Tunisia's Mounir Lazzez beat Abdul Razak Alhassan in one of the most violent, aggressive UFC Fight Island matches, cementing his debut as one of the best.
UFC officials knew what they were doing when they paired the two athletes together for Thursday's 'UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Ige' card, the second of four "Fight Island" events within the quarantined area of Yas Island on Abu Dhabi.
Lazzez, who is a home grown fighter from Tunisia and currently centered in the UAE, made his debut at the midweek event inside the Flash Forum, had a record of nine wins (eight knockouts) against one loss, while Al-Hassan had a record of 10 wins (10 knockouts) against one loss.
Both fighters are well known for their striking and their punching power, and Wednesday they came to blows in what became a gripping, all-action war.
The bout began with Al-Hassan throwing a flurry of punches at Lazzez's guarded head, but because Al-Hassan was adamant about knocking his block off, there were a number of shots which still landed with aplomb.
Lazzez, though, showed good punch resistance as he absorbed the strikes, before unleashing his own kind of fury a fury which included slicing elbow strikes through the middle, kicks to the thigh which sounded like a whip echoing through the small arena, and powerful kicks to the head.
Lesser men would have fallen in an instant, but not Al-Hassan. He too, like Lazzez, is made of stronger mindset and did not buckle under pressure. And so a good, old, fashioned donnybrook broke out in front of the dozens of enthralled people watching Octagonside at 6.20 a.m., with the Abu Dhabi sun having risen long ago.
Lazzez Post Fight Comments:
"I love to be the underdog and to show my skill and that's exactly what happened tonight," Lazzez said. "I came in as the underdog and I enjoy the victory.
"When he put me in the first round against the cage, I said, "What, this is all that you got?" I still have a lot of weapons and just step-by-step I killed his will with the kicks, moving around, high kick, low kick, I showed my wrestling, my takedown defense.
"I kept visualization this over and over as just another fight, don't put pressure on yourself and just go enjoy what you do.
"I love this craft, I loved when I get clipped and I see the will inside the eye of my opponent, that mental game, I love that, I love that deep water stuff.
"My mental game, I've said it before, maybe you can be more technical and maybe you can be more powerful, but my will and my mental game, you can't beat it."
With the win, Lazzez advances his record to 10 wins (nine knockouts) against one loss.
Elsewhere on the main card, Taila Santos out-pointed Molly McCann with three scores of 30-27 in a women's flyweight bout.
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