Ultimate Fighter 11 winner Court McGee was looking to snap a two-fight skid when he faced Alex Morono in a welterweight battle on the UFC Vegas 90 prelims on Saturday.
McGee had lost five of his last seven, and needed a win to keep his career moving forward, while hoped to bounce back from a loss to Joaquin Buckley last October.
The fight began with Morono catching McGee with a solid punch about 20 seconds in, getting a big reaction out of his opponent. Morono kept flicking out his jab giving Court some problems especially when he would come within striking range. McGee would continue to circle, utilizing lateral movement looking for openings on his opponent. A couple of feints of a jab before a jab cross combination found McGee against the fence before he quickly battled off. A solid knee to the body from Moreno as McGee swung another right hand towards the body. With 30 seconds left in the round, Morono landed a body kick that got a reaction out of McGee. The fighters continued to go back and forth, landing nothing too damaging, till the end of the round.
The second round would begin with a takedown attempt from Court and Morono catching a very deep guillotine choke on McGee and locking it in. Morono held the choke for just under a minute before he was forced to release it. This resulted in McGee in top position against the fence. McGee would look to land some bombs from up top before temporarily getting caught in a deep armbar attempt from Alex. McGee was able to escape from the armbar attempt and start to land strikes from Morono’s guard. Court really mixed up the strikes well while on top going to both the body and the head. Morono temporarily got another guillotine before letting it go and a few seconds later both fighters would both be back on their feet. Morono would fire off a three-strike combination ending with a right hand that again found its mark snapping McGee’s head back. Both fighters began to open up more throwing lots of shots with 30 seconds left in the round.
The final round would begin like the one previous as Court shot for a takedown, backing Morono to the fence before abandoning the shot. As the two men stood and traded at center, Morono found the right hand once again. McGee kept moving, circling, popping out jabs and leg kicks. Midway thru the round Morono was marching forward looking for a jab-cross head kick combination, with both men moving slightly out of range of most of the more damaging strikes. A spinning back kick from Morono found its target on McGee’s body. With under a minute left, both men were again starting to let their hands go. With 10 seconds left, Morono tagged Court with a right hand and attempted a spinning back fist that whiffed; McGee seized the opportunity and landed a takedown. That’s how the fight would end with McGee in top position as time expired.
Official Decision: Alex Morono def. Court McGee by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
