PFL veteran Carlos Leal made his octagon debut at UFC 308 on Saturday, with the welterweight stepping up on short notice against Rinat Fakhretdinov.
Leal had acquitted himself well in his LFA, Bellator, and PFL runs, with a pair of losses to Sadibou Sy, a Professional Fighters League champ, representing his only setbacks since 2014.
The fight started with Fakhretdinov throwing an inside leg kick. A lot of feints to the body and leg kicks from Fakhretdinov, who then got right into a takedown. He did complete it but Leal got to the cage and worked right back to his feet. Fakhretdinov still had control against the cage and both were trading knees in the clinch until Leal circled out. Leal seemed to hurt Fakhretdinov in an exchange. It forced Fakhretdinov to shoot and Leal sprawled and Fakhretdinov re-shot and got the takedown, only to have Leal bounce right back up. Leal got some space and landed a right hook off the break. Fakhretdinov was throwing wild but Leal was clipping him. He then stunned Fakhretdinov with a short left-hand finding success with his hands. His takedown defense held up very well in the closing half of the round and was finding his spots on the feet.
In round two Fakhretdinov came out firing wild overhands. Leal would slow him down with the calf kick he’d been going after. Fakhretdinov continued to shoot but Leal would shrug him off. Fakhretdinov at times would draw Leal into those exchanges. When Leal was fighting calm he was landing on the chin of Fakhretdinov. Fakhretdinov was doing well getting back into the fight with a stiff jab. Leal turned it around with an overhand right and a thudding leg kick. Fakhretdinov attempted another takedown but didn’t get it and took a knee for his trouble. Fakhretdinov landed a right hand that was clean but Leal continued to take the punches well.
When Leal was connecting he was getting a bigger reaction out of Fakhretdinov. Fakhretdinov was landing fine when he would rush in with wild overhands landing on Leal. Leal towards the end of the round would land a heavy leg kick and Fakhretdinov would get the takedown with seconds left.
In the final round, it was likely a finish was needed for Fakhretdinov despite a better round two from him. Leal opened up with a nice combination to start the fight. It forced Fakhretdinov to shoot and Leal defended and landed a combination to the body. Fakhretdinov, still almost certainly in need of a finish, was pressing forward but putting Leal against the cage. It wasn’t working as Leal continued to defend the takedown very well. Fakhretdinov was getting back into the fight with his hands but was making the mistake of continuing to miss takedown attempts. Fakhretdinov whiffed on a couple of punches and Leal got a takedown of his own but was not there long. Leal was visibly tired and defensively he was getting hit more. He was still fighting, throwing good combinations and defending the takedowns. With the clock ticking Fakhretdinov kept trying for that takedown but it wasn’t coming close. Fakhretdinov ended the round with a couple right hands landing the better of it at the bell.
Come the scorecards, the results were 29-28, 29-28, 30-27. If there was an argument for a 30-27, it was probably for Leal – but in yet another example of extremely poor judging, it was Rinat Fakhretdinov awarded the victory. The UFC broadcast team immediately questioned the outcome, in particular the 30-27 score, as did any number of fans and pundits online.
Official Result: Rinat Fakhretdinov def. Carlos Leal by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
