Undefeated bantamweight prospect Farid Basharat had a stiff test in front of him at UFC Vegas 84, as he took on surging French fighter Taylor Lapilus.
Lapilus, on his second stint on the UFC, had won six straight, including his return to the promotion in his last outing against Caolàn Loughràn.
Farid opened up with a range of kicks going to a range of different targets, to the leg, body and even an axe kick. Basharat proceeded to attack a single leg, getting Lapilus down for merely a moment, however Lapilus was able to get back up. Multiple attempts from Basharat to take the Frenchman down, but Lapilus was able to get back up to his feet everytime, A brief submission attempt from the clinch from Lapilus forced Basharat to disengage from the clinch. A picture perfect entry from Basharat lead to him finally flooring Lapilus in the last 20 seconds of the first round, and finishing the round on top.
Basharat continued to attack with a range of kicks while Lapilus began to find the range with his jab in the opening moments of round two, and his stellar takedown defense is making Basharat work for every single takedown. With just over a minute left in the second round, Basharat is able to secure a takedown and move into half guard to end the round.
Going into the third round, Farid Basharat’s corner consisting of former UFC title challenger, Jake Shields and Dewey Cooper believed that Basharat was up two rounds, but told their young fighter to make sure he finishes with a dominant third and final round.
As the third round started, Lapilus found some openings with the hands, while being aware of a takedown attempt potentially coming at any moment. Two minutes into the round Basharat goes back to the well with the takedown and gets Lapilus down for twenty seconds but Lapilus is able to get back up, before Basharat gets him back down once again for his fifth takedown of the fight. With thirty seconds left in the final round, Basharat attacks the D’arce choke but Lapilus is able to slide out of it with ten seconds left, but Basharat, like the past two rounds, finishes the round on top in a dominant position.
An impressive and gritty performance over a veteran from Farid Basharat moved him to 12-0 in his professional MMA career and 3-0 in the UFC.
