Francis Marshall re-established a foothold in the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division with a split decision over Dennis Buzukja in their featured UFC on ESPN 62 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Judges Ben Cartlidge and Junichiro Kamijo scored it 29-28 for Marshall, while Adalaide Byrd saw it 30-27 for Buzukja.
A short-notice replacement for Danny Silva, Marshall (8-2, 2-2 UFC) stormed out to a strong start. He employed a time-killing clinch for much of the first round and floored Buzukja with a clubbing right hook in the second. Marshall flurried for a potential finish, only to see the former Ring of Combat champion survive and slowly turn the tide. Buzukja (12-5, 1-3 UFC) regained his faculties and found a home for his left hook, both on the lead and on the counter. He also bloodied Marshall’s nose with a penetrating jab. It was not enough. Marshall answered in Round 3, where he stepped into right hands and managed to sneak punches over the top of his counterpart’s guard before closing the distance to chew the remaining seconds off the clock in the clinch.
Meanwhile, WAR Training Center export Zachary Reese rode repeated takedowns and a series of savage body kicks to a clear-cut unanimous decision over fellow Dana White’s Contender Series graduate Jose Medina in their three-round middleweight battle. All three cageside judges struck 30-27 scorecards for Reese (8-1, 2-1 UFC), who has posted back-to-back wins since his Dec. 2 knockout loss to Cody Brundage.
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Medina (11-4, 0-1 UFC) absorbed copious amounts of punishment but refused to go away. Reese had him reeling more than once with liver kicks in a dominant first round, pairing them with power punching bursts, a takedown, heavy ground-and-pound and a tight guillotine choke. Once it became clear a stoppage was not forthcoming, he settled into a more manageable pace. Reese continued to zero in on the body across the final 10 minutes and upped his takedown activity in the third round, where he waded through fatigue and frustration to the finish line.
The 33-year-old Medina will enter his next assignment on the heels of consecutive setbacks.
Further down the undercard, Team Alpha Male’s Viacheslav Borshchev rebounded from a May 11 submission loss to Chase Hooper and outstruck ex-Fusion Fighting Championship titleholder James Llontop to a split verdict in their three-round lightweight affair. Judge Eric Colon scored it 29-28 for Llontop, while Cartlidge and Michael Bell saw it 29-28 and 30-27 for Borshchev (8-4-1, 3-3-1 UFC).
Llontop (14-4, 0-2 UFC) went tit for tat with the Russian kickboxer and nearly sprang the upset. Borshchev doubled and tripled up on his jab, excelled on the counter and aimed powerful kicks at the legs body and head. He also overcame a nasty eye poke that resulted in a two-minute pause to the action the first round. Llontop rallied with pressure and output across the final five minutes, only to have his efforts go for naught.
It was Llontop’s first decision defeat in almost six years.
Elsewhere, former Striker Cage Championship titleholder Jacqueline Cavalcanti called upon smooth footwork, evasive lateral movement and a multi-pronged standup attack ahead of a split decision over Josiane Nunes in a three-round women’s bantamweight tilt. Judge Ron McCarthy saw it 30-27 for Nunes, while Sal D’Amato and Chris Lee scored it 29-28 for Cavalcanti (7-1, 2-0 UFC).
Nunes (10-3, 3-2 UFC) was mostly reduced to being a one-trick pony, as she relied heavily on concussive overhand lefts. Some landed. Many missed. Cavalcanti circled away from her countrywoman’s power and chipped away with a persistent jab, the occasional well-timed counter and kicks to the legs, head and body. Her right uppercut proved to be an effective weapon late in the bout, as Nunes crashed into the pocket with reckless abandon and left her chin exposed.
Cavalcanti, 26, has rattled off five consecutive victories.
Finally, Cong Wang dazzled in her hotly anticipated organizational debut, as the 2013 World Wushu Championships gold medalist put away Victoria Leonardo with punches in the first round of their women’s flyweight pairing. Leonardo (9-6, 1-4 UFC) checked out 62 seconds into Round 1, the unwitting victim of the second-fastest finish in the history of the 125-pound weight class.
Wang (6-0, 1-0 UFC) picked her spots. She tested the water with leg kicks and jabs, then unleashed her potent hands on Leonardo with surgical precision. Wang walked the Elite Combat Academy rep into a devastating one-two—a sharp jab followed by a crushing right cross—and leveled her where she stood. No follow-up shots were necessary.
The 32-year-old Wang has finished four of her first six opponents, three of them inside one round.
