One of two newcomers on the UFC Nashville card on Saturday was flyweight Assu Almabayev. The Kazakh fighter was undefeated since 2017 and rode a 13-fight win streak into his debut against Ode Osbourne.
Jamaica’s Osbourne was 3-1 in his last four, and coming off a win over Charles “Inner G” Johnson.
Almabayev opened up the fight with two good inside-leg kicks. It didn’t shake Osbourne as he was in the face of Almabayev. Almabayev landed an overhand right into a single leg getting the takedown. Almabayev was staying active with ground and pound as Osbourne was moving well off his back looking for openings. Osbourn did cut open Almabayev with an elbow but never manages to get back to his feet. Almabayev beat him up with punches and ended the round going for a Peruvian Necktie.
In round two Almabayev landed a big head kick that did land slightly. Right after that, he shot in for a low single leg but Osbourne defended. Soon after he shot in on another takedown but was higher and was able to trip the leg to get Osbourne down. Osbourne did work to his knees but he let Almabayev take his back. Osbourne survived the RNC once but after the second attempt, he had to tap. The choke was just on the job but the squeeze was too tight.
Assu Almabayev def. Ode Osbourne by Submission (RNC), round 2, 3:11
