clean up their work. Hard right hand from Menifield is mostly blocked.
Body punch from Menifield and then just gets out of the way of a head kick in time.
Walker into a double-leg attempt against the cage but Menifield is preventing him from completing it. Walker happy to remain in the clinch though.
Walker lands a a knee and then fails on another double-leg attempt. Back to striking range they go and Menifield lands a nice right hand.
Menifield connects again. He’s found a little gas left in the tank and is looking to land some more punches in the closing stages of the fight, but we’re headed to the judges scorecards here.
Result
The judges come back with a split-decision verdict, and it’s Menifield who emerges with his hand raised (29-28, 30-27, 28-29).
