UFC Fight Night 96 results: Shamil Abdurakhimov takes split from Walt Harris in heavyweight ho-hummer

PORTLAND, Ore. – In a fight that featured plenty of plodding and a little bit of blood, but not a ton of gunslinging, Shamil Abdurakhimov took a split decision from Walt Harris.

Abdurakhimov (17-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) topped Harris (8-5 MMA, 1-4 UFC) with a pair of 29-28 scores; Harris got a 29-28 tally of his own from one consenting judge in a fight that had the fans restless for much of the second half.

The heavyweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 96 event at Moda Center in Portland, Ore. It aired on FS2 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on FS1.

Abdurakhimov looked for a takedown early, but it wasn’t there. But a minute in, he got one to make obvious his game plan. Harris was back up fairly quickly, though, and landed a second left kick to the body. Soon after, Harris plunged forward looking to land a combo, but Abdurakhimov was quickly out of the way.

The two traded knees along the fence before breaking apart, and Harris then went back to the left kick to the body and came over the top with a high kick after it. But Abdurakhimov got inside and landed a stiff right hand that popped Harris’ head back. In the final minute, the two traded some heavy punches in close distance, and Harris opened up a cut on the back of Abdurakhimov’s head.

In the second round, Harris had a serious attempt at a front choke from on top, but couldn’t work the position to a place he could truly put Abdurakhimov in danger, and soon after Abdurakhimov was back to his feet. Although Abdurakhimov seemed to be winning the striking in terms of volume, nothing he did seemed to put Harris in any danger.

Much seemed to hang in the balance in the third round. Neither fighter seemed to go after something that would put them over the top in the first half of the frame. The crowd got restless for the first time, wanting to see the heavyweights throw the kind of bombs big men are expected to throw. But Harris’ striking output was mostly one punch and out, and Abdurakhimov, while getting off first most of the time, wasn’t doing much, either. Abdurakhimov pushed Harris to the fence late, and Harris pushed away and landed a knee on the break. But it wasn’t enough to make any kind of difference.

Abdurakhimov won for the second straight time and has victories in five of his past six. Harris fell back to the loss column after an April win over Cody East and has dropped two of his past three since returning to the UFC after a one-fight stint for Titan FC.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 96 results include:

• Shamil Abdurakhimov def. Walt Harris via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos def. Keita Nakamura via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Nate Marquardt def. Tamdan McCrory via knockout (head kick) – Round 2, 4:44
• Ion Cutelaba def. Jonathan Wilson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Curtis Blaydes def. Cody East via TKO (elbows) – Round 2, 2:02
• Ketlen Vieira def. Kelly Faszholz via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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.)