Dhant Edges Murdoch in Split Decision
The cage had barely closed before Rabindra Dhant and Kasib Murdoch were in each other’s faces, dragging their lightweight bout into a grimy, tactical battle on the mat.
Murdoch struck first, dropping on a leg and cinching up an early lock that forced Dhant to defend from awkward angles. Dhant refused to panic. While Murdoch hunted for control, Dhant chipped away with sharp jabs and short shots, unsettling the base just enough to wriggle into a submission attempt of his own.
For a moment, the tide flipped. Dhant tightened the choke, Murdoch’s escape routes shrinking. Murdoch dug deep, peeled the grip and slipped free, turning to threaten Dhant’s back. The reply was instant. Dhant coolly slipped out of a rear-naked choke attempt, and they finished the round with Dhant pinned to the canvas but very much still in the fight.
The pattern held early in the second. Murdoch stayed heavy on top, content to smother and control. Dhant, though, never looked rattled. From underneath, he watched, waited, then saw the window he needed. As Murdoch hovered over him, Dhant drove a brutal elbow straight into his opponent’s face, a reminder that top position did not mean safety. The crowd felt the shift. Murdoch finished the round on top, but the damage – and the question marks – belonged to Dhant.
Murdoch went back to his wrestling in the third, again attacking the leg and steering Dhant toward the fence. This time, Dhant met him with leather. A flurry of left and right hooks snapped Murdoch’s head back and left him visibly dazed, the momentum swinging hard toward the Indian.
Stung, Murdoch did what he knew best. He powered into top control again, rode out the clock and peppered Dhant with a string of jabs from above. The horn sounded with both men marked up, both convinced they had done enough. The judges were split.
DHANT BEATS MURDOCH BY SPLIT DECISION – and keeps his name in the frame for the division’s next step up.
Meng grinds out split decision in front of home crowd
Fighting at home can weigh heavy. Meng felt that early. Her opening round against Fukuda unfolded at a measured pace, both women probing, neither willing to overreach. Then Meng finally closed the distance and cracked Fukuda with a clean right hook, the sharpest moment of a tightly balanced frame.
The second round brought more urgency. Meng walked Fukuda down, pressed her to the cage and started to layer her attacks. A couple of solid shots landed, and when Fukuda tried to wriggle free, Meng trapped an arm and clamped on a choke. The finish loomed. Fukuda refused to fold, prising herself out of danger and dragging the contest back to level ground.
By the third, the bout demanded a statement. With the clock ticking down, Fukuda gambled. She charged forward, unleashing hook after hook, chasing the big moment. Nothing found the target. Meng read the rush, turned the exchange and finally climbed on top, hammering down ground-and-pound as the final seconds drained away.
The judges saw a tight, scrappy contest. On home soil, Meng’s late surge told the story.
MENG BEATS FUKUDA VIA SPLIT DECISION.
Suzuki overwhelms Larcinese with speed before TKO stoppage
From the opening bell, one thing stood out: Suzuki’s speed. Larcinese flicked out testing leg kicks, trying to find his range, but Suzuki struck first with a sharp right hook that snapped the rhythm of the round.
He never stopped moving. Constant footwork, angles, feints – Suzuki kept Larcinese guessing and on edge. When Larcinese threw, Suzuki slipped just out of range, then fired back. A flying knee from Suzuki came within a whisker of ending the contest early; Larcinese narrowly escaped what could have been a lights-out moment. They traded to the horn, but the tempo belonged to Suzuki.
The second round only underlined the gap. Suzuki came out aggressively, forcing Larcinese backward with a varied shot selection that had him defending high, low and in between. When Larcinese finally landed and tried to build, Suzuki flipped the script, securing top position and dropping a couple of heavy shots from above.
The pressure broke the resistance. Under sustained punishment and with Suzuki in full control, the referee stepped in.
SUZUKI BEATS LARCINESE BY TKO (stoppage).
Tajima’s reach and timing carry him past Koren on the cards
Ryo Tajima walked into his bout with Chungreng Koren armed with a clear advantage: reach. From the first exchanges, he used it. Tajima picked his shots, slid just out of range and made Koren miss with frustrating regularity.
Koren tried to change the script with a takedown, driving Tajima toward the cage. Tajima stood his ground, stuffed the attempt and turned the position. When Koren’s balance faltered, Tajima pounced, taking top control and unloading a flurry of jabs to close a strong first round.
Koren returned to his wrestling in the second, again pinning Tajima against the fence. This time, Tajima needed only a sliver of space. He found it, then detonated a clean right hook that clearly rattled the Indian. Koren stayed upright and battled through, ending the round where he felt safest – pressing Tajima to the cage and chipping away with short shots.
The third followed the same blueprint. Koren grew more expressive, looser in his movement, and spent long spells pinning Tajima against the fence, trying to sway the judges with pressure and volume. Tajima stayed composed, defended smartly and relied on the cleaner, earlier work.
When it went to the scorecards, the verdict was clear.
RYO TAJIMA BEATS CHUNGRENG KOREN BY UNANIMOUS DECISION – earning a shot at the winner of Rabindra Dhant vs Kasib Murdoch.
Park busts up Abduveva to claim unanimous decision
Bohyun Park and Abduveva opened cautiously, feeling out the distance in a first round that swung back and forth without a decisive moment. Both found occasional openings, both kept something in reserve.
The second round ripped that caution away. Abduveva initiated the grapple and then went to work with a series of kicks to Park’s torso, trying to sap the South Korean’s gas tank. Park absorbed the early storm, adjusted, and began to time her entries.
As the round wore on, Park took over. She snapped Abduveva’s head back with a heavy jab that left blood pouring from the nose, then finished the frame with a cluster of clean shots. The momentum had shifted firmly to the South Korean.
Medical staff checked Abduveva before the third, assessing whether she could continue. Cleared to fight on, she stepped out again – but Park smelled victory. She drove Abduveva to the cage and held her there, grinding away and hunting the takedown that would seal the deal. Abduveva refused to concede position easily, battling every attempt even as the blood flowed and the clock drained.
A brief time-out for the worsening cut only delayed the inevitable. Abduveva returned once more, but Park closed the show in control.
When the bell rang, there was no doubt where the judges would lean.
BOHYUN PARK BEATS ABDUVEVA VIA UNANIMOUS DECISION – a statement of resilience and control in a fight that demanded both.
