Belal “Remember the Name” Muhammad finishes strong in victory over Demian Maia at UFC 263
UFC 263 takes place tonight, June 12th from Gila River Arena In Glendale, Arizona and is highlighted by two championship bouts. The co-main event is a rematch between defending flyweight title holder Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno. These two fought to a majority draw in December at UFC 256 in a memorable back and forth brawl. The main event pits middleweight champion Israel Adesanya against steamrolling Marvin Vettori. Adesanya makes his return to the 185 lb class after stepping up to light heavyweight and challenging champ Jan Blachowicz to no avail. It is the only blemish on an impressive 20-1 record Vettori has won five in a row to earn the shot at the belt.
The PPV event has a stacked undercard as well. In a welterweight battle, #9 ranked Demian Maia welcomes #12 Belal Muhammad. Maia is widely regarded as the greatest MMA grappler of all time and is a danger to submit anyone on the ground whether on top or in guard. Muhammad has won 8 of 9 and is coming off of a no-contest where Leon Edwards landed an eye-poke in the first round and the fight ended too soon for a decision. Muhammad will undoubtedly look to keep this fight on the feet and trade strikes. This is how the fight went down, including round by round scoring from MyMMANews..
Round 1
One minute in and Demian Maia is in on the single leg as Muhammad tries to defend. Maia still has them up against the cage and switches to the double leg and has Muhammad pinned up against the cage. No damage being done and good defense by Muhammad as gets out and they go back to the center of the octagon. Once again my looking for the leg and the takedown as Muhammad is defending and is now loose. Once again Maia in on a single leg and Muhammad is balancing on one leg. Muhammad breaks loose and attempts a couple kicks that glance and the round ends
MyMMANews scores round 1 10-9 Maia
Round 2
90 seconds in and both guys still dancing around the center of the cage looking for an opening. Maia’s left hand has scored couple of times and Muhammad defends a shot successfully. Muhammad with a nice left and another combination. Muhammad is doing a nice job of keeping the distance but still getting close enough to score with his hands. Maia again on a leg. Muhammad continues to do very well not getting taken down and lands some body shots before the bell
MyMMANews scores round 2 10-9 Muhammad
Round 3
MyMMANews scores round 3 10-9 Muhammad
Official Score … Belal Muhammad victorious via unanimous decision 30-27 29-28 29-28
