In welterweight action on the preliminary portion of UFC Vegas 7, two newcomers threw down. Carlton Minus and Matthew Semelsberger were both making their debuts, a booking of necessity given the struggles of putting together cards during the coronavirus pandemic.
Minus had fought just once since losing to Rick Story in the PFL in 2018, earning a win under the Alaska FC banner. Semelsberger, meanwhile, had won three straight.
Both fighters were fighting at their preferred range early on. Semelsberger was landing the bigger strikes throughout the round, while Minus was just picking at his opponent with the jab. Minus was doing well at slipping and coming back with strikes of his own however. And while Semelsberger was exploding in with more combinations, Minus did a good job getting right out of the way. Both promotional newcomers were mixing it up very well to close an even first round.
Someone was going to need to break out moving forward. And to start the second, Semelsberger was the much more aggressive fighter. With far more powerful striking, when he landed you could tell Minus was effected by it. Semelsberger would catch Minus with a counter-right, dropping him and jumping on his opponent’s back. Minus did escape and get back to his feet, surviving the round. But Matthew Semelsberger was in the driver’s seat.
𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙮 knockdown!
✨ @SemiTheJedi is in compete control in RD 2. #UFCVegas7 pic.twitter.com/1p5DvCoDlQ
— UFC (@ufc) August 22, 2020
Both men came out firing in the final round with much more output from Minus than usual. Minus was the fresher fighter, finding the target before Semelsberger timed a double leg takedown. Minus got back to his feet yet again but at that point he was tired as well. With Semelsberger likely up in the fight, the slugged it out to the final bell.
No surprise in the final decision, other than the oddly different scores: a 30-26 and 29-28 for the same fight. At least they were for the same fighter, and the correct result was handed down in the end.
Matthew Semelsberger def. Carlton Minus by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 29-28)
