Jake Matthews dominated Carlston Harris tonight at UFC Fight Night 277, including dropping him early in the third round on his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Round One
Harris with an inside leg kick. Right hand from Matthews. Short flurry from Matthews in close. Body kick for Harris. Close quarters exchange of punches for a moment.
Left hook counter from Matthews. Body kick from him. Now some punches to the body.
Hard punch from Matthews, but Harris wears it well. Potential clash of heads but both seem ok and Matthews clinches up against the cage.
Back to striking range. Left and right hands from Matthews seemed to sting Harris. Matthews comes in with a flurry of punches. Harris is a bit wobbled, but trying to hang on in there.
Another punch for Matthews. Harris throwing back to try to fend him off, but it’s all a bit reckless.
Harris has bought himself enough time to stabilize a bit though, with Matthews still pacing himself.
Matthews unleashing a few two and three punch combos. A big uppercut grazes the target. Harris with a body kick before the horn, but he’s spent most of this round just surviving.
Round Two
Harris immediately shoots in on a takedown, but is unsuccessful and it’s Matthews who adjusts and gets him down. Matthews gets to full mount and then is looking for a submission, but has to abort and go back to side control.
From half-guard Matthews starts trying for a kimura. He traps an arm and lands a few punches with his other hand before Harris drags his limb free.
Matthews remaining patient on top mid-way through the round. Harris reaching for a possible guillotine choke, but nothing doing there.
Matthews suddenly working for an arm-triangle choke. He’s not quite got it though and in the final minute of the round gives up on that.
Matthews transitioning to a kimura now. He gets the arm away from the body, but then Harris is able to transition nicely on top. A rare positive moment for Harris in the fight, but unfortunately for him there’s only seconds left in the round.
Round Three
Harris took this fight on short notice and looks tired, so it’s going to be tough to turn this around in the final five minutes.
Exchange of punches to start the round. Big straight from Matthews down the pipe sends Harris falling face-first to the canvas, but he’s still awake and fighting on.
Matthews able to work around to his back and is starting to look for a rear-naked choke set-up, but Harris is defending for now.
Matthews rolls on top in half-guard. He happy to settle for control from here while just landing the occasional short burst of ground-and-pound.
Heading towards the final minute and Matthews goes to full mount while trying to seek out a possible submission opportunity. Harris tries to posture up as Matthews lands a few punches. With the win already in the bag Matthews opts to not go all out for a finish in the final seconds.
Decision:
No doubt about the winner here, with Matthews hurting Harris on the feet and eventually flooring him, while also controlling the action on the mat too on his way to a decision victory (30-25, 30-27 x2).
