Dustin Stoltzfus battled his way to a 2nd round submission victory over Mansur Abdul-Malik in a back-and-forth scrap tonight at UFC 330.
Round One
Early head kick attempt from Abdul-Malik comes off the guard. Low kick from Stoltzfus. Abdul-Malik with a leg kick too now.
Calf kick from Stoltzfus, but Abdul-Malik responds with a short flurry of hard-hitting punches.
Another low kick for Stoltzfus. Front kick to the body for Abdul-Malik. Body kick from Abdul-Malik. Abdul-Malik with a combination of punches in close and then Stoltzfus responds in kind, but not quite finding his range.
Abdul-Malik with a few punches. Now a solid right hand from him. Stoltzfus working for a takedown now. Abdul-Malik looks to defend this. Stoltzfus manages to sneak in a couple of knees and that forces Abdul-Malik to go down to one knee for a moment.
Abdul-Malik able to get up and back to striking range. Kick from Abdul-Malik and that might have grazed Stoltzfus’ eye as he’s now pawing at it but isn’t going to get a time-out.
Brief clinch and then back to striking range. Low kick for Stoltzfus. Exchange of punches and Stoltzfus lands better this time.
Stoltzfus in on a takedown and slams Abdul-Malik hard to the mat. Stoltzfus gets to full mount. Now he works to the back threatening with a rear-naked choke, but Abdul-Malik gets out of it.
Stoltzfus trying to flatten him out now, but then switches to a rare Suloev Stretch submission. That doesn’t work out, but he ends the round landing a few good ground-and-pound blows.
Round Two
Abdul-Malik with a jab. Now a kick to the body. He tries for a head kick but misses. Solid body kick for Abdul-Malik.
Abdul-Malik with a few punches and then works in some knees. More punches follow, but Stoltzfus takes it and then starts working for a takedown. However, Abdul-Malik does a nice switch to end up on top.
Hammer-fists from Abdul-Malik. Stoltzfus gets his legs into play to gain some separation and then works back to his feet.
Stoltzfus in the clinch now and lands a few strikes. He’s bleeding now though.
Stoltzfus closes the distance into the body lock against the cage. Spinning elbow strike lands before they separate.
Front kick upstairs from Abdul-Malik. Now a right hand. Stoltzfus in on a takedown that doesn’t pay off and then goes for punches instead and lands.
Stoltzfus battling hard here and manages to get Abdul-Malik down working for a potential submission. He doesn’t commit to that but puts a knee on his neck to make him uncomfortable.
Stoltzfus drops down a few good blows and Abdul-Malik is wilting here. Stoltzfus works for a rear-naked choke now and Abdul-Malik grimaces and taps out! Stoltzfus showed real grit and determination to battle to victory there, with the submission finish coming at 4.25mins of the second round.
