Randy Brown earned a unanimous decision victory over Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos tonight at UFC 302, but his opponent made him work hard for it.
Round One:
Brown fires off a few punches as Zaleski keeps his guard high. Low kick for Zaleski. Jab for Brown.
Front kick to the body for Brown and then a hook as he tries to go round the guard. Another kick to the body from Brown and a low kick from Zaleski in response.
High kick attempt from Zaleski is blocked. Body kick from Zaleski. Inside leg kick from Brown. Zaleski pressing forward but then signals that he’s been poked in the eye. The ref seems like he’s going to stop the fight, but then suddenly urges them to continue fighting. Odd decision from the official as replays confirm it was an eyepoke.
Jabs landing for Brown, but Zaleski responds with a takedown. Zaleski quickly back up though and hits Brown.
Leg kick for Brown. Now a jab from him. Another low kick. Calf kick for Zaleski and Brown didn’t seem to like that.
Jab for Brown. Spinning kick upstairs from Zaleski doesn’t find the mark. Big knee upstairs lands for Brown, but Zaleski eats it and grabs onto his leg as the round ends.
Round Two:
Low kick from Zaleski. Huge right hand from Zaleski then closes the distance with more punches and tries for a takedown. He doesn’t get it immediately, but he then drags Brown down. Brown on his knees and tries to stand, but Zaleski keeps him down.
Brown gets over to the cage and stands. Zaleski still clinching his back though and takes him down again. Brown quickly back up and immediately has to try to fend off more takedown attempts.
Zaleski again gets Brown down and has his back. He’s starting to sink in the rear-naked choke. It’s not fully under the chin, but he’s cranking on this hard and drops back onto the mat with it. Crushing squeeze from Zaleski but Brown is hanging tough and so he gives up on it for now.
Still 90 seconds for Zaleski to work here and he has the body lock in tight and is waiting for the opportunity to apply the choke again.
He goes for it, but Brown defends it. Now it’s Brown who suddenly transitions on top and gets to Zaleski’s back. Now it’s Brown’s turn to go for the rear-naked choke. He drops back with it just like Zaleski did with the body lock applied and tries to secure the submission, but Zaleski fights it off as he survives to the end of the round.
Round Three:
Inside leg kick for Brown. Body punch and a low kick for Zaleski. Leg kick from Brown. He wings an uppercut, but it misses. An eye poke forces a brief stoppage for Zaleski to recover.
He’s quickly back to it. Brown working his jab. Grazing right hook from Zeleski. He just misses with a front kick upstairs.
Wheel kick attempt from Zaleski. Now an inside leg kick. Jab for Zeleski. Now calf kicks.
Jab from Brown and then a hard accurate knee upstairs that appears to draw blood from his ear. More solid jabs follow from Brown. Zaleski drives in for a takedown against the cage. Brown trying to defend it here with less than two minutes of the fight remaining.
Zaleski working hard for this takedown but doesn’t get it and they reset to striking range. Brown looks for strikes, but Zaleski then takes him down and gets on Brown’s back while he’s on his knees and immediately tries for a last-gasp rear-naked choke. Brown seems ok though and is looking to punch from this position as the round ends.
Decision:
Good competitive fight then with both fighters having their moments on the feet and on the mat. Brown seemed to have the bigger moments overall though, including a couple of very damaging knees strikes to the head, and in the end he emerges with a unanimous decision victory (29-28 x3).
