Night of Split Decisions: Brendan Allen Gets Revenge, Narrow Win over Chris Curtis

Chris Curtis thought he was on his way to another win over Brendan Allen. But Curtis’ body betrayed him late in the fifth round Saturday night at the UFC Apex. A torn hamstring, which initially showed up in the second round, weakened considerably in the final 30 seconds of the bout.

Curtis scrambled to avoid being finished by Allen. But the latest MMA news showed that Curtis still thought he had done enough to end Allen’s winning streak. But two judges didn’t side with Curtis as Allen escaped with a 49-46, 48-47, 47-48 decision victory. 

It was a wild fight in which both men displayed what they are excellent at. Curtis displayed impeccable boxing and utilized his body shots to slow down Allen. Allen took down Curtis, who is notoriously tough to get to the canvas several times. But in the end, Allen was given the nod by the judges.

Allen is now on a seven-fight winning streak and called out middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis after the fight. While Allen hasn’t improved his stock to be next in line, he is on the way toward putting together a championship-level resume. This was a devastating result for Curtis, who had to be taken from the octagon on a stretcher due to his injury.

Curtis is now 1-3 in his career when his fights ended in a split decision. Many people felt Curtis’ pain during this fight night event. The final three fights of the night all ended in split decisions, with the losing fighter in each contest feeling a little cheated.

Damon Jackson Frustrates Hernandez

Win or lose, Damon Jackson was in a good position financially for his bout with Alexander Hernandez because Hernandez missed the featherweight limit by 1.5 pounds. He had to forfeit 20 percent of his purse to Jackson. But Hernandez ended up having more to worry about than losing money.

Jackson utilized his striking and wrestling to grind out a split-decision win over Hernandez. It was shocking because Jackson didn’t have a lot of confidence coming into this fight. Jackson had lost his previous two fights, including a vicious knockout loss at the hands of Dan Ige.

But Jackson’s consistent striking and length gave Hernandez issues. At the start of the third round, Hernadez dropped Jackson with strikes but decided to try to wrestle with Jackson instead of looking to finish the fight with ground and pound. Jackson ended up surviving the grappling exchange and stealing a decision win as a sizable underdog.

Everyone’s Favorite Underdog

Jose Mariscal may never be a UFC champion, but no one can ever tell him he was unworthy of reaching the world’s most prestigious MMA organization. The best MMA news sites show that while there will be a contingent of people who believe Mariscal didn’t beat Morgan Charriere, two judges thought that he did.

That’s all that should matter for Mariscal. He has now won three consecutive fights in the UFC, all three as an underdog. Mariscal and Charriere engaged in a wild fight featuring a little of everything. Both men landed heavy strikes.

Charriere and Mariscal also showed impressive ability on the ground.

Ignacio Bahamondes Provides a Spark

Chilean fighter Ignacio Bahamondes made sure everyone interested in seeing fights end before the scorecards had something to enjoy Saturday night. Bahamondes had previously shown struggles against fighters who could force him to grapple.

Christos Giagos didn’t decide to test him on the ground. Instead, Giagos decided to stand and strike. It was a big-time mistake by Giagos. Bahamondes landed a head kick in the latter half of the round that sent Giagos flying up against the cage. No follow-up shots were needed, as the referee waived off the fight.

Peek Performance Wasn’t Needed

Trevor Peek rose to prominence because of his unorthodox approach to striking. But Peek has found at the top level, it is a necessity to have some technical ability to win fights. Peek lost his second straight fight to Charlie Campbell, who was a little more well-rounded than him.

Campbell absorbed Peek’s biggest shots and was able to grapple and throw effective strikes of his own.

Norma Dumont Gives Germaine de Randamie a Rude Welcome Back

Germaine de Randamie was the first UFC women’s featherweight champion ever crowned. But that was years ago. De Randamie, who hadn’t fought in over three years, came back to a world that had completely changed. When de Randamie had to fight Norma Dumont, she had to do it at bantamweight because the featherweight division was inactive.

Dumont is a solid fighter but hadn’t beaten anyone at the magnitude of de Randamie. Dumont leaned on her grappling to get the job done. She controlled the first and third rounds to grab a narrow decision. Dumont won despite not landing a significant strike in the first round.

Matsumoto Stays Perfect

Jean Matsumoto had some nervous moments during his bantamweight fight with Dan Argueta. Argueta is a pressure fighter who never stops wrestling. In the first round, Argueta was able to mix his wrestling and striking to keep Matsumoto off balance.

However, in the second round, Matsumoto was able to take advantage of a slowing Argueta. Matsumoto landed big shots on the feet. He also neutralized Argueta’s wrestling. Late in the second round, Matsumoto was able to wrap Argueta up with a guillotine choke and forced a stoppage with 1 second remaining in the round.

Here’s a look at the results from the other fights on the card not listed above:

• Welterweight, Alex Morono win by decision over Court McGee, 29-28 (x3)
• Heavyweight, Lukasz Brzeski win by decision over Valter Walker, 29-28 (x3)
• Bantamweight, Victor Hugo win by decision over Pedro Falcao, 30-27, 29-28 (x2)
• Middleweight, Cesar Almeida win by TKO (punches) over Dylan Budka, Round 2 2:13
• Catchweight (138.5 pounds), Nora Cornolle win by TKO (knee) over Melissa Mullins, Round 2 3:06

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By Dean McHugh.