UFC Fight Night 34 took place on Saturday at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore and Tarec Saffiedine won his UFC debut with a decision victory over Hyun Gyu Lim.
In the opening five minutes of the fight, Lim was able to land a right hand that dropped Saffiedine, but the last Strikeforce welterweight champion was able to survive and get back to his feet. After getting back to his feet, he began to land leg kicks and this would be a major factor in his win against Lim.
As the second round opened, Saffiedine came out firing and he rocked Lim with his strikes. Lim woud recover, but Saffiedine continued to land his leg kicks.
Saffiedine appeared close to a finish in the third round when he landed several vicious leg kicks that dropped Lim to the mat. Saffiedine elected to follow Lim to the ground instead of forcing him to stand up. The referee would end up standing the fighters up and Saffiedine continued to attack the left leg of Lim until the end of the third round.
Lim would be able to continue and he came out firing his strikes in the opening minute of the fourth round. After weathering the storm of Lim, Saffiedine landed a flying knee that dropped Lim. Saffiedine would control the remainder of the round on the ground and the fight moved into the final round.
As the final round opened, Lim fought with urgency but Saffiedine continued to land his leg kicks. As the fight was coming to an end, Lim landed a flurry of punches that rocked Saffiedine, but the final bell sounded before he could potentially get the finish.
All three judges scored the fight for Saffiedine (15-3) and he has now won five fights in a row. Eight of his last nine victories have come by decision, with his last stoppage victory coming in 2010 against Nate Moore in Strikeforce. The defeat for Lim (12-4-1) snaps a seven fight winning streak and it’s his first lost since 2009, which was a middleweight bout.
Kawajiri wins UFC debut with submission over Soriano
Tatsuya Kawajiri made his UFC debut in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 34 and earned his tenth career win by submission as he defeated fellow UFC newcomer Sean Soriano.
Kawajiri wasted little time in attempting to get the fight to the ground in the opening five minutes. After being unsuccessful with his first two attempts, he was finally able to get the fight to the ground on his third attempt. Once on the ground, he got on the back of Soriano and immediately went for a rear-naked choke. Soriano would be able to defend the choke and made it out of the first round.
At the start of the second round, Soriano would not be able to keep the fight on the feet as Kawajiri scored a takedown and went back to work on a submission. He would lock in a rear-naked choke and Soriano tapped out, but the referee did not see the tap. Soriano would end up going to sleep and the fight was over due to a technical submission.
Kawajiri (33-7-2) has won five fights since dropping down to the featherweight division and stated in his post fight interview that he is looking for a step up in competition in his next fight.
Kunimoto/Dutra ends in disqualification due to illegal elbows
In a matchup of fighters making their official UFC debuts, Luiz Dutra was disqualified in the first round after landing several illegal elbows against Kiichi Kunimoto.
The fight opened with Kunimoto looking for a takedown, but Dutra was able to breakaway and get back to the center of the cage. As Kunimoto would looking for another takedown against the fence, Dutra began to throw elbows and several of them were illegal, which the referee noticed.
When Kunimoto was unable to continue, the referee disqualified Dutra due to the illegal elbows and Kunimoto (16-5-2, 1NC) was declared the winner. Dutra (11-3-1) was distraught with the decision of the referee, but it was the right call.
Kang scores first UFC victory with third round submission
The opening bout of the UFC Fight Night 34 main card was a bantamweight bout as Kyung Ho Kang scored his first UFC victory with a third round submission over Shunichi Shimizu.
As the fight opened, Kang landed a knee and Shimizu began to look for a takedown. The fight would end up on the ground and Kang locked in a triangle choke. He would end up transitioning to an arm bar and would begin to throw elbows when he could not finish the submission.
Kang would land an illegal elbow and the referee immediately came in to pause the fight. The referee would end up deducting two points. Shimizu would be able to continue and Kang would throw a kick that appeared to hit Shimizu on the groin. However, the referee saw the replay and he told Kang that it was a legal kick.
The fight moved into the second round and Kang would get the fight right back to the ground. Once on the ground, he would obtain the mount and landed several elbows. Shimizu would be able to reverse the position but could not maintain the position as Kang got back in top position.
In the final round, Kang was able to get the fight back to the ground and landed multiple short strikes on the mat. Shimizu would scramble to get out of the position, but Kang was able to get in the mount and immediately went for the arm triangle choke. Shimizu would tap out to the submission and the end of the fight came at the 3:53 mark of the third round.
Kang (12-7, 1NC) is now 4-1, 1NC in his last six fights and all of those wins have come by decision. With this victory, he has nine career wins by submission and this is the first time he has won by arm triangle choke submission.
The complete UFC Fight Night 34 results are below.
Main Card: (Fight Pass)
Tarec Saffiedine def. Hyun Gyu Lim via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)
Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Sean Soriano via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, :50
Kiichi Kunimoto def. Luiz Dutra via disqualification (illegal elbows) – Round 1, 2:57
Kyung Ho Kang def. Shunichi Shimizu via submission (arm triangle choke) – Round 3, 3:53
Preliminary Card: (Fight Pass)
Max Holloway def. Will Chope via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:27
Katsunori Kikuno def. Quinn Mulhern via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Royston Wee def. Dave Galera via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Mairbek Taisumov def. Tae Hyun Bang via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Dustin Kimura def. Jon Delos Reyes via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 2:13
Russell Doane def. Leandro Issa via submission (triangle choke) – Round 2, 4:59