On the UFC Liverpool main card, Arnold Allen choked out Mads Burnell, and Claudio Silva upset Nordine Taleb.
On the UFC Liverpool main card, Arnold Allen pulled off a third round submission on Mads Burnell to prevent the fight from going to the judges. In a highly competitive matchup, Makwan Amirkhani won a controversial split decision over Jason Knight, with two judges seeing the fight 29-28 for Amirkhani, with the third judge seeing it 30-27 for Knight.
Coming off a four-year layoff, Claudio Silva picked up a huge win over Nordine Taleb, unloading some serious ground and pound before realizing a rear-naked choke in the opening round. Opening up the main card, Darren Stewart snapped a three-fight losing skid by dropping Eric Spicely, and then finishing him with ground strikes in the second round.
Main Card:
Arnold Allen def. Mads Burnell by submission (Front Choke) at 2:41 of round 3: Featherweight
Allen showed up with some fast hands and agile footwork, dancing around his opponent. Burnell started returning fire, trying to roll under the straight punches of his opponent. Burnell shot in for the takedown, but Allen denied him and found open space. A takedown was finally realized for Burnell with about a minute left in the round, but Allen scrambled his way off of the ground.
Burnell blasted a beautiful double leg to open up the second stanza, and controlled Allen for solid chunk of time. Allen returned to open space and started whiffing on his punches, allowing Burnell to blast another takedown. The round concluded with Burnell controlling from top position while Allen struggled to find answers.
Burnell came out in the final frame and scored another takedown with all sorts of time to work. Even when Allen did scramble to his feet, he just couldn’t get any separation from Burnell. Just when it looked like Burnell was grinding his way to a decision, Allen locked up an airtight front choke that caused Burnell to tap out.
Makwan Amirkhani def. Jason Knight by split decision (29-28 x2, 27-30): Featherweight
Amirkhani struck first in this one, clipping his opponent before finding top position. After eating a few ground strikes, Knight was able to scramble back up to his feet. The striking battle was back and forth, that was until Knight dropped Amirkhani with a clean punch. Amirkhani recovered and got back up, but just to get dropped again with the same sort of punch that hurt him the first time. Knight locked up a triangle choke down the stretch, but Amirkhani survived and escaped the round.
Knight came out taunting his opponent, telling him that his chin was weak. The lead hand of Amirkhani started landing which set up the takedown, but Amirkhani allowed Knight to get back up. Amirkhani blasted another takedown, but Knight did a sound job of breaking down the posture of his opponent to avoid any major damage.
Knight pulled guard to start the final frame, locking up the rubber guard with one leg, while striking with his heel with the other leg. Amirkhani spent a lot of the round in top position, but wasn’t exactly executing much offense because of the control of Knight. As Knight went to stand up, Amirkhani landed a knee that sent Knight right back down to the ground, right before the bell sounded.
Darren Stewart def. Eric Spicely by TKO at 1:47 of round 2: Middleweight
Spicely waited until he connected with a clean punch before shooting his first takedown attempt. Stewart did a solid job staying vertical, but found himself with his back to the fence. Once back in open space, a kickboxing bout broke out. Each man had their moments, landing with one strike at a time.
Stewart opened up the second stanza by landing some clean punches, including a heavy right hand that sent Spicely stumbling. A stiff jab of all things is what found it’s mark, dropping Spicely down to the ground. Stewart quickly followed up with some savage ground strikes, not allowing Spicely a moment to recover. The referee stepped in a Stewart’s three-fight losing streak was snapped.
