The Inner Circle 20: Asadula Imangazaliev vs Aslamjon Ortikov
The fight was fire but it could've been even better. Both were cautious and did not commit doing more flashy elbows, flying knees and kicks - it was very technical. Asadula with the high volume offense, Ortikov with the damaging power shots.
Ortikov was pretty confident that he won the fight after he damaged Asadula's nose in round 3, causing bleeding. However, the fight ended with a split decision, favoring Asadula Imangazaliev, with him finally getting the belt after missing out on weight in his last fight.
Some audience cheered while some booed. Ortikov got an upset loss, and it seems like Asadula wasn't satisfied with his performance in that fight. I thought Ortikov won that too, but when I watched the replay carefully, I changed my mind and found out Asadula actually won that unanimously with 4-1 rounds to him.
Here's my take as a non-muay thai practitioner:
Round 1 - Asadula: Asadula kept throwing kicks at a distance. His punches pushes through Ortikov even when it didn't look like it. Ortikov however is still studying Asadula and was more on the defense with his evasive footwork.
Round 2 - Asadula: Asadula still did the same thing. While his spinning back fist missing and did not even attempt to do his usual flashy moves, he was still able to generate almost the same volume of hits. Ortikov started to return some but to no avail, the round still goes to Asadula for being more active.
Round 3 - Ortikov: Ortikov finally did his usual stuffs. Incredibly active and precise with damaging spinning back fist and power punches. He even did what Asadula does to his opponents, axe kicks and spinning back fists. Ortikov broke Asadula's nose leading to Asadula bleeding at the end of the round.
Round 4 - Asadula: Even with a bleeding nose, Asadula did not falter and continued his gameplan. Creating distance with kicks, grabbing opportunities to use his elbows (which some missed). I noticed that he clinches after hitting or missing punches - great plan to neutralize Ortikov. Ortikov however became less active and choosing his shots, some connected that led to excitement of the fight.
Round 5 - Asadula: While Ortikov gained confidence from Round 3 and 4, he mistakenly became too lax, believing he is leading in terms of card. Asadula is surprisingly still got the energy to throw more volume after getting injured and so active in the early rounds. The round 5 ended with Asadula looking exhausted and disappointed, and Ortikov confidently happy with his performance.
How would you score that?