Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight knockout artists Kyle Noke and Omari Akhmedov brawled last night (Nov. 26, 2016) at UFC Fight Night 101 inside Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia.
At 36 years of age, Noke has seen his share of ups-and-downs inside the Octagon. Coming into this bout off a pair of consecutive losses, Noke’s back was against the wall, but he had the support of the crowd firmly behind him nevertheless. Akhmedov has yet to truly carve out a position for himself at 170 pounds. He also entered this bout after a pair of losses, and the Dagestani power puncher needed a win to guarantee further employment.
Despite Noke’s attempts to remain at distance with jabs and kicks, Akhmedov backed his opponent up with big punches and took him down early. The Dagestani controlled his opponent from full guard, looking to land elbows. With about two minutes remaining, Akhmedov was able to open up with his strikes. He postured up and cut his opponent opening, doing a solid amount of damage. Noke attempted a couple triange chokes, but he never came close to securing anything.
At the end of five minutes, Noke’s eye was a mess.
For several minutes, Noke kept his opponent at range and landed some solid kicks. However, a sloppy shot from Akhmedov nonetheless got him in on his foe’s hips, and the powerful welterweight was able to slam his foe to the mat. Luckily for Noke, Akhmedov didn’t do all that much from top position and was stood up befre long. Despite that golden opportunity, Noke failed to really push the pace, landing a few solid low kicks but little else.
In all likelihood, Akhmedov was ahead two rounds to none.
The third round was a confusing mess. Despite his corner and the crowd urging him on, Noke simply refused to pull the trigger. He would stalk his foe and land some leg kicks, but if the Dagestani athlete even threatened to throw punches, Noke would back out of range. Meanwhile, Akhmedov threw almost nothing and still arguable won the round. After avoiding Noke for four minutes, he ducked down and powered his opponent to the mat.
He didn’t do much from there, but neither did his opponent.
At any rate, it was enough to earn Akhmedov the victory. This was the most measured performance of his career, which is a sign of improvement. Usually, Akhmedov either brutalizes his foe early or is smashed late, but he pretty consistently worked over Noke the entire bout.
His opponent made it easy, but progress is progress.
It’s easy to see how Akhmedov’s reactive takedowns and powerful counters could make a fighter hesitant. Whenever Noke stepped into range, Akhmedov attacked with violence. That quickly shut down his opponent, and it allowed Akhmedov to coast without really taxing his conditioning. It may not have been entertaining, but this win ensures Akhmedov will receive another shot inside the Octagon.
On the other hand, Noke never really showed much of anything in this bout aside from low kicks. His techniques were limited, and Noke never really tried to make anything happen. Noke has always struggled with strong wrestlers, but he’s never looked so helpless from his back. He literally did nothing for long periods of time, laying down and hoping to block elbows. That’s no way to win a fight, especially since his opponent is so prone to gassing out when forced to work.
Had Noke tried to work back to his feet and made his foe scramble consistently, things may have turned out differently.
At 36 years old on a three fight losing streak, Noke decided to call it a UFC career last night and retire from the sport. That was a wise decision -- the Australian trailblazer is no longer at the level required to compete inside the Octagon.
At UFC Fight Night 101, Omari Akhmedov beat up Kyle Noke for three rounds. Can Akhmedov put it all together and become a player at 170 pounds?
For complete UFC Fight Night 101: "Whittaker vs Brunson" results and play-by-play, click HERE!