Heavyweights Alexandr Romanov and Rodrigo Nascimento had seen something of a switch-up ahead of Saturday’s UFC Edmonton.
Romanov, ranked #13 at heavyweight, had originally been part of a planned co-main event with Derrick Lewis later on the Edmonton card. However, that bout was split up, with Lewis given Jhonta Diniz instead (in a fight that was no longer the co-headliner, thanks to Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi joining the card as a new main event, sh`ifting the rest of the fights down). Nascimento, who was originally scheduled to face Diniz, instead got Romanov. Diniz entered the fight with a ranking as well rounding out heavyweight at #15.
The fight got off to a cautious start, before Romanov boldly rushed in on a takedown. The attempt rammed Nascimento into the cage and before long he was on all fours. Romanov kept the body lock on Rodrigo as he began to pound knees into the hips and glutes of Nascimento. Rodrigo regained his feet for a moment and was viciously mat returned bouncing his head off the canvas. Rodrigo worked back up to a knee against the cage and just kept eating knees. With a little less than two minutes left in the round Nascimento briefly stood again, only to be mat returned. This time, to an even worse position, as Romanov moved to a modified mount position and landed ground n pound. With about thirty seconds left in the round; after softening his opponent up, Romanov briefly went for a key lock submission. The final seconds of the round saw Romanov dropping some well-placed hammer fists on Rodrigo as he tried to protect himself off his back against the cage.
The second round began with a short striking exchange that put both men on notice. Romanov was able to get things back under control by initiating the clinch and moving the fight against the cage. From there it was the same story with grappling control out of Romanov. Mid way thru the round and Nascimento returned to his feet. After an uneventful few seconds in the ref made the decision to separate the weary big boys. Once back into space Romanov, hands down, popped out the jab. Every shot that landed produced an audible crack to the exclamations of the Candian crowd. Nascimento landed a low kick in response to sweeping left hand from Romanov. After the action resumed Romanov got right back to work getting the better of the exchanges on the feet. Nascimento looked a little hesitant of the takedown but continued to come forward as the round ended.
The final round began with Romanov plowing Nascimento into the cage before awkwardly sprawling back into space. The stadium erupted as it appeared that Romanov was hurt for a moment. Alexandr got back to work landing single shots and sliding out of the way of the counters. Nascimento continued to fight patiently or hesitantly and hardly ever led the exchanges. Romanov landed a spinning back fist and had a lot of success with his boxing combinations. Both men looked incredibly fatigued as Romanov kept his hands down during most of the exchanges. Nascimento targeted the body with a minute to go in the fight and continued to move forward but looked extremely hesitant to throw. Alexandr circled on the outside looking exhausted and landed a superman punch to punctate his sure decision win at the end of the fight.
Official Result: Alexandr Romanov def Rodrigo Nascimento by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
