Alonzo Menifield defeated Dustin Jacoby in a battle of ranked light heavyweight contenders in UFC 296‘s featured preliminary card bout.
Menifield had entered the fight on the best streak of his UFC career, going 3-0-1 with three finishes after a rocky start to his time with the promotion. Jacoby represented arguably the toughest challenge of his career though, as the former GLORY kickboxer is one of the most dangerous strikers in the division, as well as much taller than Alonzo Menifield. It seemed to be a striking battle on paper, with the huge frame and power of Menifield against the length and technique of Jacoby.
A slow feeling-out process started the fight, they could not really find each other’s chins for a while. Jacoby slowly began to land more and more with his long, straight punches, allowing him to control the pace. Dustin Jacoby walked forward and soon had Menifield’s back to the fence constantly. Menifield shot a takedown and attempted to clinch to no avail, Jacoby defended with confidence. Then Jacoby actually used the clinch to control Alonzo and land short punches to the body. Menifield turned him around at the end of the round but Jacoby landed a hard knee before the bell sounded.
The second round began with Alonzo Menifield knocking down Jacoby with a left hook. However, he gave Dustin time to recover by not chasing after him, so they got back to striking. The pace of the fight slowed. Menifield has his own scary moment when his legs buckled from a right hand halfway through the round. Dustin kept up the pressure and hurt Menifield but then got hurt himself. They traded monster shots in a wild war for over a minute, but then both took a breather to recover. Jacoby kept popping Menifield with jabs even when the pace slowed, really puffing up his eye by the end of the round.
Jacoby opened the third round by again pressing forward behind his jab and controlling the pace. He cracked Menifield with a few big right hands that seemed to hurt him, staying cautiously aggressive, being in his face without being reckless. Alonzo’s face turned into a mask of blood but then he turned the tides with one massive left hook that put Jacoby on his hands and knees. Menifield slammed uppercuts under the shoulder as Dustin tried to stand up while almost unconscious. Somehow he struggled to his feet and turned the tables by landing a knee in the clinch and pressing Alonzo Menifield up against the Octagon. They grappled in the clinch for the remainder of the round, turning each other around multiple times until breaking free in the final seconds, where Menifield chased after Jacoby until the buzzer.
When the decision was read, Bruce Buffer announced the victory for ‘Atomic’ Alonzo Menifield, giving him the biggest victory of his career and extended his unbeaten streak to five.
