He takes Saggo a little by surprise by level changing in the center of the Octagon and taking him down. What remains to be seen is how he sets it up with his strikes. However Khabilov seems to have sensed the gameplans and comes forward with a little more output of his own.

Even as his coaches are clearly audible, telling him to keep the Dagestani fighter’s back to the cage. Khabilov is on the backfoot in this round, willing to concede control of the center of the Octagon to Saggo, who capitalises with a nice shot to the body. It just seems like this something is about to give in this fight. Saggo, however, is no slouch in the ground as Joe Rogan informs us, and proves it by completely locking down Khabilov in his guard to close out the round without taking much damage at all. If you haven’t noticed, Dagestani fighters get a takedown when they want one. Khabilov has had enough of the frivolties and shoots for a double leg. He doesn’t back away, however, and fakes a low kick to go to Khabilov’s head with a kick that almost sneaks through. Saggo tries a kick to the body, that is caught and punished with a couple of winging shots in riposte. He’s potshotting the Dagestani fighter with the occasional leg kick but neither fighter seems to really want to push the pace. Khabilov opens up with a couple of wild strikes, an ambitious kick and an overhand right that barely misses, but Saggo seems to be maintaining his distance well.

Jason Saggo, who is from Canada, obviously has the crowd on his side. Khabilov, unfortunately, didn’t make weight and Joe Rogan reels off his thoughts on the issue of weight-cutting make no mistake, it’s certainly one of the most problematic quandries in MMA today. Makovsky immediately presses and takes Ortiz down, but cannot take his back as Ortiz shakes him off before pushing him against the cage and landing a nice knee to the body. Just when it looks like Makovsky is in a precarious position, almost at the verge of giving up his neck, he turns expertly into Ortiz and breaks the body lock to bring the fight back onto the feet. He secures a body triangle with his feet and starts raining down punches from behind. Makovsky scrambles and manages to threaten briefly with an arm lock before Ortiz sweeps him and takes his back. Ortiz is relentless again, as he pushes Makovsky towards the cage and lands a leg trip of his own. However, nothing significant comes out of it as they scramble up to the feet almost immediately. Makovsky, with Firas Zahabi’s wisdom freshly imbued in his head, starts off Round 2 with a couple of kicks before landing a takedown following a level change. My fingers hurt from trying to type everything I see. However, he isn’t able to maintain superior position as Ortiz ends up on top to run down the clock for Round 1.Īll action. Not for too long however, as Makovsky level changes as Ortiz comes in and takes him down. They break once again, but Ortiz is still on the front foot. Ortiz manages to squirm towards the cage and find his way to his feet, before pushing up against his opponent and landing nice knees to the body. Makovsky, however, fights out and lands a double leg takedown of his own in the scramble that ensues. Ortiz manages to secure Makovsky’s back and takes him down, looking to get the choke from behind. They circle around each other, feinting and throwing out single strikes to get the other fighter to bite, before Ortiz clinches up and pushes Makovsky towards the cage.Īfter jostling for position a little, with neither man able to advance sufficiently, they break and continue circling each other. They begin the first of the night’s fights, and as always with the Flyweights, it seems like someone hit the fast forward button.

Ufc 206 play by play