PORTLAND, Ore. – With a full training camp behind him, and a new team, as well, Curtis Blaydes used blade-like elbows to take out Cody East for his first UFC win.
Blaydes (6-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) took out East (12-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) at the 2:02 mark of the second round for a victory his first time out with Denver-based Elevation Fight Team.
The heavyweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 96 event at Moda Center in Portland, Ore. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass ahead of additional prelims on FS2 and a main card on FS1.
Blaydes opened with a solid right and a low kick, but a takedown attempt soon after was stifled by East without much problem. But it didn’t take Blaydes long to try again, and on the second attempt he landed a big takedown in the center of the cage. East worked back to his feet quickly, then worked a solid right cross as a counter. But a minute in, Blaydes scored another takedown along the fence and went to work from the top. Blaydes got to half-guard and landed short elbows.
But despite the solid work on the floor, East worked back to his feet and put Blaydes in trouble with his fists, and that led to another Blaydes takedown that saw him right into mount. He worked out of that problematic position and back to his feet, but soon after found himself being tripped to the ground by Blaydes and on his back in guard eating more short elbows. With 30 seconds left, the ref stood them up despite Blaydes doing work from on top, and East took advantage. He landed several big punches down the stretch, got a takedown and ended the round on top – though it likely wasn’t enough to steal the round.
Both fighters looked gassed to start the second round, but came out slinging leather. After eating a punch, Blaydes blasted in for a double-leg takedown and planted East on his back 30 seconds in. Bloodied up, East kept eating short elbows and punches to the face.
As East tried to get up, Blaydes continued to rain down elbows on East, and with the referee looking in telling East to improve his position, Blaydes kept the elbows coming. After a dozen or so, with East showing no sign of getting back to his feet, the fight was over.
“I feel great,” Blaydes said. “It sucks losing, especially in your debut on a main card. I don’t know what else to say other than I feel great. I think switching camps (to Elevation Fight Team) was everything. Having real coaches is everything. These are the best coaches I’ve ever had. They’re the best veteran coaches with UFC and Strikeforce experience. I’d like to be on a main card again. A pay-per-view would be dope. I’m not going to name drop – I just want to represent Chicago as long as I can.”
Blaydes got back in the win column and got his first victory in the UFC.East lost for the second straight time since signing with the UFC.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 96 results include:
For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 96, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Steven Marrocco contributed to this report on site in Portland.)
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