UFC 326’s preliminary card featured flyweights Su Mudaerji and Jesus Aguilar throwing down at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“The Tibetan Eagle” Mudaerji was looking to build on back-to-back victories over Mitch Raposo and Kevin Borjas. At the same time, Aguilar, 4-2 under the UFC banner, entered off a win over Luis Gurule.
Round 1 – Mudaerji came out on the front foot, looking to back Aguilar to the cage and work his boxing. Aguilar wrapped him up in a clinch and held him against the cage. After a minute, Mudaerji separated and worked his low kicks, keeping Aguilar circling on the cage. His body kicks were quick and clean, and set up a nice spinning wheel kick. Aguilar attempted to fire back but missed big, tripping and running into the cage. As Aguilar entered the pocket looking for body shots, he was hit with a quick combination by Su, who worked his jab and utilized his length advantage. Aguilar locked up another clinch, but was tossed to the floor. After working to his feet in the final seconds, Aguilar landed a big overhand and a hook before the bell.
Round 2 – Mudaerji came out with a leg kick, followed by a rush from Aguilar, who was struggling to get in the pocket and land. The kicks kept the Mexican fighter at bay and had him circling, with Mudaerji landing a nice knee and right hook as he backed up. The reach and height advantage was crucial to Su’s gameplan, and he easily countered Aguilar’s clinch attempts with throws. After some solid top time for Mudaerji, he became more active with hammerfists. A failed armbar attempt from Aguilar allowed a standup, where another barrage of missed punches followed. Aguilar wasn’t able to find success with his rushes, just winging overhands at range and being picked apart by kicks and knees. Aguilar threw some kicks of his own to end the round, but to no avail.
Round 3 – Mudaerji opened the round with a clean combo, but ran into a rush from Aguilar, who pushed him to the cage. This didn’t matter, however, as Su was much stronger in the clinch and landed a pair of takedowns. After moving to the back, Aguilar shucked him off and stood up, landing a nice right hand off the break. Aguilar pressed the pace after this, landing his first takedown of the fight but losing control quickly. As Mudaerji stood up, Aguilar landed a nice combination. Mudaerji responded with a quick 1-2 of his own, hitting Aguilar as he tried to move his head. Aguilar wrapped up another clinch after this, but was caught with some big punches and quickly separated. Mudaerji started teeing off to end the fight, binking Aguilar with some clean shots.
Official Result: Su Mudaerji def. Jesus Aguilar by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
