The rise of Australia’s talented UFC prospect Jamie Mullarkey came to a shuddering halt at UFC Vegas 74 on Sunday when the gifted lightweight prospect copped a devastating knockout defeat.
Mullarkey was fighting a last-minute replacement in Tajikistani debutant Muhammad Naimov, the biggest underdog on the entire card at around $4.50 odds after being called up only on Tuesday.
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But Naimov wasn’t daunted by the long odds, and came out firing bombs in a back-and-forth opening couple of rounds. Mullarkey used his rangy jab well and seemed to be marginally on top, landing 43 strikes to Naimov’s 20 midway through the second round.
But as Mullarkey backed up his opponent and marched in on a take-down feint, he was caught with a thunderous counter right hook that landed flat on the chin and sent the Australian crashing to the canvas.
Naimov leapt to finish the bout with a couple of extra shots on his downed opponent, with the referee quickly stepping in to end the fight at 2:59 in the second round.
It was 28-year-old Mullarkey’s sixth loss in his MMA career to go with his 16 wins, and ends a two-fight win streak that saw him threaten to rise into the rankings.
For the former Contender Series fighter Naimov, it was a first UFC win on his debut, taking him to 9-2 overall.
“The last three years have been a really hard time,” Naimov said. “Three years, I carried a lot of things in this sport. Today it pays off. A lot of people wait for this debut. Nobody believed I can beat this lightweight. Featherweight, you guys have a problem. You guys have a big problem.
“You guys have a new king. That short guy [Alexander Volkanovski], Max Holloway, forget about them. I’m here.”
Such is the popularity of UFC in Tajikistan that thousands of fans gathered in a football stadium to watch the bout – despite it taking place after 4am local time.
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Later in the main event, Iraqi fighter Amir Albazi claimed a controversial split decision victory over New Zealand’s Kai Kara-France after an entertaining five rounds in the Octagon.
Judges scored the flyweight bout 48-47, 47-48, 48-47 in Albazi’s favour despite Kara-France landing 89 significant strikes to his opponent’s 51.
It was Albazi’s sixth consecutive UFC victory and Kara-France’s second straight defeat.
After a tentative start, Albazi threatened a submission finish in the third round after locking Kara-France in a rear-end chokehold on the floor, but the Kiwi successfully escaped.
The rest of the contest was an arm wrestle, with both fighters landing vicious jabs throughout the taxing 25 minutes. However, the result sparked heated debate on social media.
Israel Adesanya, the UFC’s middleweight champion and City Kickboxing teammate, was particularly scathing in his assessment of the scorecards on social media.
“I tweeted that before even seeing the scorecards because I knew them two will f*** it up!!” wrote Adesanya.
“Hoooow many times will they rob athletes of their moments of glory, if their money, their livelihood for their family. F*** them c***s, they need to expire quickly and go. Mike Bell was the only judge to score this properly, the other two deff need to disappear.”
Australian featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski called it “insane” to award Ami round four.