Javid Basharat extended his unbeaten record at UFC Vegas 67 yesterday. The Afghan earned a unanimous decision win over Mateus Mendonça at the Apex Centre.
Basharat is coming off a win at UFC Vegas 60. He has won two out of two in the octagon since earning his opportunity with a victory on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021.
Mendonça came into this fight with a perfect professional record and marched forwards right from the start while throwing punches. Basharat went for a knee to the body which was caught by the Brazilian as the pair clinched against the cage.
The unbeaten Brazilian landed a monster low kick that left his opponent floored momentarily as he lost his footing. Basharat began to find his range though, and landed with slick single shots from the outside as he attacked the lead leg and planted front kicks to the body.
🇧🇷@CharlesDoBronxs bustin' some moves! 🕺 #UFCVegas67 pic.twitter.com/ig7aduq1gq
— UFC_Asia (@UFC_Asia) January 14, 2023
Top team
Mendonca had former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira in his corner but having showed his flamboyance with an attempted cartwheel kick and a spinning backfist he got wobbled with a left jab from Afghan. ‘
The Brazilian changed tack and tried to use his grappling but was unable to complete the takedown as Basharat defended and scrambled well – then scored with a spinning back kick. The Afghansecured a single left late on and dropped a lovely elbow to secure the round.
this is so cold from Basharat after Mendonca did it to him at face offs pic.twitter.com/DqithC3y4z
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) January 14, 2023
Having taunted Basharat by firing an imaginary gun at the weigh ins Mendonca was on the receiving end of a similar gesture at the end of the round. The Afghan was in control and continued with sharp counters in the second stanza.
Mendonça shot for a couple of takedowns but failed to fully secure either. Basharat soon landed one of his own and dished out some ground and pound from the top as the Brazilian responded with a leg lock attempt.
The final round saw Mendonça continue to press forward. He launched a high kick but Basharat caught it and countered.
Basharat then touched him him with left and right hand jabs as he switched stances. He then smacked the 23-year-old with a lovely right cross and showed slick head movement to avoid the counter.
Mendonça went for a guillotine late on but ate some elbows for his trouble as Basharat took the unanimous decision win. He extended his record to 14-0 while the Brazilian drops to 10-1.
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Basharat has come a long way since his days in a refugee camp in Afghanistan. He remains extremely ambitious and has his eyes on a spot in the top ten,
“I think I’m one of the most well-rounded fighters in the division if not the whole UFC. Ideally I would have wanted someone higher ranked. There’s fighters in the rankings that are easier fights than this guy was.”
Basharat said he was barely able to find any footage on the Brazilian which made things much more difficult,
This guy was wild as hell. The only footage of him was a 45 second knockout on the Contender Series, so this was a fight where I had to figure him out on the fly. Not many people can do that, and that’s my fight IQ shining through.”
"I need to be in the top 10 if not even higher."
After a dominant win to start the year, Javid Basharat (@JavidBasharat) has his sights on climbing the @UFC bantamweight rankings in 2023 🔊🆙
All #UFCVegas67 results ➡️: https://t.co/wsH2occdmt
— UFC News (@UFCNews) January 15, 2023
Best of the rest
In the main event Sean Strickland (26-5)beat Nassourdine Imavov (12-4) by unanimous decision. It was the second UFC card in succession which the American had headlined.
UFC Vegas 67, Las Vegas, January 14th
Sean Strickland def. Nassourdine Imavov via Decision (Unanimous)
Dan Ige def. Damon Jackson via KO (Punch) at 4:13 of R2
Roman Kopylov def. Punahele Soriano via TKO (Body kick and punches) at 3:19 of R2
Raquel Pennington def. Ketlen Vieira via Decision (Split)
Umar Nurmagomedov def. Raoni Barcelos via KO (Body kick and punch) at 4:40 of R1
Javid Basharat def. Mateus Mendonça via Decision (Unanimous)
Abdul Razak Alhassan def. Claudio Ribeiro via KO (Punches) via 0:28 of R2
Mateusz Rębecki def. Nick Fiore via Decision (Unanimous)
Allan Nascimento def. Carlos Hernández via Submission (Rear-naked choke) at 3:16 of R1
Daniel Argueta def. Nick Aguirre via Decision (Unanimous)
Charles Johnson def. Jimmy Flick via TKO (Elbows and punches) at 4:33 of R1
