Shane Young took a unanimous decision over Austin Arnett at UFC 234 in an exclusively stand-up battle.
New Zealand’s own Shane Young comes into UFC 234 looking to make his Octagon record positive. As an 11-3 prospect, Young unluckily debuted in the UFC against rising featherweight contender Alex Volkanovski, who beat him by decision. Young bounced back with a second-round KO against Rolando Dy. The 25-year-old stole the show at the weigh-ins yesterday by performing a Maori ritual after stepping off the scale.
Austin Arnett earned a shot in Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series after amassing an impressive 15-2 record with 12 stoppages. On the Contender Series, Arnett battled Brandon Davis in a back-and-forth brawl, falling by decision. The showing was impressive enough to earn Arnett a contract with the big show despite the loss. He took a pair of losses to the very talented Cory Sandhagen and Hakeem Dawodu before defeating Humberto Bandenay last time out.
Shane Young pressured Arnett quickly with a leg kick and began establishing his jab. Young was overwhelming Arnett early, throwing constant strikes. From combinations to leg kicks, it was all Young early on. Arnett began finding his range through the attack of Young, landing stiff straight punches. Young went for a clinch, but couldn’t get anything going off of it. Arnett seized momentum after the clinch, landing consistently with his jab and left straight. Arnett was utilizing stance-switches to disrupt Young’s rhythm. However, Young was able to land a hard combination to cap off the first round.
Young went to his body kicks to start the second round. His pressure-first gameplan was still in play, landing a combination early on. Arnett answered with a high kick and a left hand. Arnett upped his accuracy in the round, sticking his jab in the face of Young smoothly. Similar to the first round, the momentum shifted towards Arnett at the midway point. Arnett was diligent with his jab, landing it at will. Young pushed forward several times, but could not establish much. Young then turned it up with a minute remaining landing a heavy combination that lit a fire under Arnett. Arnett came back with heavy hooks that landed and yelled in the face of Young. Young obliged by landing heavy shots of his own to close out the round.
Young took control of the early part of the round again with a pair of body kicks and a combination. Arnett landed a triple jab then caught a kick and sat Young down with a right hand. Both fighters were perpetually establishing their gameplans. Young landed a combination in the midst of a possible eyepoke. Arnett fired back with a hard straight and a series of jabs. Young continued to pressure with multiple punches, and Arnett answered with another head kick. As time began to expire, both fighters agreed to throw caution to the wind, perhaps to the detriment Arnett, who was knocked down as time expired after landing huge shots of his own.
Shane Young def. Austin Arnett by Unanimous Decision (30-27 x3)
