Curtis Blaydes earned a unanimous decision victory over Daniel Omielanczuk tonight at UFC 213, but it was a largely tedious fight punctuated by repeated failures to get the fight to the mat.
Round One:
Early left hand for Omielańczuk. Blaydes sticks out the jab and tries to move in behind it with a takedown attempt. Blaydes has to settle for clinching against the cage for now.
Blaydes lands a knee to the groin and the ref stops the fight to give Omielańczuk time to recover and resets the fight in the middle of the cage.
Blaydes back into the takedown attempt and again settles for the cage clinch. Blaydes with a knee to the body. He’s trying to find a way to get this fight to the floor, but no luck so far.
Omielańczuk with a knee to the body and Blaydes opts to back out and go back to striking range.
Leg kick for Omielańczuk. Now a solid one to the body. Blaydes again reaches for the legs and again has to abandon that and work for the clinch instead.
Knee to the body for Blaydes. They break apart again. Right hand for Blaydes as Omielańczuk tries for the kick. Blaydes driving in lower for the takedown this time, but still nothing doing.
The familiar cage clinch again now. Balydes thinks about a single leg for a moment, but then lets that go. Blaydes with a series of knees to the leg.
Right hook for Blaydes as he backs away. Omielańczuk with a body kick. Blaydes with his latest failed takedown attempt. Final body kick from Omielańczuk.
Round Two:
Body kick for Omielańczuk as Blaydes feels out with the jab. Right hand for Blaydes. Knee to the body for Blaydes and a punch upstairs too.
Into the takedown Blaydes goes and this time Omielańczuk briefly thinks about a guillotine choke, then lets it go. For the umpteenth time in the we’re back to the cage and the crowd gets restless. Blaydes backs out though.
Blaydes with the jab. left and a right from Blaydes. Low leg kick for him too. Right hand from Omielańczuk. Right hand lands again for Blaydes.
Blaydes ducking down for a takedown attempt just as Omielańczuk goes upstairs with a head kick and it flies over his opponents head.
Blaydes eats a knee to the head as he ducks into the clinch again, then back to striking range. winging left hand for Omielańczuk and misses the right hand behind it. Blaydes fails on the takedown attempt again. He’s just got nothing out of those so far tonight and he’s not doing anything different to improve his chances of success.
A little sloppy striking from both men. Omielańczuk looking tired, but still competing and he lands a body kick.
Knee to the body from Blaydes. Another kick from Blaydes lands to the groin and the ref stops the fight for a moment and gives him a warning not to do that again.
Blaydes with another weak takedown attempt and into the clinch, which draws boos from the crowd. He back away and there’s not enough time left in the round for another engagement.
Round Three:
Low kick kick for Blaydes. Omielańczuk with a winging hook. Right hand from Omielańczuk lands and then a left too. Blaydes with the jab. Leg kick for Omielańczuk. He misses with another telegraphed hook.
Blaydes for the clinch. He’s working hard on a single leg and Omielańczuk stuffs that attempt as he’s done so repeatedly in this fight.
Blaydes backs up and throws a few single punches. jab for Blaydes. Right and a left for Blaydes. Lethargic pace here. Left hook for Omielańczuk.
Leg kick for Blaydes. He finds a home for a right hand. Now a jab. Right hand gets through. Body kick from Omielańczuk. Uppercut gets through for Blaydes.
Blaydes briefly tries for a takedown and fails. Omielańczuk with an ankle pick attempt, but Blaydes stuffs and gets on top. Omielańczuk still trying to complete this takedown, but it’s not going to work out and they get back upright.
Omielańczuk looking very tired now with his hands by his sides. He’e exhausted. Blaydes a little fresher, but not pushing the pace. Crazy spinning wheelkick from Omielańczuk is sloppy and he stumbles on it.
Decision:
An underwhelming heavyweight fight here then, but Blaydes was constantly pushing the pace and trying to make something happen, which is enough to earn him a unanimous decision victory (30-27 x3).
