Kicking off the UFC Vegas 28 card was the return of “The Monkey King.” Jordan Leavitt had impressed with a slam KO in his first UFC outing; Saturday night in Las Vegas, he had a chance to follow that up against Peru’s Claudio Puelles.
“El Nino,” for his part, was looking to make it three in a row.
Both fighters took to center early, and Leavitt unloaded three kicks. Leavitt shot in for a takedown, and Puelles rolled with it. Puelles successfully defended, and Leavitt shot in again and got the takedown. Things were off to a solid start. Puelles got up pretty quickly, and Leavitt put him against the fence. At 2:45, Leavitt put Puelles on his back again, and again Puelles got up. Less than two minutes left, and both of the fighters took the center of the octagon once more. Leavitt ate a couple of body kicks, and then Puelles shot in for a takedown himself. Leavitt was throwing up submissions to no effect to end round one.
Leavitt hit Puelles with a jab to start round two. Both fighters exchanged kicks, and Leavitt shot in for a single-leg takedown. Puelles defended Leavitt’s takedown and took Leavitt’s back which then Leavitt reversed to a heel hook. Puelles got out of the heel hook and ended up on top of Leavitt. Not much action for a minute and a half. Leavitt threw an upkick as Puelles got his feet but missed. Puelles snatched Leavitt’s back and held it for the last 90 seconds of the round. The momentum had clearly shifted back to him.
Leavitt started walking down Puelles to start round three, and Puelles landed a takedown. Leavitt started scrambling after being on his back for a minute. Leavitt threw up a triangle, but Puelles defended, and both fighters ended up in the north-south position. The referee stood the fighters up at 1:45. Puelles instantly landed another takedown. Puelles finished the fight on top and landing ground and point.
Official Result: Claudio Puelles def. Jordan Leavitt by unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)
