A pair of up-and-coming lightweights battled at UFC 316 on Saturday night as Quillan Salkilld and Yanal Ashmouz looked to take a step towards the rankings.
Salkilld (8-1) earned a UFC contract off his win at Dana White’s Contender Series in 2024. His UFC debut at UFC 312 has raised expectations on the 25-year-old Aussie as he gets back to action in New Jersey.
Ashmouz (8-1) has been in the UFC since 2023 when he made his debut with a TKO victory over Sam Patterson at UFC 286. 2-1 in his UFC run so far his lone loss came at the hands of Chris Duncan, but he bounced back with a win over Trevor Peek a year later.
With the UFC lightweight division seeing some turnover with stars retiring or changing divisions the two fighters had a legitimate shot to make some noise.
Round 1 Ashmouz came out on fire aggressive and throwing heavy strikes. He looked to be trying to overpower and overwhelm Salkilld. Salkilld fired back on him, but he got taken down. A quick pop back to his feet, and then scored his own takedown.
Ashmouz did get back to his feet, but Salkilld showed improved grappling and took him back down. After a couple more minutes of grappling they separated and got back to throwing hands.
Salkilld continued to wrestle with Ashmouz shooting for takedowns and then lifting and dumping Ashmouz to the canvas. Salkilld dominated positions for the rest of the round. Ashmouz was able to land some heavy shots at the very end of the round.
Round 2 Ashmouz came out aggressive looking to leave dents on Salkilld’s face. He did land a clean and heavy calf kick that got Salkilld’s attention. A quick takedown gave the Australian the momentum right back.
Salkilld worked ground and pound in every position on the ground. Even when his opponent tried to stand up he got right back to his takedowns right away and scored them.
Round ended with Ashmouz finally stopping a takedown, but not being able to do anything with the headlock position. Salkilld took him to the fence and the round ended.
Round 3 Ashmouz came out aggressive knowing he needed the finish. Big shots landed, but not enough. Until a big right hand seemingly put Salkilld on skates. The Australian shot in for a takedown and got it to slow the action for a moment.
Clearly not hurt he went back to dominate Ashmouz in the grappling department. Yet Ashmouz came out firing big shots for the rest of the round, possibly hurting Salkilld at one point, but the grappling from the Australian helped him survive to the bell.
Another victory for Australia’s Quillan Salkilld.
Official Result: Quillan Salkilld def. Yanal Ashmouz via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28×2)
