Chris Gutierrez was able to outstrike Quang Le primarily via numerous leg kicks tonight at UFC On ABC 61 on his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Round One:
Le opens up with a three-piece combo, but Gutierrez backs away from it and then throws a low kick.
Nice stick and move from Gutierrez. Straight right from Le just grazes the target. Body kick for Gutierrez.
Body kick again from Gutierrez, but Le catches it and takes him down from that. Le in half-guard here, but Gutierrez is working to escape and manages to do just that and get back to his feet.
Leg kick for Gutierrez. He lands another. Now a straight punch too. A couple of step-in leg kicks for Le now.
Lighter leg kick from Gutierrez now. Now a heavier one connects. And a thumping third one goes to the calf.
Inside leg kick to the thigh this time from Gutierrez. Le hustles forward and tries to land punches but comes up short. Gutierrez withh that heavy leg kick again.
Again Gutierrez moves away from Le’s attempts to connect with punches. Kick from Gutierrez is caught late in the round and that puts him on his back again for a few seconds until the horn sounds.
Round Two:
Leg kick for Le. Thudding low kick for Gutierrez. Body kick attempt from Le. Another leg kick from Le as Gutierrez looks to check it.
Gutierrez lands his leg kick. Head kick attempt from Le is blocked. Gutierrez gets to Le’s increasingly beat up calf again.
Le able to get into the clinch and spins around to the back. Gutierrez being warned not to grab the cage. Le persisent here and then eventually opts to hop up onto Gutierrez’s back and gets the body triangle in.
Le forces Gutierrez onto his knees and then pulls him down onto him as he starts to work for a potential rear-naked choke opening. Nothing doing for now though.
Gutierrez trying to turn into himm and so Le opts to roll on top. Gutierrez closes up his guard. Le not really getting any offense off here as Gutierrez ties him up.
Gutierrez suddenly working on an armbar attempt, but he doesn’t have it. Le settles back into his guard. Gutierrez thinking about the armbar again in the final 10 seconds of the round but nothing doing.
Round Three:
Calf kick from Gutierrez. Now one to the inside of the calf. Le tries to press forward but Gutierrez greets him with his jab.
A couple of calf kicks in quick succession from Gutierrez now. Le grabs on a kick, but Gutierrez escapes before he can work a takedown.
Solid body punch from Gutierrez. Now a left hand upstairs. High kick off the upper arm from Le.
Le tries to get into the clinch, but Gutierrez turns him into the cage instead and then goes back to striking range. He blasts that lower leg with a kick.
Leg kick from Le. Le tries to press forward but Gutierrez catches him with a counter off the back foot.
Jab for Gutierrez. Spinning head kick attempt from Gutierrez is blocked. Back to the calf kick again. Clean jab and then back to the calf. Le comes up short with punches. Gutierrez misses on a spinning backfist.
Gutierrez on the attack again and Le counters by clinching and they jockey for position away from the cage in the final seconds. Gutierrez tries to jump for a submission but fails and that enables Le to get on top just as the round ends.
Decision:
Gutierrez was able to showcase his hard-hitting low kicks early and often in this fight on his way to a unanimous decision victory (29-28 x3).
