Jan Blachowicz and Bogdan Guskov had to settle for a majority draw verdict tonight at UFC 323 after both men delivered a knockdown during the fight.
Round One
Left hook from Guskov. Low kick from Blachowicz. Inside leg kick for Guskov. Another low kick from Blachowicz.
Calf kick from Blachowicz. Body punch for the former champ. Thigh kick from Guskov. Another thudding calf kick from Blachowicz.
Blachowicz with a calf kick and then tries to go up high with it too. Punch down the pipe from Guskovs knocks Blachowicz back on his heels for a moment.
Now a hard jab from Blachowicz knocks Guskov’s head back. He lands another solidly.
Another jab for Blachowicz and then back to the calf kick. Inside leg kick from Guskov.
Blachowicz blasts into a one-two that lands, then a low kick. Jab for Blachowicz. Short flurry of punches from Guskov. Blachowicz comes up short with a high kick attempt. Body kick from Blachowicz towards the end of the round.
Round Two
Jab for Blachowicz and then the solid calf kick. Right hand now followed by the calf kick.
Big right hand from Guskov floors Blachowicz! Guskov looking for ground-and-pound, but Blachowicz has his wits about him as he looks to defend as best he can.
Blachowicz trying to counter with a heel hook now. He doesn’t fully go for it though and goes back to defending, then returns to it. Guskov able to get free though and then settle into the former champ’s full guard.
Guskov able to land a few elbow strikes. Blachowicz starting to bleed. Guskov moves to half-guard. Hard elbow from Guskov. More start to get through late in the round, and these are really starting to take a toll on the veteran.
Round Three
Punch from Blachowicz and Guskov misses a counter. Low kick for Blachowicz, but eats a right hand from Guskov.
Blachowicz tries to step in with a left hook that grazes the target, but does land a right.
Fast right hand from Guskov lands. Another punch connects for Guskov. Calf kick from Blachowicz. He connects with a jab.
A punch lands apiece. Guskov loads up on another hard punch. Jab for Blachowicz. Straight right for Guskov. Blachowicz steps into a left hook and a right too.
Blachowicz aggressive now with another hook. Back to the low kick now. Guskov backing off for now.
Jab and a right hand from Guskov off the back foot. Blachowicz marching forward. He lands a solid body kick. Double-jab and a right hand fired off by Blachowicz.
Final minute of the fight. Jab from Blachowicz. Brief flurry of strikes back-and-forth.
Short left hand lands for Blachowicz. Jab for Guskov as he backs off. Blachowicz blasts a punch to the body followed by a right upstairs that drops Guskov! Blachowicz looking for ground-and-pound, but Guskov scrambles awkwardly to his feet just before the horn sounds.
Decision
Blachowicz chewed up Guskov’s lead calf with kicks in the first round and also floored him late in the third round too, which one judge felt was enough to score the fight in his favor. However, Guskov enjoyed a dominant second round that saw him drop the ex-champ with a punch and then cut him with repeated elbow strikes on the mat. That was scored as a 10-8 round by two judges, and as such leads to the fight ending in a majority draw verdict (29-28, 28-28 x2).
