EDMONTON — Canadian Charles (Air) Jourdain celebrated his bantamweight debut by submitting American Victor (La Mangosta) Henry in the second round on the UFC Fight Night undercard Saturday.
The five-foot-nine Jourdain (16-8-1) had previously fought at featherweight (145 pounds) and lightweight (155) but dropped down to 135 pounds after two straight losses.
“It’s incredible. I’m one of the smallest featherweights. Now being a bantamweight I feel I’m in the right place,” said Jourdain, who improved to 7-7-1 in UFC action.
The 28-year-old from Beloeil, Que., looked quicker on his feet in the first round, attacking Henry with punches and kicks while dipping into his arsenal of flying knees.
But the 37-year-old Henry took Jourdain down in the second round. Jourdain looked for a guillotine choke and when the two fighters got back to their feet and Henry looked for another takedown, Jourdain locked on his neck again as they went down.
Henry (24-7-0 with one no contest) tapped quickly to the guillotine choke at 3:43 of the second round.
The main event at Rogers Place featured former flyweight champion Brandon (The Assassin Baby) Moreno, currently ranked second among 125-pound contenders and No. 3 Amir (The Prince) Albazi.
Canadian-based fighters went 4-1 on the undercard.
Montreal bantamweight Aiemann Zahabi looked impressive in winning his fifth straight in the UFC with a unanimous (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) decision over Brazilian veteran Pedro (The Young Punisher) Munhoz.
The fight was mainly contested on the feet, with Zahabi (12-2-0) showing faster hands. Munhoz’s face was bloody and battered by the time the bout ended.
The 36-year-old Zahabi had older brother Firas Zahabi, a noted trainer who coached UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre, in his corner. The 38-year-old Munhoz, a 10-year-veteran of the UFC who has faced elite opposition, fell to 20-10-0 with his third straight loss.
Serhiy Sidey of Burlington, Ont., recorded his first UFC win with a split (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) decision over American bantamweight Garrett Armfield. Armfield, who was giving up five inches in height to the five-foot-11 Sidey, seemed destined for the win by virtue of his superior boxing skills and several takedowns.
But the judges saw it differently.
Sidey, who moved to Canada with his family from Ukraine when he was six, lost a split decision to American Ramon (The Savage) Taveras in his January UFC debut.
Canadian Jamey-Lyn Horth (7-1-0) opened the card with a split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28) win over Ivana Petrovic (7-2-0), a Croatian-born flyweight fighting out of Norway. Horth, a 34-year-old from Squamish, B.C., who had lost a split decision last time out, improved to 2-1-0 in the UFC.
American bantamweight Cody (The Renegade) Gibson outgrappled Calgary’s Chad (The Monster) Anheliger (13-8-0) en route to a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26) win in a battle of 37-year-olds.
The five-foot-six Anheliger, who fell to 2-3-0 in the UFC, was giving up 6.5 inches in reach and four inches in height to Gibson (22-10-0).
Colorado-based featherweight Youssef (The Moroccan Devil) Zalal recorded his third straight submission win in the UFC in 2024, stopping Jack (Tank) Shore of Wales via arm-triangle 59 seconds into the second round. Zalal (16-5-1) ran his overall win streak to six, locking in the submission after stunning Shore (17-3-0) with a knee to the head.
Zalal is 3-0-0 in his second stint in the UFC after going 3-3-1 in his first go-round.
Moldova’s Alexandr (King Kong) Romanov (18-3-0), ranked 13th among heavyweight contenders, won a unanimous (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) decision over No. 15 Rodrigo Nascimento of Brazil (11-3-0)
The show was the UFC’s first in Canada since UFC 297 on Jan. 20 in Toronto.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2024.
The Canadian Press