Yizha's UFC debut may not have gone the way he intended, but he likely picked up some fans and street cred for his fighting spirit. Ultimately, his opponent Gabriel Santos would pick up the victory after three rounds of battle.
The two fought on the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night: Burns vs. Brady at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.
As the two featherweights traded on the feet to open round one, Yizha was patient to land his left hook. Santos peppered him with jab-cross combinations, seeming to have a bit more pop on each shot. A leaping kick to Yizha knocked him on his butt, but did not seem to do much damage. The second front kick to the face from Santos did far more damage, scoring a knockdown the Yizha. The Road to UFC winner recovered and stood back to his feet, eating a knee on the way up.
Gabriel Santos hit the front kick to the body once again to open round two while Yizha looked for a takedown. Another front kick to the face of Yizha barely missed the mark, and Yizha looked to try to catch the kick. A hook counter from Santos landed flush, and a knee pushed Yizha back to the cage. A double leg from Santos at one minute and a half into the second round planted Yizha onto his back where he attempted short elbows from the open guard. The strikes were beginning to flow from Gabriel Santos and a cut to the forehead of Yizha had opened up wide. Once the fighters had stood to their feet, referee Kerry Hatley called in a doctor to check on the cut, but the doctor just remarked, “It’s just a cut”.
The action restarted and Yizha seems to be feeling fresh, throwing a spinning back to the body of Santos. He snapped up a single leg from Santos, looking to try to dump him to the mat, but Santos defended and the two slugged out until the end of the round.
At the beginning of round three, Santos landed a combination on Yizha where two left hooks pierced to the guard of Yizha, but Yizha spread his hands and yelled at his opponent to signal that he was no worse for wear. The Tibetan then shot a double leg on Gabriel Santos, but his Brazilian foe defended and turned the tables with a takedown of his own. Taking the back of Yizha, Santos locked in his hooks to set up a rear naked choke finish.
Yizha defended well, and stood to his feet in the final moments of the fight with Santos on his back. The scrap ended with Yizha slamming Santos to his back, surviving fifteen minutes of war with the Brazilian.
The judges scored the fight 30-26, 30-26, and 30-27 for Gabriel Santos, who picks up his first UFC win. Yizha falls to 25-5, taking a loss in his UFC debut, despite to a Brazilian prospect that many have circled as a future champion.
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