Capping off the UFC Louisville preliminary card, Brazilian lightweight Thiago Moises looked to make it two wins in a row against the rising L’udovit Klein.
Slovakia’s Klein was 4-0-1 in his last five UFC fights, and coming off a win over A.J. Cunningham.
The fight began with the two men both taking a measured approach and feeling each other out. Klein landed a couple of kicks and Moises returned with a few of his own showing a slight speed disadvantage. Nearly midway thru the round and Moises shot for a takedown. Klein was able to sprawl, clinch and sperate as the two men again fought at range. With less than 90 seconds left in the round, Moises landed a couple of leg kicks. Klein landed a flush left hand to the chin of Moises that floored him after a delay. Thiago was able to find a way to his feet inside of the clinch but looked badly hurt as the round ended.
The second round started with both men again taking measured approaches. Klein slid out of range and threw a kick that hit the cup of his opponent. The action stopped momentarily before resuming to Klein landing a solid punch combination. Moises again shot for a takedown and Klein successfully sprawled again. Moises landed a nice punch kick combination before Klein came back with a couple of hard kicks of his own. Nearly midway thru the round, Moises landed a leg kick and Klein returned with a multi-punch combination punctuated with a head kick. As the round went on, Klein continued to land hard kicks and put together combinations. Moises again shot a well-timed takedown that was again unsuccessful thanks to a sprawl from Klein. With about 30 seconds left, Klein successfully landed a single leg takedown in the center of the octagon. Moises was able to momentarily threaten Klein with a knee bar. When Klein escaped, he landed hard ground and pound as the round ended.
To start the final round Klein again went back to a hard leg kick and was forced to block a head kick from his opponent. 30 seconds in and Klein lands another teep to the cup resulting in a momentary break in the action. As action resumed, after about a minute, Moises attempted another double leg takedown and was again unsuccessful. The two fighters ended up in a clinch as Moises landed some solid knees and elbows. Moises missed yet another takedown as the pair separated.
With nearly two minutes left in the round, Moises was able to momentarily get Klein to the ground with a wrestling sequence ending in a throw. Thiago was not able to hold Klein on the ground and after a brief period clinched against the cage, as the fight was back in space a few seconds later. With nearly a minute left in the round, Klein landed a nasty knee to the body of Moises which crumpled him. Klein swarmed on Moises on the ground but was not able to get many punches past his guard. In the waning seconds of the fight, Klein was on top landing some decent ground and pound to his opponent.
Official Result: L’udovit Klein def. Thiago Moises by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
