Mansur Abdul-Malik thought he’d beaten Cody Brundage by TKO tonight at UFC On ESPN 69, but an accidental clash of heads resulted in him instead having to settle for a technical decision victory.
Round One
Leg kicks exchanged to start. Body kick from Brundage too. Oblique kick from Abdul-Malik. Calf kick for Brundage.
Brundage with a right hook counter as Abdul-Malik comes into range. Front kick to the body for Abdul-Malik. One-two for Abdul-Malik and a punch in response from Brundage.
High kick attempt from Abdul-Malik is blocked and then Brundage goes for a body kick. Leg kick for Brundage now. He lands another.
Calf kick from Abdul-Malik. Straight right from him gets through. Abdul-Malik threatens with a front kick upstairs that grazed the target.
Calf kick for Brundage. Glancing right hand from him. Body kick for Abdul-Malik. Flying knee from Abdul-Malik but misses the head and Brundage fires back with punches in response.
Round Two
Low kick for Abdul-Malik. Now a body kick for him. Low kick again and then Brundage misses with counter-punches. Front kick to the body from Abdul-Malik.
Abdul-Malik pressuring forward while firing off a few right hands. Brundage connects with a punch too now. Brundage is bleeding significantly from behind his left ear now.
Missed high kick attempt from Abdul-Malik. Bit of a lull in the action now. A couple of punches from Brundage. Now calf kicks from him.
A relatively uneventful round comes to an end.
Round Three
Abdul-Malik launches into a flying knee to the body immediately and then a punch that sends Brundage down for a moment. However he gets back up and starts swinging for the fences wildly, and Abdul-Malik responds in kind. The fight has finally come to life!
Abdul-Malik goes for another knee and Brundage suddenly crumples to the mat, with Abdul-Malik then landing ground-and-pound to finish the fight.
However, the replay shows that Abdul-Malik’s knee didn’t really connect, but his forward momentum then led to a clash of heads, which is what put Brundage down.
Due to what’s deemed an accidental clash of heads the officials decide that the fight should go to a technical decision based on the action up until that point, and as such it’s still Abdul-Malik who emerges victorious by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2).
