UFC Calgary’s televised prelims opened with a battle of light-heavyweight prospects in Gadzhimurad Antigulov and Ion Cutelaba, which Cutelaba won via TKO off an endless barrage of uppercuts.
Gadzhimurad Antigulov and Ion Cutelaba entered UFC Calgary as bright prospects with lots of potential at light heavyweight. A.k.a. in a division that desperately needs new talent. Antigulov was 2-0 in the UFC with wins over Joachim Christensen and Marcos Rogerio De Lima. Meanwhile, Ion Cutelaba entered the night at 2-2 with his last victory coming against Henrique De Silva. However, that came just over a year ago, and UFC on FOX 30, as the Calgary card is otherwise known, was Cutelaba’s first fight back after testing positive for banned substances and being suspended.
The first round started, not shockingly, with Antigulov looking to use his game plan and wrestle Cutelaba. However Cutelaba survived the early storm, and Antigulov started to fade a bit. As Cutelaba got to his feet he started going to the body with giant knees that buckled Antigulov and started to sap him of his energy. Cutelaba at one point had Antigulov seemingly out on his feet, with the ref taking a good look. It was allowed to continued, and so Ion Cutelaba continued to rain uppercuts and knees on his opponent until the fight was stopped. With Antigulov still standing.
This fight will likely shoot Cutelaba into the top 15, and it will be interesting to see where he can go from here. Ion has tons of power, and is still very young in his career so it’ll be fun to see how far this prospect goes from here.
Ion Cutelaba def. Gadzhimurad Antigulov by TKO, Round 1, 4:24
