Paul Craig dropped down to middleweight for the first time at UFC: London tonight and it worked out well for him as he emerged with a 2nd round TKO finish of Andre Muniz.
Round One:
Inside low kick from Muniz. Body kick from Craig. Another body kick from him that comes off the arm. Body kick from Muniz now.
Head kick attempt from Muniz misses. Body kick from Craig is caught but he manages to wrench his foot free.
Nice spinning body kick from Muniz. Now a few straight punches get through for Muniz as he presses forward.
Spinning body kick attempt from Craig doesn’t land. Body kick for Muniz. Head kick attempt from Craig is blocked.
Head kick from Muniz misses. Body kick for Craig. Craig with a punch and a high kick behind it.
Big head kick from Muniz that was at least partially blocked but made an impact nonetheless. Body kick from Craig is caught but he gets his foot free.
Muniz lands a takedown now and this is where both fighters are at their most dangerous. Muniz in Craig’s guard, but Craig ties him up to prevent any offense in the final seconds of the round.
Round Two:
Craig with a kick to the body and then one upstairs that’s blocked. Craig driving into a takedown attempt now and is able to land it. A couple of punches land for Craig and now he stands over Muniz. He drops back into guard but eats an upkick on the way.
Craig is ok, but as he postures up Muniz throws up a triangle choke attempt. This is Craig’s favorite move so that would be something if his opponent gets it. Craig defends well though and gets free. They scramble for position and it’s Muniz who now ends up on top.
Muniz in Craig’s guard. Butterfly hooks from the Scottish fighter. Nice ground-and-pound from Muniz. Muniz in half-guard now and lands punches. He drives in with his head while doing so though and that clash of heads forces the referee to step in and force a stand-up.
Back to striking range they go then, but not for long as Craig does well to land another takedown. Muniz working a neck crank from his back. Craig does well to roll slickly out of that and improve his position to side control. He’s going for a d’arce choke and it looks good, but he gives up on it.
Craig still in side control though and now improves to full mount and immediately starts landing ground-and-pound.
Craig really unleashing some brutal ground-and-pound elbows here and it’s a relentless onslaught that eventually convinces the referee to stop the fight – big TKO win for Craig at 4.40mins of the 2nd round!
Good performance from Craig here then, showing improved takedowns, nice submission defense and then nasty ground-and-pound to earn the victory.
