UFC Fight Night 63 Preliminary Card Results: Carmouche Wins Close Decision
With a special early start time this morning (Saturday, April 4, 2015) UFC Fight Night 63 has begun from the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia. Before the Chad Mendes vs. Ricardo Lamas-headlined main card, fans were treated to a four-fight preliminary card starting on FOX Sports 1.
In the featured preliminary bout, former women’s bantamweight title challenger Liz Carmouche, who had lost three of her four UFC bouts, sought to get back on track against power striker Lauren Murphy. Pushing the pace early, Murphy controlled the fight in the clinch but Carmouche countered with front kicks and solid straight right hands. Murphy ended the opening round with a takedown, and Carmouche kicked off the second with a strong knee.
But Murphy continued to stifle “Girlrilla” with pressure and ground control. The final round saw Carmouche land a decent front kick and a combination before setting up a takedown to land some light ground and pound. Murphy got up but Carmouche scored a hip toss that Murphy eventually reversed. Carmouche ended the bout with a strong trip to win a somewhat surprising unanimous decision.
Former lightweight title challenger Gray Maynard may have been fighting for his job against Alexander Yakovlev in a rare prelim spot for “The Bully.” The fighters traded brief takedowns in the first, with Maynard landing some decent punches and Yakovlev some solid body shots. Maynard tried to control the fight with his wrestling in the second, but ate an absolutely huge straight left that dropped him as he held on for dear life to end the round. Yakovlev exhibited excellent takedown defense in the third, landing some punches and a late trip takedown to lock up the unanimous decision in his lightweight debut.
Shamil Abdurahimov met Timothy Johnson at heavyweight. Abdurahimov lost a point after several warnings to stop grabbing the fence, but he was able to land some sharp punches on the feet. It wasn’t enough, however, as Johnson got a late first round takedown to get the mount and rain down ground strikes to earn the TKO stoppage.
In a battle of former short notice replacements, the prelims kicked off with Justin Jones vs. Ron Stallings at middleweight. Stallings used his crisp striking to pepper Jones with vicious body kicks and accurate punches early, but “Lazy Bones” neutralized him with several clinch attempts and takedowns. Stallings opened up with his strikes in the third, nailing Jones with several jabs, kicks, uppercuts, and knees to score a unanimous decision victory.
UFC Fight Night 63 Preliminary Card Results (FOX Sports 1, 11 a.m. ET):
Liz Carmouche def. Lauren Murphy via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
Alexander Yakovlev def. Gray Maynard via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Timothy Johnson def. Shamil Abdurahimov via R1 TKO (ground strikes, 4:57)
Ron Stallings def. Justin Jones via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
