James Llontop’s hopes of a return to the UFC anytime soon suffered a setback after he was outclassed by UAE Warriors welterweight champion Khotam Boynazarov in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
The Peruvian arrived in the UAE capital with two victories since being released by the world’s lead MMA promotion following three straight defeats. He had no answer to the Ukrainian’s superior grappling, who dominated over five rounds.
Boynazarov was awarded the bout on all the judges' scorecards to successfully defend his welterweight title for the second time to take his perfect career record to 11 wins.
The champion kept the contest firmly confined to his strengths, taking Llontop to the mat and several times in the first three rounds before going through the motions to see out the contest.
“Yeah, I knew I was ahead on points after first three rounds. Thereafter, I didn’t have to do anything silly but just stay focussed in completing the contest,” Boynazarov said.
“I knew he was tired after the first three rounds. I was tired too but I preserved my energy in the fourth and had another go at him in the final round to make sure I had the decision in my favour.
“I’m very happy to retain the belt and happy to remain undefeated. Obviously I’ll be back to defend the promotion’s belt whenever they decide to schedule my next fight.”
The 12-fight card saw five first-round finishes through spectacular strikes and submissions.
Bruno Machado took his perfect record in the promotion to seven and his overall record to 16-9.
The Abu Dhabi-based Brazilian stopped Azerbaijani veteran Agshin Babaev with ground and pound in one minute 36 seconds in the catchweight 158lbs co-main contest.
The other four first round finishes were recorded by Marouane Ballagouit, Ramazan Ragimov, Ullubiy Amirzhanov and Amir Hossein Alipour.
Ballagouit sank an elbow to open a deep cut above Filipino Jayson Margallo’s left eye before the referee stopped the contest in four minutes and 45 seconds in the opening fight on the card.
Ramzan Ragimov had both of Dumar Roa’s hands locked in a ground and pound submission in two minutes and four seconds in the next.
Amirzhanov was on target with a stunning left kick to the ribs of Ravshan Boymirzaev, sending him crashing to the canvas in one minute and three seconds as the first three fights ended in the first round.
Alipour then beat all of them with the quickest finish of the night. The Iranian landed a stunning right hook at Abdelkrim Zouad’s jaw to send the Algerian to fall flat on his back in one minute and one second.
The fight that had the crowd on the edge of their seats was the lightweight contest between Felipe Douglas and Zhasulan Akimzhanov, both ending with deep cuts above their eyes and bloody faces.
Douglas suffered the cut above his right eye in the opening round but the Brazilian clawed back to win a unanimous decision over the Kazakh in a fight that saw every aspect of a real mixed martial arts fight on display.
