Aiemann Zahabi displayed patience and well-organized counterstriking to stop Ricky Turcios in three rounds at UFC Vegas 58..
With Turcios throwing and missing the majority of his shots, Zahabi was able to use better accuracy while picking the best possible moments to throw his strikes to secure the unanimous decision victory. All three judges scored the fight 29-28 for Zahabi, who has now won two fights in a row overall.
“That’s the game plan,” Zahabi stated about Turcios’s wild strikes, and using counters to defeat him. It’s a pleasure .”
The always unpredictable Turcios was wild as usual while trading shots with Zahabi, who was doing his best to stay technical in the face of an opponent literally shouting at him during many of the exchanges. Although Turcios seemed to be very active, Zahabi seemed to land with slightly better accuracy. However, both bantamweights tried to avoid overextending to make it easier for counterstrikes.
Turcios was clearly the aggressor, but Zahabi also believed that he wanted this because he could set up his counters more easily. Of course, Zahabi still had to be cautious because Turcios just had limitless energy and output even if he wasn’t really landing much with his combinations.
While Zahabi wasn’t connecting with a lot of power, he was still touching Turcios with his strikes far more often than The Ultimate Fighter veteran. He was able to keep his composure in spite of Turcios’ unpredictable attacks and won the fight after just three rounds.
Zahabi moved to 3-2 overall in the UFC with the win as he looks to continue his momentum following this latest victory inside the octagon.
