Ramazonbek Temirov throws the kind of heat that keeps others awake at night.
The Uzbekistani prospect announced his arrival in the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division with some serious pizzazz, as he cut down C.J. Vergara with punches in the featured UFC Fight Night 244 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Vergara (12-6-1, 3-4 UFC) met his end 2:50 into Round 1.
Temirov (16-2-1, 1-0 UFC) tested the waters with a couple spinning back kicks to the body while darting in and out with power punches. He floored Vergara with a left hook, gave chase with follow-up punches and dropped the Pete Spratt protégé a second time with a clubbing right over the top. Temirov kept his foot on the accelerator, allowed his opponent to stand and brought it to a close with a wicked left hook to the body.
The 27-year-old Temirov now finds himself on a 10-fight winning streak.
Meanwhile, former Cage Fury Fighting Championship titleholder Pat Sabatini disposed of Jonathan Pearce with a standing rear-naked choke in the first round of their featherweight tiff. Pearce (14-7, 5-3 UFC) capitulated 4:06 into Round 1, losing for the third time in as many outings.
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Sabatini (19-5, 6-2 UFC) closed the distance with a body kick, scrambled behind the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate and afforded him no room to breathe, much less operate. They separated at one point, only for Pearce to wander into a double-leg takedown. Sabatini again moved to the back, connected with short punches while his opponent stood and snaked his arms in place for the choke. Pearce briefly struggled to free himself, then bowed out.
It was the eighth first-round finish of Sabatini’s career.
Elsewhere, Xtreme Couture’s Themba Gorimbo rode repeated takedowns, consistent ground-and-pound and stifling top control to a unanimous decision over Niko Price in a three-round welterweight affair. All three cageside judges scored it the same: 30-27 for Gorimbo (14-4, 4-1 UFC).
The offensively potent Price (16-8, 8-8 UFC) never got in gear. Gorimbo kept him off-balance with a steady diet of kicks to the lower lead leg, clean one-twos and some occasional dirty boxing combinations. He overwhelmed Price with takedowns and positional advances across the final two rounds, piling up points with punches while shaving valuable time off the clock.
Gorimbo, 33, has rattled off four straight victories.
Further down the undercard, Soma Fight Club product Junior Tafa put away promotional newcomer Sean Sharaf with punches in the second round of their heavyweight tilt. A late-notice replacement for Chris Barnett, Sharaf (4-1, 0-1 UFC) succumbed to blows 2:15 into Round 2.
Tafa (6-3, 2-3 UFC) managed to navigate some rough seas. Sharaf capped a back-and-forth first round with a near-finish, as he secured a takedown, climbed to full mount and cut loose with punches and elbows in the closing seconds. Tafa survived and let fatigue do the rest. Sharaf had nothing left in the tank for the middle stanza. Tafa walked him down with punches, tripled up on right uppercuts, pinned the exhausted Xtreme Couture rep to the fence and teed off. A volley of unanswered punches gave way to one final uppercut before the stoppage was called.
The win snapped a two-fight losing streak for Tafa.
Finally, undefeated MMA Lab prospect Clayton Carpenter put Lucas Rocha to sleep with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their flyweight pairing. Rocha (17-2, 0-1 UFC) blacked out 2:12 into Round 2, suffering his first setback in nearly five years.
Carpenter (8-0, 2-0 UFC) struck for a takedown inside the first 90 seconds, progressed from one advantageous to the next and hacked open multiple cuts—one of them above the Brazilian’s left eye—with slashing elbow strikes. Rocha acquitted himself well on the feet but could not stay upright. Carpenter executed a blast double-leg early in the second round, advanced to the back, secured his position with a body triangle and cinched the fight-ending choke.
The 28-year-old Carpenter has finished six of his first eight opponents, four of them by submission.
In other action, former Hex Fight Series champion Cody Haddon (8-1, 1-0 UFC) outstruck an overweight Dan Argueta (9-3, 1-3 UFC) to a unanimous decision in their three-round bantamweight clash, earning 30-27 marks on all three scorecards; and Julia Polastri (13-4, 1-1 UFC) filled in for Polyana Viana on short notice and took a split decision—29-28, 28-29, 30-27—from Team Alpha Male’s Cory McKenna (8-4, 3-3 UFC) in their three-round women’s strawweight affair.
