Top bantamweight prospect Javid Basharat looked to maintain his winning ways and stay undefeated when he took on Victor Henry at UFC 294.
The Abu Dhabi-based card saw Basharat enter with a 14-0 record against former RIZIN fighter Henry, who had posted a 2-1 record inside the octagon prior to Saturday.
Technically, Basharat did stay undefeated on Saturday, though the fight did not go as planned. Especially not for Henry.
The fight began with Basharat looking to put on some forward pressure whilst trying to dictate the pace. The 28-year-old landed a few heavy leg kicks to the left leg of Henry as he continued to move forward. Henry looked content to sit on the outside whilst trying to explode into his one shot counters. The forward pressure and kicking heavy attack of Javid continued though through the first two minutes. The majority of the strikes coming from “The Snow Leopard” were back leg attacks from an orthodox stance, but with just two minutes left of the round, Basharat timed a nice takedown, putting Henry on his back momentarily.
With Henry being the more comfortable wrestler, he made it back to his feet and secured the clinch position against the fence. After the two returned to the centre of the octagon, Basharat landed a fast spinning wheel kick, but Henry ate it comfortably. Javid began to try and feint his way into range with his hands, but he couldn’t quite land the shot he was looking for as the horn sounded for the end of the round.
At the beginning of round two, Basharat looked to get his kicking game going again but landed a groin shot that left Henry on the ground wincing in pain. It didn’t look great for Henry as he was down screaming in pain for all of five minutes. The doctor checked in; replays played which resulted in the crowd booing as the replay didn’t do the shot justice. Lukasz Bosacki decided that Henry was unfit to continue, which was granted as he was slumped up the side of the octagon still shouting in pain. An unfortunate end to what seemed to be a fun fight on paper.
Official Result: Javid Basharat vs. Victor Henry Ends in a No Contest (Accidental Groin Strike By Basharat), Round 2, 0:15
