Welterweights Ramiz Brahimaj and Punahele Soriano faced off in a promising clash on the UFC Houston prelims on Saturday.
Brahimaj was happy to walk forward, working some kicks in against the massive Punahele Soriano, who previously fought at heavyweight outside the UFC, and middleweight when he first joined the promotion. Brahimaj worked lefts and rights, and even wobbled Soriano prior to the midway point of round one care of a left. It was his body kicks, however, that were Brahimaj’s most consistent weapon early.
Soriano would try to answer those kicks with a body kick of his own, only to nearly have it caught. He’d regroup, and they’d fight on and move to the second.
Another kick from Brahimaj opened the second frame; he’d later look to take Soriano down, getting a body lock in place from the back. Soriano used the fence to prop himself up, but wasn’t out of the woods just yet as Brahimaj stayed all over him. He’d eventually reverse, getting Brahimaj’s back against the cage. And there they stayed, until an overdue separation by the ref for the lack of action with less than a minute left. Brahimaj would get it down and take the back later, but there wasn’t enough time for him to work.
Punahele Soriano opened the third round spamming a few high kicks and managed to hurt Brahimaj! Rather than take advance however, Brahimaj managed to get the fight down. Puna would get up, but Brahimaj stayed on him like a wet blanket. He’d then wrap up a standing guillotine, and ended up going down with it, giving up position in the end. Soriano didn’t have much time to work from the top, and Brahimaj finished the round with a second, half-hearted guillotine attempt.
Come the scorecards, it was Soriano with the decision win, extending his current win streak to four.
Official Result: Punahele Soriano def. Ramiz Brahimaj by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
