Karl Roberson utilized excellent counter-striking to win against Jack Marshman on the main card of UFC 230.
Karl Roberson is also a former GLORY kickboxer like Israel Adesanya, with not nearly as much success however. A 4-0 start to his MMA career with three stoppages earned him a spot on the Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series, and he took full advantage by winning by KO in 15 seconds. Since earning a spot in the UFC, he is 1-1 with a submission victory.
Jack Marshman came to the UFC as the Cage Warriors middleweight champion overseas, and made his presence known with a knockout over Magnus Cedenblad in his Octagon debut. Since then, he’s 1-2, falling to Antonio Carlos Junior in his last bout.
Roberson started the fight with a head kick that was blocked by the Wales native. A left straight landed for Roberson as Marshman could not find the target. Roberson went high with a kick again and caught him clean. Roberson clinched up then landed an uppercut and a hook as Marshman was exiting. A pair of solid left hooks landed for Roberson as Marshman simply could not connect on the feet.
Marshman started going for leg kicks after realizing his punches were hitting air. Roberson countered one of those leg kicks with a body kick, then followed up with a series of left hands that sent Marshman to the fence. Marshman bounced off the fence to reclaim the center of the Octagon as Roberson was hunting for the counter left hand. Marshman landed a body-head combination near the end of the round as Roberson’s output waned as time went on.
Marshman started to turn on the engine in round two, throwing a flurry at Roberson. Then another big left hand wobbled Marshman. After a blocked head kick, Roberson landed another clean left hand down the pipe. Marshman went for another flurry but Roberson slipped out of the way, landed another counter, then scooped up Marshman to take him don into side control. Marshman began to squirm to try to escape, but Roberson steadily kept position.
Roberson landed another beautiful counter left hand to start the final round. It was learned in between rounds that Roberson hurt his left foot, so Roberson focused on his counter left, which he landed three more times. Another huge counter left landed then Roberson shot for a takedown and got side control. Roberson worked his way to mount and stayed close to limit any escape attempts from Marshman, using ground-and-pound as time expired.
Karl Roberson def. Jack Marshman by Unanimous Decision (30-26 x2, 30-27)
