Charles Jourdain pushed a hard pace against Kyler Phillips tonight at UFC Fight Night 273 to edge out a closely fought battle by unanimous decision.
Round One
Phillips takes the center of the Octagon to start. Jourdain tries for a knee upstairs without finding the connection.
Phillips able to work a takedown and Jourdain comes close to catching him in a triangle choke, but doesn’t get it locked in.
Phillips passing to side control now. Elbow strike to the head for him. Jourdain gets him back to his guard. Bit of a scramble now and Jourdain is able to stand against the cage.
Phillips with a trip to get Jourdain back down. Jourdain trying briefly for a kimura attempt. Phillips in half-guard for a moment, then to side control.
Jourdain trying to get a guillotine choke in, but Phillips is able to steer clear and stay on top. Constant activity from Jourdain even from his back. Jourdain tries for a triangle choke again, but Phillips postures up and slams him back down to get free.
Jourdain scrambles to his feet again, but Phillips still holding his back. Jourdain gets away though.
Nice right hand for Jordain late in the round. He’s applying pressure and fires off more strikes, but Phillips times a clinch entry and stay there for the final few seconds.
Round Two
Left and a right for Phillips. Body kick from Jourdain, but Phillips catches that and trips him to the mat.
Phillips in Jourdain’s guard now, but finding it tricky to stop his tricky scrambling. Jourdain tries to roll on top, but Phillips reads that well to stay in control. Back upright for a moment, but as they go back down Phillips stays on top.
More scrambling action and Jourdain trying to set up the guillotine choke without success.
They return to striking now. Phillips steps in to land a good elbow. Jumping knee from Jourdain misses. Jourdain does land a kick to the body though.
Jourdain bursts forward with a left hand. He lands another couple of nice punches.
Jourdain looking for more offense, but Phillips is able to clinch up against the cage.
They go back to striking range. Low kick for Jourdain. Phillips connects to the head. Phillips lands a punch as Jourdain misses a spinning backfist.
Jourdain able to get a takedown. Phillips times his moment to stand while avoiding the potential choke threat.
Jourdain with a couple of missed flying knees and a final rolling thunder attempt that also doesn’t connect in the final moments of the round.
Round Three
Jourdain tries for a head kick. Right hand for Phillips. He lands the jab now. Jourdain trying to pressure, but Phillips lands his right again.
Jourdain comes forward, but Phillips gets into the clinch and gets the takedown. Jourdain quickly back up against the cage with Phillips still on him. Jourdain turns into him and works a few uppercuts.
Nice combination from Phillips. Jourdain tries for a jumping knee, but Phillips catches him mid-air to land a takedown in the center of the Octagon.
Jourdain working for a kimura attempt here and has Phillips arm compromised for a moment, but he does a good job of getting it back out of danger.
They drive back to the feet. Jourdain still pressuring and Phillips has blood leaking from his left eyebrow now. Phillips goes for a takedown and knocks Jourdain off-balance, but doesn’t secure that one, so they go back to striking.
Phillips starting to run out of steam here, but continuing to fight on regardless as Jourdain tries to land a killer blow. Jourdain with a final flurry and throws in a rolling thunder that just grazes Phillips at the last second.
Decision
This back-and-forth fight fought at a crazy pace both on the feet and on the mat. Phillips found success with takedowns and stronger grappling control, but Jourdain was constantly active off his back, and applied unrelenting pressure on the feet, particularly in the third round when he was able to open up a cut and finish stronger. And in the end that’s enough to earn him the unanimous decision victory (29-28 x3).
