The featured preliminary card at UFC Vegas 29 on Saturday put light heavyweight prospects in the spotlight. Nicolae Negumereanu had made his promotional debut back in 2019, but the Romanian fighter had been sidelined throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Aleksa Camur, meanwhile, was looking to rebound from the first loss of his career.
It was Negumereanu getting the nod in this one, but not without controversy care of a number of unpunished fence grabs.
No glove touch for the two fighters in this one. Camur landed a heavy jab to start the fight. Negumereanu missed a right hand and left after that. Camur landed a calf kick but then countered with a hook that got his opponent’s attention. Camur landed a left hook that snapped Negumereanu’s head back, followed by a 1-2. Negumereanu landed a punch that really hurt Camur, but Camur clinched immediately. Negumereanu landed a takedown with a little more than two minutes left in the round. Negumereanu tried for a hip toss as Camur got to his feet, but couldn’t land it. One minute left, and Camur landed three jabs back to back to back. Negumereanu ate an uppercut and kept marching Camur down. Camur landed a knee to end the round.
Negumereanu took the center of the octagon to start round two and landed a punch that stung Camur. Camur landed a 1-2 followed by a hook, but Negumereanu ate it and walked forward. Negumereanu put Camur against the fence for a good three minutes. Camur eventually got free and started punching Negumereanu’s body. The problem being, much of that control time for Negumereanu came care of him utilizing the fence. While ref Mike Beltran did warn the fighter, nothing more than that warning was forthcoming. Back in the open, Negumereanu landed a hook, and Camur landed one back. Negumereanu landed a left hook to end round two.
Negumereanu let out a scream to start round three. Camur missed on a front kick. Negumereanu landed a right hand and continued to walk down Camur. Negumereanu hit Camur below the belt, which halted the action. Camur tried for a takedown but failed. Negumereanu threw two hooks but missed. Camur landed a left hook himself, followed by a jab. A little over two minutes left in the fight, and Negumereanu stuffed another takedown. Negumereanu put Camur against the fence. Once again, there was a fence grab. Mike Beltran stopped the fight and gave Negumereanu a stern warning for grabbing the fence multiple times. with little more than ten seconds remaining, Camur landed a 1-2. It wasn’t enough.
In the end, Nicolae Negumereanu got back into the win column while Camur dropped his second fight in a row. Had the multiple fence grabs been penalized, the outcome would have looked considerably different.
Official Result: Nicolae Negumereanu defeated Aleksa Camur by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
