Muslim Salikhov earned himself a uanimous decision victory over Laureano Staropoli tonight at UFC Fight Night 162 with an assured display of technical striking.
Round One:
Cautious start but then Salikhov tries to land a punch and misses, with Staropoli trying to counter with a spinning backfist that also doesn’t find the target.
Spinning hook kick attempt from Salikhov, but it just whistles past Staropoli’s head as he was ducking down at that moment.
Body kick for Salikhov. Hard one-two from Salikhov on the counter. Staropoli misses with a kick upstairs.
Head kick attempt from Salikhov is blocked. Left hook from Salikhov. Now an overhand right. Spinning back kick to the body is partially blocked.
Another kick for Salikhov. Staropoli with a question mark kick that’s blocked. Nice right hand counter from Salikhov as his oponent comes in.
Spinning back elbow from Staropoli. Another spinning kick upstairs from Salikhov just misses.
Low leg kick from Salikhov. Spinning head kick from Staropoli now is blocked. Overhand attempt from Staropoli.
Round Two:
Staropoli works behind the jab and tries for the right hand without finding the target.
Spinning kick to the head from Salikhov, but his opponent takes it. Now it’s Staropoli with a big kick of his own.
Staropoli tries for another kick, but this time Salikhov catches it and dumps him to the mat with it. He can’t do anything with that though before he stands again.
Hard leg kick for Salikhov. One-two for Staropoli. Salikhov steps into a punch. Spinning kick from Staropoli misses.
Salikhov catches a kick and lands a counter punch to put Staropoli down to the mat, but he comes straight back up.
Hard body kick from Salikhov. Spinning back kick to the body now. Now a big uppercut from Salikhov and Staropoli is hurt.
Salikhov with knees and punches here against the cage, but he’s staying upright. Salikhov with a spinning kick that misses.
Spinning back elbow misses from Salikhov. He lands a hard punch. Staropoli throwing out a left hook more in hope than expectation.
Salikhov hustles into a left hook of his own to end the round.
Round Three:
Right hand for Salikhov and then a left hook for Staropoli. Staropoli pressing forward with urgency, but then Salikhov changes things up by clinching against the cage and looking for a takedown.
He doesn’t get it and they soon seperate. Body punch from Salikhov, but it’s blocked. Clipping left hook from Salikhov. Takedown attempt stuffed by Salikhov.
Good right hand for Salikhov but misses on a spinning back kick. Right hand gets through for Staropoli.
Spinning backfist from Staropoli. Salikhov nicely ducks under a punch and then goes for the clinch and walks him over to the cage looking for a takedown.
He backs up. Two hard body shots from Starpoli. Spinning back kick to the body from Salikhov. Straight left from Staropoli.
Another left hook to the body from Staropoli. SPinning backfist attempt doesn’t pay off though. Nice jab from Salikhov.
Nice knee from Salikhov. Solid left hand gets through. Hard left hook for Staropoli. Overhand for him just grazes the head.
Spinning back kick from Staropoli blocked. Salikhov catches a head kick and shoves him away.
Right hook for Salikhov. Final 10 seconds. Left hook counter from Salikhov. He just misses with a front kick upstairs.
Decision:
A fun striking battle here then and it’s Muslim Salikhov whose done enough to earn himself a unanimous decision victory (30-26 x2, 29-28).
