Dan Moret sent a warning shot to the lightweight division as he announced his arrival in UAE Warriors with an eye-opening finish of fellow UFC veteran Anton Kuivanen in Abu Dhabi on Friday night.
The 33-year-old Minnesota native showed his skill and power with a second-round technical knockout victory over his Finnish opponent in the main card of UAE Warriors 9 at the Mubadala Arena.
The first round saw Kuivanen begin aggressively as he attacked Moret with an early takedown But in the stand-up, it was clear that the Finnish fighter could cause problems for his opponent with his power.
Rapid fire
However, Moret had the solution to stifle his adversary and turn things in his favor. The American stayed just outside of range and kept Kuivanen at bay with strikes to the lead leg.
When he closed the distance, he sent his foe to the mat with a flurry of rapid-fire punches. Kuivanen was able to bail out and recover.
He made a last-ditch effort to turn things around in the dying seconds of the opening salvo with a quick takedown, but it did not inflict serious danger on the powerful American.
Plethora of punches
The lanky Moret was more aggressive in the second round, darting a right jab that shook the knees of Kuivanen. The fighter from Finland tried to slow the pace but Moret dropped him with a left straight and then unleashed a plethora of punches as he stood in his guard.
Kuivanen covered up and could not offer any sort of intelligent defense, which the forced referee to call a halt to the contest at the 4:59 mark of round two.
With the impressive performance against Kuivanen, Moret improved to a 13-7 record. On the other hand, Kuivanen fell to a 26-12 slate.
In the co-main event of the evening, Tarek Suleiman (9-6) returned to the winner’s circle at the expense of Steven Kennedy (27-10), submitting the Australian with a rear-naked choke in the second round.
UAE Warriors 9, Abu Dhabi, November 29th
Dan Moret def. Anton Kuivanen via TKO (strikes) at 4:59 of round two
Tarek Suleiman def. Steve Kennedy via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:15 at round one
Usman Nurmagomedov def. Roman Golovinov via TKO (strikes) at 1:45 at round one
Trent Girdham def. Jayson Margallo via TKO (strikes) at 2:13 of round three
Fabio Mello def. Mark Alcoba via unanimous decision
Bakhtiyar Abbasov def. Igor Litoshik via unanimous decision
Abdel Ghani Saber def. Gerson Carvalho via TKO (Strikes) at 4:49 of round one
James Bishop def. Mark Gregory Valerio via TKO (strikes) 2:28 of round one
Gimbat Ismailov def. Habit Namid via TKO (leg kicks) at 3:35 of round one
Marc Vlieger def. Marc Vlieger via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:28 of round one
Alexandru Chitoran def. Rogelio Enumerables Jr. via submission (keylock) at 4:14 of round one
Lucie Bertaud def. Kelig Pinson via unanimous decision
Mostafa Rashid Neda def. Imad Hoayek by split decision
Azouz Anwar def. Marcelo Pontes via TKO (strikes) at 4:46 of round two
