In what proved to be a rather boring 15 minutes of clinch-work, Chieck Kongo was able to do enough to outpoint Shawn Jordan at UFC 149 to claim a unanimous decision victory.
Kongo looks confident as the opening bell sounds, taking the center of the Octagon and beginning to open up with his striking.
Jordan isn’t looking to engage in a striking battle though and is able to press Kongo up against the cage as he looks for a takedown. Kongo demonstrates good defense though, keeping his legs wide and prevents Jordan from being able to ge the leverage he needs to complete it.
The action stalls a little from this position until suddenly Kongo is able to find some room to sneak out and take Jordan’s back standing, but before he can really make use of the position Jordan throws out an elbow that strikes his opponent in the groin and that forces an extended stoppage while he recovers.
Kongo appears to be fully recovered afterwards though and again takes the fight to Jordan. Before long they are up against the cage again and it’s Kongo pressing Jordan up against the cage as he lands some knees.
As the final minute ticks down Jordan is able to reverse the position, but can’t get a takedown off of it and is met with another knee to the body as the bell sounds.
It’s a similar story in round two as Jordan stuffs Kongo up against the cage looking for that takedown. There’s nothing doing and eventually Kongo breaks free and fires off a couple of knee strikes before initiating a clinch himself. The two men trade knees and Kongo gets the better of it.
There’s a brief moment where the two part from their in-close clinch battle and Kongo is able to land a couple of hard straight punches that backs Jordan up against the fence.
Surprisingly Kongo seems happy to continue getting into the clinch with Jordan. His opponent is stillaiming to get him to the mat, but instead Kongo takes his back again. He tries to get him down from this position, but he slips off and Jordan is able to finally get on top with a minute to go. He doesn’t show any urgency though and the clock runs down before he does anything meaningful.
Onto the final round and guess what, the two men are working from the clinch again. Kongo does land a nice flurry of strikes, but then grabs onto his opponent again. It’s a strange strategy as Kongo’s clearly the better striker and Jordan is tiring, so there’s a good opportunity for him to attempt to finish the fight, but he’s not interested.
It may simply be that he’s just tired himself now and In fairness Kongo is getting the better of the clinchwork and while it’s not fun to watch he’s able to control the rest of the round and is likely headed to a decision win.
It’s down to the judges though and they agree, handing Kongo the unanimous decision (30-28, 30-27 x2).
