Bantamweight action at UFC Qatar on Saturday saw Aleksandre Topuria, brother of lightweight champ Ilia, take on Kazkhstan’s Bekzat Almakhan.
Topuria, with just seven pro fights to his name, entered with exactly half the experience of Almakhan.
It was Topuria pressing forward early, and through the first couple of minutes, he displayed a well-timed jab to go with that aggression. Almakhan, however, took Topuria off his feet with a well-placed leg kick, and moments later came very close to catching him with a knee. Undeterred, Topuria marched forward, with Almakhan circling to the side, back to the fence. In a clinch, just under two minutes on the clock, Topuria landed a throw, getting on top, in guard, with ample time to work.
Flowing like water, Topuria moved into mount almost instantly. No slouch on the ground, Almakhan was able to scramble, and while Topuria briefly took the back, the Kazakh soon escaped.
Round two saw more stand-up action, with Almakhan again targeting the legs. Again in this round, he hobbled Topuria, who didn’t go down, but came close off a crisp kick about three minutes in. To Topuria’s credit, he continued to march forward throughout, and with 90 seconds left changed levels and shot in on a takedown, only to be denied. After stuffing that attempt, Almakhan circled out. More importantly however, as the round progressed, and with Topuria having found his range, Bekzat was bloodied. Especially noticeable in the final minute, Topuria’s foward pressure was finally paying off.
Topuria continued to walk down Almakhan in round three, whose nose had a Rudolph-colored tinge to it after being cracked again and again. Bekzat continued to circle on the outside, but any counters he fired tended to be either ineffective, or just hit air as Topuria slipped away. Almakhan would change things up late in the round, changing levels for his own takedown attempt only for Topuria to scramble free. Topuria then clinched up in the final 30 seconds, and with time ticking off the clock, it was clear Almakhan needed something big to have any hope of winning. He’d finally tag Topuria a couple of times in the dying seconds of the bout, but it was a classic case of too little, too late.
Official Result: Aleksandre Topuria def. Bekzat Almakhan by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
