Michel Prazeres breezes past Mairbek Taisumov in foul-filled fight
Firmly settled into his new home as a lightweight, Michel Prazeres moved another step towards establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with in the division. The Brazilian powerhouse used a nice mixture of power punching and wrestling to breeze past Mairbek Taisumov in a unanimous decision.
All three judges scored the UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Henderson II main card bout 30-25. The lopsided nature of the score came partially on the strength of a pair of one-point deductions.
Prazeres dominated the first round, taking Taisumov down twice, passing into mount three times, and scoring with a barrage of left hands and elbows. Taisumov was never in overwhelming danger, but it was a very effective performance. To make things worse for Taisumov, he was penalized a point for an illegal upkick while attempting to get back to his feet.
The second round didn't begin much better for Taisumov, who grabbed a hold of the fence while trying to stop a takedown. Referee Mario Yamasaki had warned him about that in the first round, and quickly deducted another point. Despite the tactic allowing him to keep the fight standing, Taisumov struggled to find an answer for Prazeres' power striking, eating several hard shots through the round.
Prazeres' combination of striking and takedown gave Taisumov fits, and two minutes into the third, he ducked under again. This time, Taisumov's hand brushed along the cage and Yamasaki called timeout. It appeared he might penalized or perhaps even disqualify him, but instead he warned him that one more violation would result in a disqualification. Prazeres coasted the rest of the way.
The win was his second straight as a UFC lightweight, and he's 18-1 overall. Taisumov, who lost for the first time in the UFC, is now 21-5.
