Welterweight action at UFC 258 saw two fighters on solid three-fight win streaks collide, in the form of Belal Muhammad vs. Dhiego Lima.
After missing all of 2020, Lima was setting foot inside the octagon for the first time in over a year in the preliminary card bout. Muhammad, meanwhile, had fought just once during the pandemic, earning a win over Lyman Good last June.
The pressure of Muhammad was apparent early with him immediately backing Lima to the cage and not letting him off for the majority of the round. Lima appeared to be looking for big counters, but ate body kicks and more than a few combinations from Muhammad. Lima began to find his groove a bit with a handful of leg kicks that appeared to do damage to the lead leg of Muhammad. With a minute left in the round, Muhammad looked for a takedown, but came up empty. A counter landed late for Lima, but ultimately the round was all Muhammad.
The same pressure kicked off the second round, although Muhammad looked to be protecting his lead leg a tad more by switching stances and being particularly light on the leg. The second round continued to mirror the first round with an uptick in the landing on both sides. Muhammad put bigger combinations together and started to include the body. The leg kicks of Lima did a bit more damage. Muhammad again came up short on the takedown with about a minute to go. They ended where they started in a round that was a little closer than the first, but likely still went to Muhammad.
Lima had a bit more urgency to kick off the third round, but wound up getting backed right up to the cage once again. Muhammad wound up in on a body lock only a minute into the round, but still wasn’t able to complete anything. More combinations came from Muhammad and Lima seemed to be tiring quite a bit. The strikes began to add up with Lima on wobbly legs. That damage allowed Muhammad to get the takedown he had been looking for all night. He took the back as Lima rose to his feet. Muhammad ended the round there and appeared to take every round of the fight.
Just not giving Lima a second to breathe 😳 #UFC258 pic.twitter.com/VRSCxwXYVj
— UFC (@ufc) February 14, 2021
Official Results: Belal Muhammad def. Dhiego Lima by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
