Dwight Grant edges Stefan Sekulic in questionable split-decision
Fans are back at UFC 261 as a sold-out crowd of 15,000 fills the VyStar Veterans Memorial arena in Jacksonville Florida on Saturday, April 24. Headlining the main card featuring three championship belts in a welterweight title rematch between the current king Kamara Usman and challenger Jorge Masvidal.
In the co-main event, strawweight champion Zhang Weili makes her second title defense, against former champion Rose Namajunes. Current women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko puts her strap on the line against former straw with champion Jessica Andrade
In a welterweight matchup, Dwight “The Body Snatcher” Grant takes on Stefan Sekulic on the preliminary portion of the card.
Grant, who trains with the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Daniel Cormier, and others are coming off of a knockout loss in his last outing. It was the first time the 36-year-old welterweight has been stopped in his 13 bouts, thus a win is essential for Grant to get back on track.
This will serve as Sekulic’s sophomore appearance in the UFC, following a decision loss to Ramazan Emeev in his promotional debut back in 2018. Sekulic looks to get back in the win column following a lengthy two-year suspension for multiple banned substances in his first bout back in the Octagon.
Here is how the welterweight bout between Dwight Grant and Stefan Sekulic went down at UFC 261, including round-by-round scoring. For full results of the event, check them out right here.
Round 1: Grant gets things going with two leg kicks to feel his opponent out. Both fighters take their time with a feeling out process with Grant pushing his jabs while Sekulic assesses his foe. A short left hook blocked from Grant sets Sekulic up to unleash a head kick that narrowly misses. The action begins to pick up with Grant keeping his punches popping, finding success upstairs against Sekulic. Sekulic fires another head kick that’s blocked and Grant immediately returns fire with a hard leg kick. Sekulic attempts a flying knee but doesn’t gain any traction as Grant isn’t phased, continuing to push his punches out. With a minute left, Sekulic fires a calf kick. Grant continues utilizing his range, keeping his opponent at bay. With seconds left, Sekulic secures a takedown, but can’t keep Grant down as he bounces right back up before the bell sounds
MyMMANews scores round 1 for Dwight Grant. 10-9
Round 2: Grant starts round two with the rhythm of round one, popping his jabs and leg kicks out, choosing wisely when to commit. Sekulic attempts to get inside to fire off a strike combo but is denied. Grant gets back to using his reach and Sekulic dives for a takedown attempt. Grant shrugs it off and turns Sekulic to unleash a vicious punch combination, forcing Seklic to retreat. Sekulic attempts another takedown that is fended off and the action settles momentarily with both fighters returning to center-cage. Sekulic closes the distance to get Grant against the fence, picks him up, and dumps him on the mat, landing in half guard. Grant gets back to his feet with a minute left in the round and gets to work with his punches and kick combos. With nothing landing, Sekulic picks up the pace with his own punches. With moments left in the round, Sekulic looks for another takedown that is fought off, but Grant spends the remaining seconds pinched against the fence.
MyMMANews scores round 2 for Stefan Sekulic. 10-9
Round 3: Grant kicks off the third round with a vicious punch onslaught. Sekulic senses the desperation from Grant and lets Grant come after him. Sekulic counters beautifully picking his foe with hard straight left hands. Grant shoots for his own takedown and lands on top but immediately gives it up, getting back to his feet. Grant continues to push his strikes out, but lacking the pop it did earlier, and Sekulic ducks a punch combo to take Grant down, once again. Grant gets back to his feet but Sekulic is the fresher man and easily picks Grant apart with his strikes upstairs. A vicious left from Sekulic wobbles Grant and Sekulic wastes no time, charging inside with a flying knee attempt to a takedown. With seconds left, Sekulic locks in an arm-in guillotine until the final bell.
MyMMANews scores round 3 for Stefan Sekulic . 10-9
Official result: Dwight Grant defeats Stefan Sekulic via a split decision.
(29-28), (29-28), (29-28)
