American wrestling standout Cody Stamann took on France’s Taylor Lapilus at UFC Louisville, with the bantamweight clash the second in on Saturday’s Fight Night card.
Both fighters were looking to return to the win column after dropping their last outing, with Stamann seeing a two-fight win streak snapped against Doulas Silva de Andrade just over a year ago.
The fight started off with Stamann landing a solid body kick. A few seconds later and Cody was able to land a leg kick before Lapilus countered with a straight punch of his own. Lapilus was continually probing with his lead hand constantly touching the lead hand of Stamann. A couple of minutes into the bout, and the action is stopped when Stamann is brushed by an open hand to the eye. When the action resumed, Stamann looked for a takedown which ultimately ended with a sustained clinch against the cage. With a couple of minutes left in the round the two fighters separated and Lapilus was able to land a good body kick before Cody again looked for a takedown. With a minute left in the round, the two fighters were exchanging with Lapilus finding the mark with short knee to the body, multiple times. The round ends with some solid exchanges in the center of the cage.
To open round two, Stamann was trying to stay active throwing long strikes and darting in, trying to combat the reach of his opponent. Lapilus began to land the jab at will on Cody, before the two men again end up in a clinch against the side of the octagon. As the two men returned to open space, Stamann counited to look for a way to get into range staying light on his feet attempting to land that overhand right.
Mid way thru the round and Lapilus is looking comfortably in control landing a body kick and stopping a shot from his opponent in return. The two men were again briefly tied up against the cage before landing some short strikes and separating. On the break, Lapilus landed a kick to the cup and there was a momentary break in the action.
When the fight resumed, Taylor went right back to the long-measured jab and continued to do an excellent job at keeping his opponent out of range. Stamann was able to back Lapilus to the cage with long punches and scoop up a single leg. Cody worked for the takedown till 15 seconds left on the clock but was met with some solid combos from his opponent till the end of the round.
At the start of the final round, Stamann landed a body kick that is answered by a swiftmulti punch combo. Cody then lands a leg kick that momentarily floored his opponent. Staying on the offensive, Stamann pressured his opponent and then shot a well-timed takedown, finally getting his opponent to the ground. With three minutes left in the round, Cody is on top in half guard with an arm of his opponent’s trapped. Lapilus was able to kick off of the fence and escape the position with Stamann initiating a clinch against the cage momentarily. With 90 seconds left in the fight, Stamann has his hands down and is using nice head movement to evade punches. Stamann is continuing to come forward, but Lapilus was comfortably slipping punches and returning at will as the final time expires.
Official Result: Taylor Lapilus def. Cody Stamann by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
