Ilia Topuria showed off his slick striking ability to dominate Josh Emmett over five rounds tonight at UFC On ABC 5, though his game opponent never stopped swinging for the fences and forced the fight to the scorecards.
Round One:
The featherweight main event is underway in Florida.
Emmett immediately pressing forward throwing hands, but Topuria keeps a tight guard to take the sting of that early attack.
Another quick flurry from Emmett off the guard. Swing and a stumble from Emmett now. Emmett swinging hard again, but not finding the mark as Topuria remains composed.
Topuria with a quick flurry and avoids Emmett’s return-fire. Exchange in close and Topuria lands a grazing hook.
Nice stepping jab for Topuria and now a ripping uppercut to the body. Emmett over-commits to a blitz and slips again.
Low kick for Topuria. Missed punches from both men and then another leg kick for Topuria. He lands that again and Emmett threatens with a head kick. Emmett’s left eye already swelling at this stage in the fight.
Leg kick for Emmett now. Both men coming close with big punches. Left hand for Emmett and Topuria with a leg kick.
Round Two:
Topuria pumps out the jab and Emmett lands a low kick. Emmett still doesn’t quite have his range dialed in and is swinging hard but missing quite often. He does land another low kick though.
Topuria slowly but surely stalking Emmett, who lands another leg kick. Quick punches from Topuria.
Topuria just whiffing past the target with a couple of hooks. Emmett back to the leg kick. Punch gets through for Emmett.
Another left hand lands for Emmett. Topuria works the jab and lands a calf kick. Emmett stumbles forward on a missed punch.
Topuria with a crisp series of punches and drops Emmett momentarily, but he quickly recovers. Low kick for Emmett.
Right hand from Emmett has Emmett rocked again and onto one knee before rising back up. There’s not long to go in the round though and he’s able to survive.
Round Three:
Emmett land a hard punch in the opening exchange of the third round. Missed punches from Topuria as Emmett avoids and moves out of danger.
Head kick attempt from Emmett. Leg kick for Emmett. He throws a jab to keep the stalking Topuria at bay.
Low kick for Topuria. Flurry from Topuria, but Emmett catches him with a nice punch. Topuria immediately back o pressuring though.
Topuria with a fast flurry, but Emmett is still steeling himself for the occasional threatening counter punch that looks dangerous.
counter right for Topuria. Emmett’s left eye is a mess at this stage, bleeding significantly.
Emmett with a leg kick and Topuria with punches upstairs. Right hand for him. Now a solid left hand. Again the jab lands for Topuria.
Hard straight right for Topuria. Head movement from Emmett to avoid a few punches. He lands his jab. Emmett with a nice counter that landed cleanly. He lands a body punch too.
Round Four:
Emmett presses forward with a flurry, but is off-balance at the end of it after not committing.
Solid jabs for Topuria. He continues to work the jab. Now a heavy low kick that almost took Emmett off his feet.
Topuria back to the jab. Another low kick and Emmett is certainly feeling those. Emmett lunges into another few punches that miss.
Big punch from Topuria. Now a low kick. Topuria catches Emmett with a left hook that knocks him off-balance to the mat, then lands again as he’s trying to get up.
Topuria unleashing a barrage of blows on the mat, but Emmett shows his courage to struggle back to his feet.
Topuria still on the attack though and drops him for a second time. Topuria looking for ground-and-pound and secures full mount. Final seconds of the round and Topuria punches away and thinks about a submission, but Emmett survives.
Round Five:
Emmett’s left eye almost completely swollen shut so the doctor has a look at him before the round starts, but says he’s ok to continue.
left hook for Emmett and lands another punch. He launches another big hook and Topuria backs up against the cage for a moment. Emmett throwing everything into these punches.
Low kick for Topuria. Short left hook for Emmett. Another calf kick from Topuria. Low kick for Emmett.
jab from Topuria. Winging hooks from Emmett missing the mark. Right hand for Topuria. Emmett constantly looking to hurl his left hand.
Emmett steps into a body punch. Suddenly Topuria drives into a takedown attempt and lands it nicely. He’s in half-guard with half the final round remaining to work.
Emmett gets to his knees and looks to stand against the cage with Topuria moving to his back to weigh heavily on him. Knee to the thigh from Topuria.
Emmett rolling several times to try and shake off Topuria but no such luck and Topuria keeps him down. Topuria landing a few solid punches from half-guard and Emmett is scrambling back to his feet as the fight ends.
Decision:
Good fight then but there’s no doubt that Topuria was getting the better of it with his crisp, composed striking that rocked Emmett several times and left him bloodied, but ultimately had to settle for a convincing unanimous decision victory (50-44, 50-42, 49-45).
