Yanal Ashmouz was able to snuff out Trevor Peek’s offensive threat with his stifling clinch work tonight at UFC Fight Night 242 to win by unanimous decision.
Round One:
Calf kick for Peek and then he gets warned to not lead with his hand outstretched. Missed head kick from Peek. He lands a low kick though.
Now an inside leg kick for Peek. Ashmouz with a stepping jab. He lands an overhand, but then Peek catches him with a counter. Body punch for Peek now.
Low kick for Peek. Missed head kick from Ashmouz. Peek with a few wild swings that miss before one lands. He overloads on another punch and Ashmouz times that to counter with a takedown and brings him down.
Ashmouz in side control away from the cage now with half the round remaining. Now he’s in half-guard and still opting for control, but Peek manages to get back to his feet. Knee from Ashmouz and then they separate.
Leg kick for Peek. Jabs from him. Ashmouz tries for a takedown, but Peek stays upright. Ashmouz works up against the cage and keeps Peek there for the remaining time in the round.
Round Two:
Missed head kick from Ashmouz. Peek loads up on a few right hooks without landing anything cleanly. Peek lands a body punch and tries to follow-up with punches upstairs.
Ashmouz presses forward trying to land swiping punches without success. Peek now landing with significant power.
Solid body punch from Peek. Hard kick from Ashmouz. Now Ashmouz lands a takedown, but Peek moves over to the cage and starts to stand quickly.
Ashmouz stays clinched up against the cage. He pulls him back down to his knees, but Peek gets back up to his feet. Ashmouz gets him to his knees again and Peek once again stands.
Peek trying to counter another takedown attempt here, but they go to their knees and then back up with Ashmouz still in control.
Ashmouz relentless with his wrestling here and gets him down more convincingly. Peek determined no to stay down and finds his way upright yet again. Ashmouz with a slam near the end of the round and Peek is right back up as the horn sounds.
Round Three:
Peek with wild swings to start the third round, but Ashmouz steers clear of most of that. Peek with a low kick.
Ashmouz with some head movement, but Peek lands a clean punch with power. Body kick for Ashmouz. Right hand for Peek.
Uppercut gets through for Peek. Missed overhand from Ashmouz. Grazing punch lands for Ashmouz. They clinch for a moment and Ashmouz lands a nice knee to the body.
Ashmouz able to clinch up against the cage. He drags Peek down, but Peek stands again as he’s been doing throughout the fight.
Down and up they go again. Peek drops down trying for a kimura submission, but nothing doing and he’s soon back on his feet again trying to break free from this grinding clinch work.
Finally Peek does get away from the cage. And now Peek is looking to let his hands go and Ashmouz is throwing caution to the wind by trading with him. Risky stuff, but neither lands anything too meaningful and Ashmouz then gets back into the clinch against the cage again.
Big takedown from Ashmouz in the final seconds of the fight.
Decision:
So Ashmouz was able to embrace the grind with his clinch-work and takedowns to stifle Peek’s striking offense and that leads him to a unanimous decision victory (30-27, 29-28 x2).
