Jimmy Crute and Rodolfo Bellato fought to a majority draw tonight at UFC 312 in Australia.
Round One
Crute with a low kick. Bellato with a body punch. Another calf kick for Crute. One-two for him off the guard. Crute with a spinning kick to the body.
Bellato looks for a takedown, but Crute ends up on top and is right into mount. Bellato almost gives up his back and then thinks better of that and stays where he is for now. He manges to get back to half-guard.
Crute passes to side control. Bellato gets to his knees, but then rolls to his back again. Crute looking for ground-and-pound as he postures up, then settles back into half-guard.
A couple of nice punches for Crute. Brief scramble and Crute almost had his back again. He lands a nice strike and then is back into half-guard.
Bellato tries for a sweep, but Crute prevents that and lands more ground-and-pound. Bellato is now able to sweep back to his feet. Crute firing off punches and Bellato tries to fire back.
Hard punch from Crute rocks Bellato, who staggers back on wobbled legs and falls to the mat. Crute looking for a finish, but there’s not much time left in the round and Bellato is able to survive the ground-and-pound assault to make it to the second round.
Round Two
A couple of low kicks from Bellato. Now a punch and kick from Crute. Straight punches land for Bellato. Crute with a combination of punches.
Straight right for Bellato. He lands another hard right. Crute misses a punch and Bellato rips to the body nicely.
Crute with low kicks. Bellato with a body punch. leg kick for Bellato, and again. Crute with a takedown attempt, but Bellato defends that and scrambles back up.
Left hook for Crute and then a spinning kick to the body. Calf kicks from Bellato. Left hand from Bellato and then the low kick again.
Jabs for Bellato. Back to the leg kick. Glancing punch from Crute. Left hook for Bellato. He lands a nice right hand. Crute looking tired with his mouth open.
Crute with some nice punches inside including an uppercut, but Bellato fires back. Good body punches from Bellato backs up Crute for a moment. he lands a body punch again. Bellato working low kicks. Right hands from Crute.
Body punches and a nice right hook for Bellato. Calf kick for him. Awkward spinning heel kick from Bellato but it partially lands.
Round Three
Glancing hooks from Bellato. Now a low kick. Crute presses forward but Bellato sticks him with a body punch.
Bellato lands a job and then just misses with a heavy hook. Knee and a punch from Bellato. Back to the leg kick. Crute tries a takedown, but it fails.
Missed punches from Crute. Low kick and a body punch for Bellato. Another punch to the body from him. Missed backfist from Bellato.
Another low kick from Bellato. Left hook lands for him. A couple of right hands get through for Crute. Jab for Bellato. Crute with a winging punch and Bellato ducks under and lands a takedown. Crute on his knees in the center of the Octagon.
Crute able to get back up. Kicks from Bellato. Crute with a punch and a head kick attempt that’s blocked. He goes for that combination again. Final stages of the fight and both men are still trying to land, but it’s Bellato who lands the more meaningful blows in the final exchanges.
Decision
A close fight then, with Crute winning the first round after having Bellato badly hurt, but credit to his opponent for recovering enough to fight back in the rounds that followed as Crute tired, leading to a majority draw verdict (29-27, 28-28 x2).
