UFC middleweight Sedriques Dumas beat Denis Tiuliulin by decision to open Saturday’s Fight Night from Abu Dhabi.
Sedriques, a Floridian, was 2-2 in the UFC after controversially losing his last fight, being knocked out after enduring an eye poke against Nursulton Ruziboev. He came into the bout as a large favorite against the Russian striker Denis Tiuliulin, who entered the bout with his job in danger due to a three-fight losing streak.
Dumas began the fight with kicks while Tiuliulin tried to counter with hands. When Dumas ducked at one point, he seemed to get hurt by a knee, forcing him to shoot a desperate takedown. Denis threw him to the mat but Sedriques scrambled up and landed a takedown of his own. The Russian got to his knees but the American turned to his back with a body-lock. He slowly did attritional damage against the fence with knees to the thigh of his foe. Denis eventually exploded up and landed his own takedown, but Dumas quickly got up and put him back against the fence. A foul separated them, and Sedriques began to look better on the feet, landing some sharp punches on the forward-plodding Russian. However, he still shot to a duck-under and got the rear body-lock again, which is the position round one ended in.
The second round began very differently, with both men swinging wildly and landing clean in the opening seconds. Dumas was more active and accurate, but he seemed uncomfortable when Tiuliulin backed him up to the fence. As a result, he shot several takedowns there, landing one of them two minutes into the round. Denis again got to his knees and they stayed in a stalled side body-lock position, which Tiuliulin holding a whizzer, for a full two more minutes. The Russian finally got to his feet in the final minute but was still held against the fence until Keith Peterson separated them, after three and a half minutes without damage. Tiuliulin made up some ground with striking in the final thirty seconds, but Dumas still seemed to be up 20-18 after the round.
Tiuliulin was focused on pressure when the final round started, and he quickly built a slight lead against a tiring Sedriques. The Russian’s corner was urgent and he did land more strikes, but was not active or damaging enough to get close to a finish. Dumas shot a takedown two minutes in but Denis reversed it and got on top in half-guard. Tiuliulin was content to stay there though, working for ground and pound but not opening up fully against a stalling foe. Finally when he did Sedriques got to his feet. The final minute was slow and saw Dumas miss several weak takedowns, then Tiuliulin try to pour it on against his gassed opponent, only to shoot and land a takedown in the final moments.
Though the bout was close, it did seem as though Dumas would get the decision. He did, though one judge bizarrely scored all three rounds for him.
In his post-fight interview, Sedriques revealed that his house had caught fire while he was traveling for the fight, and that his grandfather was in the hospital with six months to live, making this win even more significant. He also referenced his past domestic abuse allegations, labelling them lies, but also, confusingly, saying that he has changed since that time and that the situation was “some bullsh*t”
Official Result: Sedriques Dumas def. Denis Tiuliulin by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 28-28, 30-27)
