Mounir Lazzez impressed in his UFC debut tonight at UFC On ESPN 13 by taking everything knockout artist Abdul Razak Alhassan threw at him and then turning the screw to claim a decision victory with an impressive display of striking and even some grappling too.
Round One:
Leg kick for Lazzez. Hard right hands from Alhassan. Knee from Lazzez, but then Alhassan blasts him with another big right hand. Lazzez looking in trouble already as Alhassan hammers him with a big series of punches. Brutal punches, but somehow Lazzez is surviving.
Lazzez working a knee again. Alhassan is back to teeing off to the head. What a chin Lazzez has! Now Lazzez is grinning at his opponent.
Lazzez working knees again and these are very well executed. Leg kicks from Alhassan, but they are getting checked at times.
Lazzez has a very quick head kick too, so Alhassan has to be wary. Stepping elbows coming in too. Lazzez has a very slick striking style.
Alhassan is so used to getting quick finishes that he must be slightly baffled as to why Lazzez is still in front of him and looking fresh despite throwing everything but the kitchen sink at him early in the round.
Now it’s Lazzez who is starting to take control of the fight with his technical striking, though he does get clocked by another hard punch from Alhassan.
However, Lazzez then shows versatility to his game by landing a takedown late in the round.
Round Two:
leg kick for Lazzez. He lands another. Now a push kick after Alhassan misses with his own leg kick. Lead elbow for Lazzez. Now oblique kicks. Jumping kick to the body from Lazzez.
Alhassan lands a punch, but then Lazzez goes on the offensive with a big flurry of strikes. Alhassan bites down on his own mouthpiece and starts to fire back.
Both fighters are so dangerous with their striking, but Lazzez appears to have more versatility in his output and is clinical in his execution. Big knee upstairs from him.
Lazzez going for another takedown and lands it and is now in side control. He’s not doing too much with the position though and the referee quickly gets impatient and stands them up a little prematurely.
Lazzez pressing forward and lands nicely to the body and then the head. More slick work from Lazzez on the feet and then scores another takedown.
Lazzez in full mount and moves to side control just as the referee is for some reason telling him to work. Before Lazzez really has a chance to get anything going from the position the ref stands them up again. Very poor refereeing decisions being made here.
Round Three:
Both men land the jab at the same time. Alhassan going for big punches, but Lazzez moves out of danger. Nice head kick attempt from Lazzez.
Alhassan goes for a takedown, but eats a knee as he does so. Nevertheless, Alhassan continues to work for the takedown and trips him to get it. Lazzez is straight back up, but Alhassan is continuing to work hard to get him down again and does so with another trip. Lazzez gets upright again almost immediately though.
Alhassan continues to press Lazzez against the cage. Lazzez manages to switch position though and is able to land a takedown.
Lazzez advances to side control. The ref is again bothering him to improve his position. Lazzez landing a few elbows. Alhassan scrambles to his knees and gets his back against the cage. Lazzez doing his best to keep him down, but Alhassan scrambles again and gets back up.
Final 10 seconds of the fight and Alhassan starts swinging for the fences and lands a few big punches, but the bell sounds before he can land a killer blow.
Decision:
Terrific debut from Lazzez here then, surviving an absolute bombardment of strikes in the opening minute of the fight and then going on to showcase some very impressive striking skills and a respectable ground game into the bargain on his way to a unanimous decision victory (30-27 x2, 29-28).
