On what was quickly becoming a card ravaged by bout cancellations (the event lost a full three fights between Friday morning and Saturday afternoon), Melsik Baghdasaryan vs. Collin Anglin wound up getting bumped all the way up to the main card.
Both fighters entered the night as UFC newcomers. Both had won their way into the promotion as part of Dana White’s Contender Series. One man was going to achieve the next step in his martial arts journey: a first UFC win.
Anglin was looking to cut off Baghdasaryan and make him work in close quarters. Instead, he ate a kick to the leg, one to the head, and then one to the body. The quickness of Baghdasaryan was clearly a huge advantage for him early on. Anglin managed to work him into the clinch a few times a landed glancing knees. The kicks to the body did damage to Anglin and he shot a takedown. After gripping Baghdasaryan’s knees for a brief moment, it got back to the feet. With 30 seconds left Baghdasaryan landed two massive left hands back to back and tried to pour it on Anglin for the finish. He landed some awkward standing hammer fists, but Anglin survived for the end of the round.
A much slower pace started the second round as Baghdasaryan seemed to be catching a breath and Anglin tried to find his range. Then Baghdasaryan started landing big hands. He followed it up with a big left head kick and it dropped Anglin. He came in to land some follow up shots, but Mark Smith had already seen enough.
Head kick KO in your UFC debut? ✅ #UFCVegas33 pic.twitter.com/v6CbfZ75GV
— UFC (@ufc) August 1, 2021
After the fight, Baghdasaryan said that his nickname was “The Gun,” and he had plenty of guns in his arsenal, the head kick being just one. He also said he didn’t feel like himself in the fight, hinting at being a little tired, not himself. It’ll be interesting to see what a focused Melsik Baghdasaryan looks like, because he was extremely impressive in his debut.
Official Result: Melsik Baghdasaryan def. Collin Anglin by TKO (Head Kick and Punches) – Round 2, 1:50
