Undefeated heavyweight Alvin Hines, an LFA stand, made his octagon debut on Saturday at UFC 317, where Jhonata Diniz welcomed him to the promotion.
Hines entered the UFC‘s annual summer extravaganza, capping off International Fight Week, a perfect 7-0. Diniz had found himself in similar territory in his last outing, dropping to 8-1 after suffering his first career defeat against Marcin Tybura.
Hines came out aggressive to start the fight, landing a solid right hand and pressing forward while Diniz looked for openings. He landed another right and briefly scored a takedown, but Diniz popped right back up. Both fighters landed jabs, but Hines was the one pushing the pace early, despite wearing visible damage. Diniz began finding his counters and chopping the lead leg, with the damage quickly adding up. A sharp one-two from Diniz wobbled Hines late in the round, swinging momentum his way after a strong start from Hines.
In round two, Hines shot for an early takedown but was easily stuffed. He threw more volume with his hands, but Diniz used a more diverse kickboxing attack and superior movement to frustrate the plodding Hines. A clean left hand hurt Hines and forced a desperate, failed shot. Fatigue and leg damage started to show, but Hines gutted through a tough round. Hines got a little creative, even firing off a spinning back fist.
Both men were visibly tired entering round three, with Hines needing a finish. A brief eye poke gave Diniz a chance to recover, but he returned to punishing the leg. Hines kept pressing forward and throwing, but his output lacked impact. Diniz continued to land the cleaner, harder shots, closing the fight with a head kick that Hines absorbed to the final bell.
All three judges scored in the same after 15 minutes, siding with Jhonata Diniz, 29-28. A fun debut for Hines however.
Official Result: Jhonata Diniz def. Alvin Hines by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
