With Ethyn Ewing withdrawing from his UFC 329 assignment against Farid Basharat, it was newcomer John Garza stepping up to salvage Basharat’s spot on the card.
The bantamweight bout took place on the early preliminary portion of Saturday’s event in Las Vegas, with Basharat fighting in the final bout of his UFC contract. Taking a gamble on himself, Basharat was going to need to do something special, as his own brother had been let go by the promotion under identical circumstances, even coming off a decision win.
The fight started with both men trading jabs, with Basharat mixing things up by attacking the calf kick. With 3:50 left in the round, Basharat timed a perfectly executed takedown. Garza tried to explode back to his feet but ended up giving up his back. He then perfectly timed a reversal to get on top. Basharat quickly scrambled back up and secured another takedown, immediately passing guard into side control. Garza created space and got back to his feet with two minutes left. Basharat landed a clean head kick that Garza took well. He continued giving Garza a bunch of different looks, mixing in the head kick, jab, right hand, and knees. Garza stayed calm and ripped shots to the body. Basharat closed the round with a spinning elbow.
In round two, Basharat opened with two heavy leg kicks. He quickly got in on a single-leg, but Garza defended beautifully and landed some knees on the way out. Garza’s confidence started to build as he continued pouring on the pressure. Basharat shot on another takedown, and Garza rolled out of it. Basharat didn’t give up, keeping his hands locked together, but Garza rolled out again.
Basharat was doing a good job sticking Garza with the jab while moving laterally. He then timed another takedown well, and after Garza defended the initial shot, Basharat finished the re-shot to bring him down. Garza didn’t accept bottom position and got back to his feet fairly quickly. He landed a few nasty left hooks to the body. Basharat answered by landing a straight left into a single-leg to get Garza down again. Garza popped right back up and marched Basharat down until the bell.
The final round started with Garza moving forward. He defended an early shot from Basharat, and his confidence continued to grow. Basharat stayed disciplined behind the jab and his movement, avoiding a brawl. He mixed in takedown attempts, but Garza wasn’t having it. Basharat timed the right straight a few times, stopping Garza in his tracks, but only for a moment. He also landed another good leg kick to try to slow the young man down. Garza’s boxing was clean, especially his body work, and he mixed in knees to the body as well. His takedown defense was stellar in the third round, stuffing multiple shots.
Basharat eventually finished a single-leg to finally get “Mowgli” down. He secured top position and landed some solid ground and pound until the final bell. Come the scorecards, though Garza had proven game, it was Basharat’s night, improving his record to 16-0.
Official Result: Farid Basharat def. John Garza by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
