Dhant Edges Murdoch in Split Decision Thriller
The cage delivered blood, grit and razor-thin margins as a string of tightly contested bouts went to the judges, with Rabindra Dhant, Meng, Suzuki, Ryo Tajima and Bohyun Park all walking away with their hands raised.
Dhant survives leg locks to outpoint Murdoch
From the opening bell, Kasib Murdoch went straight to his strength. He dragged Rabindra Dhant into the middle, latched onto a leg and cranked on a tight lock. Dhant answered with constant jabs, punching his way through the pressure and forcing Murdoch to adjust.
The scramble opened the door for Dhant to flip the script. He transitioned into a full-blooded submission attempt, hunting the choke, but Murdoch stayed calm and slipped free. When Murdoch tried to return the favour with a rear naked choke of his own, Dhant showed the same composure, coolly wriggling out of danger. The round ended with Dhant pinned to the canvas, but very much in the fight.
Murdoch opened the second by reasserting top control. He smothered Dhant, but the man on the bottom never looked rattled. Then came the turning point. From underneath, Dhant spotted a gap and drove a vicious elbow straight into Murdoch’s face, a reminder that top position didn’t mean safety. The horn sounded with Murdoch still on top, yet the damage and momentum felt different.
In the final stanza, Murdoch again wrapped up Dhant’s leg and walked him toward the fence, trying to grind out the win. Dhant answered with a burst of hooks, left then right, snapping Murdoch’s head back and leaving him visibly dazed. Murdoch dug deep, regained firm top control and peppered Dhant with jabs to close a grueling contest.
It was tight, messy and impossible to call from cageside. The judges split. The verdict leaned Dhant’s way.
DHANT BEATS MURDOCH BY SPLIT DECISION.
Meng grinds out home win over Fukuda
Meng, fighting in front of her home crowd, started quietly. The first round with Fukuda unfolded as a cautious, evenly balanced duel until Meng finally stepped in and landed a clean right hook, the standout moment of a tight frame.
She raised the tempo in the second. Driving Fukuda toward the cage, Meng strung together strikes and then trapped an arm, cinching in a firm choke. Fukuda refused to fold, battled through the squeeze and wriggled free, showing real resilience under pressure.
The third brought urgency. With around 40 seconds left, Fukuda emptied the tank, throwing hook after hook in a desperate late surge. Nothing landed clean. Meng seized her chance, turned the exchange, got on top and hammered down ground-and-pound as the round closed.
When the scorecards came in, the margin was as narrow as the fight itself.
MENG BEATS FUKUDA VIA SPLIT DECISION.
Suzuki’s speed too much for Larcinese
From the first leg kick, Larcinese tried to probe and test. Suzuki didn’t wait. He snapped back with a sharp right hook and immediately showed the difference in speed. Constant movement, angles, feints – Suzuki kept Larcinese guessing and reacting, not dictating.
A flying knee from Suzuki whistled past by inches, a near-miss that could have ended the night on the spot. Instead, the opening round closed with both men trading shots, Suzuki just that bit sharper.
He pressed harder in the second. Suzuki mixed up his attacks, forcing Larcinese onto the back foot. When Larcinese finally landed, Suzuki bit down, changed levels and drove on top, pounding away with a series of strikes. The referee had seen enough.
SUZUKI WINS BY TKO.
SUZUKI BEATS LARCINESE BY TKO (stoppage).
Tajima outpoints Koren, books potential clash with Dhant
Ryo Tajima stepped in with a clear plan and a clear advantage: reach. In the first round he used it brilliantly, staying just outside Chungreng Koren’s range, slipping everything that came his way. When Koren dived for a takedown, Tajima stuffed it, then reversed the momentum.
Koren, the Indian fighter, ended up against the cage, his balance gone. Tajima pounced, climbed on top and rattled off a flurry of jabs to close a strong opening round.
Koren returned to his wrestling in the second, again driving Tajima back into the fence and pinning him there. This time Tajima needed space, and when he found it, he made it count. A crisp right hook crashed through and visibly disoriented Koren. Still, the round ended as it began, with Koren pressing Tajima to the cage and sneaking in shots of his own.
The pattern held in the third. Koren grew more expressive, more willing to let his hands go, and the exchanges grew freer. Tajima stuck to his fundamentals, managed distance and did enough in the judges’ eyes.
When the unanimous decision was announced, Tajima’s reward was clear.
RYO TAJIMA BEATS CHUNGRENG KOREN BY UNANIMOUS DECISION.
He will face the winner of Rabindra Dhant vs Kasib Murdoch – and that now means a meeting with Dhant.
Park’s pressure breaks Abduveva’s resistance
The contest between Bohyun Park and Abduveva began on a knife-edge. The first round saw both women probe, pick at openings and share the exchanges without either taking full control.
Then Park turned the tide in the second. Abduveva initiated the grapple and fired a series of kicks into Park’s torso, trying to sap her. Park absorbed them, adjusted and took over late in the round. A heavy jab smashed into Abduveva’s nose, drawing blood and shifting the momentum decisively toward the South Korean, who finished the frame with a cluster of clean shots.
Before the final round, doctors checked Abduveva as the bleeding worsened. She got the green light to continue, and the third began with Park immediately driving her to the cage. Constant pressure, constant attempts at a takedown, no let-up. Abduveva dug in, refused to concede position and battled off the mat, even as blood forced another timeout.
She came back again. So did Park’s pressure.
The horn ended a brave, punishing effort from both. The judges had no doubts.
BOHYUN PARK BEATS ABDUVEVA VIA UNANIMOUS DECISION.
On a night of tight margins and late swings, the scorecards told their own story. For Tajima and Dhant, the next one won’t leave much room for the judges at all.
