Neil Magny didn’t have it all his own way against Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos tonight at UFC On ESPN 71, but a good knee to the head in the second round suddenly shifted the momentum in his favor, with a takedown and ground-and-pound then sealing a TKO finish.
Round One
Magny feels out with the jab and throw a kick. Calf kick for Zaleski dos Santos. Magny’s jab gets through . He lands it again and then clinches up. Zaleski dos Santos gets free, but not before eating a knee.
Calf kick for Zaleski dos Santos. Magny presses forward behind punches. Calf kick for Zaleski dos Santos. He lands another and a hard right hand as Magny tries to return fire.
Zaleski dos Santos clinches up against the cage. Magny attempts to reverse and they start to jockey for position back-and-forth. Zaleski dos Santos looking for a trip, but unable to disrupt Magny’s balance enough to land the takedown. He persists in the clinch for now though and switches to a single-leg, but Magny defends well, forcing them back to striking range.
Leg kicks for Zaleski dos Santos and then clinches again, working around to the back. Magny punches his way out of the clinch.
Body kick for Zaleski dos Santos. Jab for Magny. Now a jab from Zaleski dos Santos and a calf kick. Magny with a combination into the clinch and now it’s Zaleski dos Santos trying to land a late takedown.
Round Two
Zaleski dos Santos punching and Magny looking to clinch, but he’s then caught off-guard by Zaleski dos Santos going for a takedown and landing it this time.
Zaleski dos Santos trying to settle on top, but Magny has his long legs up and threatens with a triangle choke. Zaleski dos Santos stays relaxed and gets out of that easily. Zaleski dos Santos now trying for a leg lock. Magny gets out of that and Zaleski dos Santos is back on top and passing to half-guard.
Magny tries to kick him away, getting Zaleski dos Santos back to his full guard. Zaleski dos Santos in half-guard on the other side now. Magny battling back to his feet now with two minutes of the round remaining. Now it’s Magny clinching up. Zaleski dos Santos reverses the position, but Magny readjusts and then takes him down.
Zaleski dos Santos scrambles nicely back to his feet, but then eats a good knee to the head. Zaleski dos Santos rolls back to the mat to escape and then back up. Magny clinches against the cage and then drags Zaleski dos Santos down to his knees.
Zaleski dos Santos ssuddenly starting to wilt as Magny lands strikes and then flattens him out to land more. The fight’s suddenly gone out of Zaleski dos Santos and a few more strikes seals a TKO victory for Magny at 4.39mins of the second round.
