Jean Matsumoto had to survive the biggest shot of the fight before taking over the rest of it.
After getting dropped by a thunderous right hand in the opening round, the Brazilian rallied behind relentless pressure, nonstop volume, and a relentless pace to wear down Bekzat Almakhan and earn a hard-fought unanimous decision victory at UFC Baku on Saturday.
Round 1 – Almakhan took the center of the cage right away while Matsumoto stayed on the outside, circling away from the power hand. Almakhan pumped a few jabs to the body, stalking the Brazilian with his right hand loaded up, waiting for the perfect opening.
When he found it, he let his hands fly. A flurry capped off by a big right hand had Matsumoto firing back, but Almakhan’s lunging attacks did a good job of disrupting the Brazilian’s kicking game.
Then Almakhan landed a huge right hand that dropped Matsumoto. Instead of chasing the finish on the ground, he let Matsumoto back to his feet and went right back to work. The Brazilian tried to answer with pressure and big punches before shooting for a takedown, but Almakhan easily stuffed it.
As the round went on, Almakhan’s right hand kept finding a home, forcing Matsumoto to rely more on his wrestling. His first couple of takedown attempts went nowhere, but he stayed with it. Finally, Matsumoto got underneath Almakhan, lifted him into the air, and slammed him to the mat to close out the round.
Round 2 – Matsumoto came out with a little more urgency in the second, opening the round with a quick combination. Almakhan stayed patient, continuing to stalk him and waiting for another chance to uncork that dangerous right hand.
Matsumoto looked for takedowns early, but Almakhan did a good job keeping his legs out of reach. Instead, it was the Brazilian who started applying the pressure, flipping the script after spending most of the first round backing up.
Almakhan still found success with a nasty right hand that appeared to wobble Matsumoto for a moment, but the Brazilian kept coming. He was throwing more volume, mixing his strikes well, and making Almakhan work every second of the round. Another takedown attempt came up short, but Matsumoto never let off the gas.
He ripped a hard knee to the body, followed it with a head kick, and it looked like Almakhan was starting to slow down. Even with a nasty cut over his left eye, Matsumoto refused to back off. If anything, he got even more aggressive, throwing flying knees, head kicks, and looping hooks from every angle.
He closed the round in style with a wild combination that started with a spinning backfist, flowed into a flurry of punches, and ended with a head kick, stealing the momentum heading into the third.
Round 3 – Matsumoto’s corner spent most of the break worrying about the nasty cut over his left eye, repeatedly telling him he couldn’t afford to take another clean shot there.
The Brazilian didn’t let it slow him down.
He came out applying pressure again, ripping shots to the body and mixing in head kicks. One of those kicks appeared to drift low, and Almakhan immediately called for a timeout. The replay didn’t offer much evidence of a foul, but after a brief break, the action resumed.
Matsumoto picked up right where he left off, walking Almakhan down and forcing him onto the back foot. Almakhan still landed the harder shots, but Matsumoto was winning the numbers game, piling up volume with punches and kicks.
After the halfway point, both fighters started trading combinations in the middle of the cage. Matsumoto mixed things up with a takedown, but Almakhan popped right back to his feet.
Back in striking range, Almakhan fired off another combination before Matsumoto changed levels again. He quickly abandoned the takedown, went back to striking, and ripped more shots to the body.
With 10 seconds left, Almakhan tried to wave Matsumoto into one final exchange, but the Brazilian wasn’t interested. He stayed disciplined, saw out the final seconds, and made it to the scorecards.
Official Result: Jean Matsumoto def. Bekzat Almakhan via Unanimous Decision (29-28×3)
