Mana Martinez won a meaningful debut at UFC Vegas 35 over Guido Cannetti in honor of his late coach Saul Soliz.
The backdrop of Mana Martinez’s UFC debut had shifted drastically from its original date just a week ago. Martinez had been booked opposite Jesse Strader, and later Trevin Jones, on August 21. But with the death of coach Saul Soliz from COVID-19, the newcomer’s UFC premiere took on a whole other meaning Saturday.
Against Martinez, who had missed weight for the bout — a more forgivable miss than most given the circumstances — was Guido Cannetti, looking to snap a two-fight skid.
Cannetti was the more effective fighter early landing five hard kicks to start the fight. Cannetti still was letting those leg kicks fly as Martinez was trying to find his range. Martinez did open up with a flurry of body shots and headshots as Cannetti covered up. Martinez went off on another flurry and took Cannetti down. Cannetti reversed Martinez quickly and they got back to the feet shortly after. More heavy leg kicks and body kicks from Cannetti in the final minute of the round.
Cannetti continues in round two to let his legs go just chopping away to the legs. Martinez himself was landing a lot of leg kicks and started to counter more off the kicks. Martinez throw a lot of body shots and using feints to find his openings. Cannetti started to back up more in the latter portion of the round. Martinez started to catch the kicks more and counter.
Shots are flying and shots are landing! 🤜 #UFCVegas35 pic.twitter.com/DTklJJEtyc
— UFC (@ufc) August 28, 2021
In the final round, Martinez started to press forward even more. When he was letting his hands go he had Cannetti curling up while combinations from Martinez were flowing. Cannetti was visibly exhausted midways in the final round. Martinez was not throwing as much as he should but was throwing in combinations while Cannetti was throwing one punch at a time. With a minute left, Martinez shot for a double leg and completed the takedown. He let Cannetti up at the bell but landed some good ground and pound prior to that.
Mana Martinez def. Guido Cannetti by Split Decision (29-28 x2, 28-29)
