Light heavyweights Modestas Bukauskas and Marcin Prachnio faced off at UFC 304 on Saturday, with Bukauskas looking to return to the win column and improve to 3-1 in his second stint with the world’s largest MMA promotion.
Prachnio was light on his feet out of the gate, firing an inside leg kick and switching stances again and again. A second leg kick landed for Poland’s Prachnio, a ONE Championship veteran who had been trading wins and losses of late.
Bukauskas, the taller man by roughly four inches, had to suffer the indignity of a glancing low blow, not detected by the ref, just ahead of the midway mark. Adding insult to injury (or perhaps injury to insult), Prachnio almost immediately connected with a solid punch. Bukauskas, however, fired back with a spinning elbow, and minutes later went on the attack, swarming Prachnio, who managed to survive at least for the time being.
The opening seconds of round two featured a little stand-and-bang exchange, before things settled down a little and Prachnio went back to his kicking attacks. Hitting the outside leg, Prachnio forced Bukauskas to switch stances as a result, with the damage piling up less than halfway through the fight. Moments later, however, Bukauskas dropped Prachnio! Bukauskas swarmed, but Prachnio fired back, landing solid with a head kick in an unbelievable sequence. Later in the round, Bukauskas landed a takedown, with Prachnio committing a particularly blatant fence grab, which didn’t help him at all. Bukauskas finished the round on top.
Prachnio entered round three firing, putting Bukauskas on his heels, landing multiple punishing blows. Bukauskas, under fire, managed to land a key takedown, moving into half guard with four full minutes still on the clock. Modestas would make no mistake, eventually locking up an arm-triangle choke for the finish!
Official Result: Modestas Bukauskas def. Marcin Prachnio by submission (arm-triangle choke), Round 3, 3:12
