Matt Schnell engaged in a striking battle with the heavy-handed Tyson Nam tonight at UFC On ESPN 20 and emerged with a split decision victory.
Round One:
Nam with a glancing left hook. Schnell stumbles off-balance unrelated to the punch and has to pick himself back up.
Nam feeling out with his jab and then lands a kick as Schnell throws off a punch. Right hook for Nam and an inside leg kick.
Left hook for Schnell now. Both land a jab, but Nam’s had more snap on it. Leg kick for Nam. Schnell letting his hands go quickly as Nam is slightly off-balance.
Quick flurry from Nam. Outside leg kick from schnell. Left hand for Nam during a brief exchange. Body punches for Nam after a lull in the striking action.
Right hook for Nam and Schnell lands punches of his own on the counter. Double jab for Nam. Quick combo of punches from Schnell.
Round Two:
Right hook for Nam. Jab from Schnell. Inside leg kick from Nam. Another jab for Schenll. Right hook and a left behind it from Nam.
Solid right connects for Nam. Two punches and then a leg kick for Schnell. He lands a push kick too. punches to the body and head from Schnell.
Big punch lands again for Nam, he’s starting to find his mark with the power punches now and that’s concerning for Schnell. He does land a left hook though.
Jab for Nam. Leg kick for him. A couple of hooks connect for Nam, but Schnell gets another hook in there too.
Very nice series of punches from Schnell, but Nam responds with a quick flurry of his own.
Schnell trying for a kick upstairs, but gets caught with a punch in the process. Another exchange in close.
Body punch for Nam. Left hand getting through for him. Now another left hook. Left for Schnell now. They end the round both landing punches, with Schnell connecting cleaner that time.
Round three:
Punches exchanged to start the final round. Uppercut for Nam. They are trading blow-for-blow at times now.
Nice three-piece combo from Schnell. Now a solid body kick. Left hand grazes the target for Nam. Now a right does the same.
One-two for Schnell. Now an outside leg kick. Nam still looking for a fight-ender here. He lands a body kick.
left scores for Nam. One-two for Schnell on the back foot. Good left hook for Nam. Exchange at close range and both land.
Jab for Schnell. Heavy left hook from Nam. Now an inside leg kick. Double jab for Schnell. Schnell keeps his punches in Nam’s face there without putting too much power into any of them.
Solid left hand from Nam. Body kick for Schnell and that’s the end of the round.
Decision:
Good competitive fight then, but while Nam was starting to land some big punches in the final round, it was Schnell’s crisp combinations throughout the fight that won the day and leads him to a split decision victory (29-28 x2, 28-29).
