Capping off the UFC Vegas 99 preliminary card on Saturday was a fight in the red-hot flyweight division, with Matheus Nicolau facing Asu Almabayev.
Almabayev was on the rise coming into the fight, a perfect 3-0 inside the octagon and 20-2 overall. The flyweight from Kazakhstan was catching Brazil’s Nicolau on his first-ever losing streak, as he’d dropped back-to-back fights against Brandon Royval and Alex Perez.
The fight began in a measured manner as both men were hesitant to potentially give the other the upper hand. Asu looked to land the calf kick on the lead leg of Nicolau early and throughout the course of the whole fight. Matheus on the other hand was looking upstairs, obviously anticipating a takedown from his opponent. A little over 90 seconds into the fight, Asu gave a halfhearted charge throwing punches which Matheus was easily able to evade with footwork. Midway thru the round, Almabayev partially landed a spinning heel kick to the woos and awes of the crowd. Both men looked extremely cautious to commit to more than a few strikes. Nicolau continued to throw out the lead hand and finally connected in the final minute of the round. The first round would end without too much happening.
The second round began with Almabayev coming out a lot more aggressively with an aggressive pouch and kick combination, immediately.
Almabayev continued to go back to that low leg kick. One of those strikes a couple of minutes into the round, caused Matheus to buckle a bit. With nearly two minutes left in the round Asu finally committed to a single leg which Nicolau was able to valiantly defend against on the cage. Almabayev reentered on a double seconds later, which Nicolau was able to sprawl out of. Nicolau turned it into a single leg and was able to dump his opponent on his back. However, Nicolau had been holding the head thru the entire sequence and was able secure a very deep guillotine. Miraculously, Almabayev escaped and triggered a momentary pause in the action thanks to his shorts coming untied.
When the action resumed both fighters cautiously stood and engaged. Nothing significant landed in the final seconds but Asu did whiff on a huge overhand attempt showing his off his tenacity.
The final round began with Nicolau still moving cautiously and Almabayev still throwing move volume. A little over half a minute into the round and Almbayev dropped Nicolau with an uppercut and hook combination. Asu followed his opponent to the ground and landed some extremely effective elbows from a modified mount position. Matheus was just able to survive grabbing by his opponent’s arms as he landed strikes. Asu did an excellent job of keeping his position though, over the course of the round, as his opponent grew more desperate with his attempts to return to his feet. Nicolau was able to land some nasty elbows off of his back but ultimately was smothered by Almabayev until the very final moments of the round when he returned to his feet essentiality just in time to shake hands.
In the post-fight press conference, Asu Almabayev boldly declared that he was ready for the UFC title and called for a title shot.
Official Result: Asu Almabayev def. Matheus Nicolau by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
