Flyweights Alden Coria and Luis Gurule were the first of two men’s 125lb scraps on the UFC Houston preliminary card on Saturday.
Gurule was in search of his first UFC win after dropping a pair of fights,while fellow LFA alum Coria had won his own debut.
Coria worked from the outside in round one, with Gurule holding center and looking to crash forward. When he did, he’d cover up, with a fair amount of feeling out in the first half of the frame. In the back half, Gurule came forward with a two-punch combination, closed the distance, and clinched up. Coria would reverse, getting Gurule’s back to the fence. They came off the cage and separated, with Coria firing a knee to the body. A quick scramble didn’t see the pair on the ground long enough in the final minute to really count. A lot of data mined in the first five minutes, with the fight very much up in the air.
Round two got a little more scrappy closing in on the midway mark. Punches exchanged. A kick to the body. Coria went high with a kick that was blocked. Gurule fired lefts and rights. Coria connected with a nicely placed uppercut. A takedown attempt by Gurule in the final minute saw Coria instead come out on top. He briefly flashed a guillotine, and finished the round in side control.
Coria looked to be feeling himself early in rough three, pumping his jab and landing a takedown with ease. That would set the standard for the round. Coria had a lot of good moments, got his uppercut going again, and slowly put surely pulled ahead in the round, in a fight he was almost certainly on his way to winning.
Official Result: Alden Coria def. Luis Gurule by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
