Undefeated lightweight Stan Dorsainvil made his octagon debut as part of UFC Sacramento at the Golden 1 Center on Saturday, taking on Gauge Young.
An LFA veteran making the jump straight to the UFC, “The Drill” Dorsainvil had just five pro fights under his belt. He was stepping up on short notice, however, filling in for Kody Steele.
The fight started with Young landing the first significant action, an outside leg kick and a teep. He chopped at the leg again as Dorsainvil marched forward, then landed a big overhand right that appeared to stun him. Dorsainvil clinched up, but Young hit a nice throw and unloaded some nasty ground-and-pound that seemed to put Dorsainvil out for a split second. Dorsainvil was able to roll and scramble enough to survive before eventually getting back to his feet.
Dorsainvil looked a bit labored, reaching with some of his strikes, but that didn’t stop him from coming forward and putting a relentless pace on Young. He even caught a kick and dumped Young to the mat. Young quickly got back up and landed some clean shots, but whenever he let off, Dorsainvil was right back on the gas. In the pocket, Young landed another big right hand that briefly dropped Dorsainvil. It was a great round from Young, but Dorsainvil showed tremendous heart to survive and keep pushing forward.
Dorsainvil came out firing in the second round with a combination that forced Young into a clinch. He wasn’t concerned about defense when entering the pocket, throwing caution to the wind and forcing Young to fight at his pace. Young started taking more damage and began trying to pick his spots, while Dorsainvil’s pressure continued to wear him down. With about a minute left, Dorsainvil turned up the pressure even more and secured a takedown at the end of the round. It was likely an even fight heading into the third, with the momentum beginning to swing toward Dorsainvil.
Twenty seconds into the final round, Young secured a takedown, but Dorsainvil got right back to his feet and immediately started letting his hands go. He was obliging the dogfight, eating some shots but wearing them better as the fight progressed. Young was still landing powerful shots and secured another brief takedown, but he simply couldn’t keep Dorsainvil away for long.
Dorsainvil landed a short uppercut, and Young fired right back. Over the final 90 seconds, both men were visibly tired but kept letting everything go. Dorsainvil landed two big knees and secured a trip takedown, nearly taking the back before Young got back to his feet with just over 20 seconds remaining. Young then ate a nasty elbow, and both men emptied the tank over the final 10 seconds before fighting their way to the bell in an excellent fight.
“This one’s for all the underdogs, all the people who didn’t believe they could do it!” Dorsainvil called out after the fight, pointing out that he was just a regular kid from Florida who’d been working at Home Depot.
Official Result: Stan Dorsainvil def. Gauge Young by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
