Chepe Mariscal just edged out Morgan Charriere via split-decision in a back-and-forth battle tonight at UFC Fight Night 240.
Round One:
Leg kick from Mariscal to start. He goes for it again. Charriere dropping to the mat working a guillotine coke. Mariscal out of that but before they can get back up Charriere is thinking about another possible submission.
However Mariscal does manage to avoid that and drive back up to his feet, pressing Charriere into the cage. Knees to the thigh exchanged by both men.
Another knee to the leg from Mariscal and one to the body from Charriere. Charriere gets off the cage and breaks out of the clinch.
Charriere lands the jab. Mariscal throwing hard punches out and then drives Charriere into the clinch. Single-leg attempt against the cage from him, but Charriere defends it. Left hook from Mariscal. Charriere throws a knee to the body. Mariscal with a knee to the body too. He punches and then into the clinch again. Charriere reverses the position though.
Not for long as Mariscal reverses and lands a left hand too. Mariscal snapping Charriere down to his knees. Charriere back up though and then brings Mariscal down.
Mariscal soon back up though and they go back to striking range. Charriere with a body kick. Head kick attempt from Mariscal who ends the round swinging hard and trying to land a spinning backfist.
Round Two:
Overhand from Mariscal grazes the target. Body kick from Charriere. Mariscal tries to fire back but eats a clean right hand from Charriere.
Punch for Mariscal. Body kick from Charriere. Nice stepping hook from Mariscal. Another body kick from Charriere and then pumps out the jab.
Inside leg kick from Charriere. Solid body punch from him. Right hand and then a left hook for him. Inside leg kick from Mariscal. Now a stepping calf kick from him.
Brief scramble and Mariscal threatened with an uppercut. Brief exchange in close and both men land punches. Hard left for Mariscal and Charriere also landed.
Charriere threatening with uppercuts. Stepping leg kick for Mariscal. Ripping body shot from Charriere. Now a right hand. Another kick. Mariscal throws a front kick.
Mariscal with a left hook. Body kick for Charriere. Body kick from Mariscal. Inside leg kick from Charriere knocks Mariscal backwards for a moment.
Charriere works a takedown. Mariscal back to his feet but gets dumped back down again. Mariscal straight back up and lands a punch though. Mariscal with a front kick and Charriere drives to let a late takedown that he can’t land before the round ends.
Round Three:
Kick off the arm from Charriere. Slap from Mariscal. Body kick from Charriere. Leg kick for Mariscal. Now one from Charriere. Body kick from him.
Three-piece combo from Mariscal and continues to throw heavy leather behind it. Charriere does well to duck under the final punch and seamlessly works into a takedown. Good shift in momentum from him.
Charriere in half-guard with Mariscal side on to the cage. Short punches to the head and body for him. Slaps to the ear from Mariscal as Charriere punches to the other side of the body now.
Charriere trying to take the back but almost gives up position to Mariscal, who is able to get up and for a moment is threatening with a guillotine choke.
Charriere not troubled by that though and they hustle for position for a moment before Charriere gets Mariscal down and trying to work for a choke. Mariscal bursts back up and brings Charriere down. Mariscal almost into mount, but ends up in half-guard.
Punches for Mariscal and Charriere gives up his back for a moment. Bit of a scramble and they end up in an awkward position for a moment, but then in the final few seconds Mariscal is back on top and landing punches.
Decision:
This was fun back-and-forth fight then, with Charriere being the more technical striker, but Mariscal was also finding success with his energetic brawling, while both had their moments on the mat too, particularly from Mariscal late in the final round.
The judges return a split-decision verdict and it’s Mariscal who gets the nod (29-28 x2, 27-30).
