Damir Ismagulov defeats Guram Kutateladze in technical war at UFC on ESPN 37
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, June 18, 2022, for UFC on ESPN 37, going down live from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
Headlining the event is a featherweight bout between a pair of ranked contenders in Calvin Kattar (23-5) and Josh Emmett (17-2), and co-headlining is a welterweight showcase between Kevin Holland and Tim Means, as Donald Cerrone versus Joe Lauzon fell through on fight day for the second time in a row this spring.
Russian talent Damir Ismagulov (23-1) faced off with Georgian prospect Guram Kutateladze (12-2) tonight in the first feature fight of the night. Continue reading to see how this epic lightweight contest went down:
Official Result: Damir Ismagulov def. Guram Kutateladze via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
Originally ruled a majority decision for Ismagulov*
Ismagulov has already dealt with more adversity through the first five minutes than he has at any point in his first four UFC bouts. He’s still doing well, landing some nice counter shots, but round one is all Kutateladze.
Kutateladze is able to press the action, land more often than his Russian adversary, and he gets Ismagulov up against the fence for a time where he’s able to land a number of vicious elbows.
Ismagulov has a much better second round, as he dictates the center of the octagon for the majority of it. The first he spent backpaddling, but the second he held his ground and really got his jab going. He began throwing a cross behind it and ended up landing some nice combinations, but Kutateladze landed a lot of his own as well.
It’s been a very competitive fight throughout the first ten minutes.
Once the third and final round was said and done, the striking totals between these two was ridiculously close.
The Georgian talent landed a lot of kicks and punches to every target possible, while Ismagulov landed more punches to the head of his opponent. Either man getting the judges nod tonight is justifiable. There was no loser in this fight.
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