The prelims wrap up with a struggling former heavyweight at 205
pounds in hopes of a new lease on life. Tafa (6-4, 2-4 UFC) dropped
his first effort at light heavyweight, but he will get another
chance as he takes on California native Elekana (9-2, 2-1 UFC).
Referee Herb Dean dons his proverbial hard hat in anticipation of a
whole lot of big swings in a small span of time, breathing a slight
sigh of relief when the bruisers clap their hands together
first. Elekana slowly, cautiously wades in to go after the ex-heavyweight,
not overcommitting to strikes but slowly backing the Kiwi to the
fence. Elekana blocks a high kick and walks face-first into a bomb
of a right hand that sets him down like a sack of bricks. Somehow,
Elekana snaps back online after what appears to be a flash
knockdown, and he grabs hold of Tafa and forces a bit of grappling
before working his way up. Tafa rushes him, and he pulls back
before going for broke. Elekana thanks him with a glove touch, and
Tafa further gets his attention with a subsequent left hand. Tafa
shuts down a takedown effort that might have gotten him down a year
or two ago, and he intercepts a swinging Elekana with a sharp left
hand down the middle. Elekana clips Tafa in the midst of an
exchange, and Tafa backs off clutching his eye. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Tafa Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Tafa Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Tafa

The 205ers nod to one another and share a glove touch to get going
in the second stanza. Elekana probes out his front kick with toes
extended to the body, and he slips a right hand over the top.
Elekana looks to hand-fight and take away Tafa’s left hand, and he
pokes out a few jabs and threatens a takedown. Tafa scoots out of
the way and backs Elekana to the wall with a pair of punches, but
he does not corner Elekana as Elekana walks away and moves to the
center of the cage again. The crowd boos this, as if they are
seeing that these fighters are pulling their punches. Elekana does
not pull anything when tagging Tafa with a pair of punches, and his
right hand on the temple catches Tafa unaware. Tafa stumbles but
does not go down, gathering himself and knocking Elekana back
before allowing him once more to return to the center of the cage.
Elekana closes in and grabs hold of Tafa, dragging him to the mat
from behind so that he can step over into full mount. Tafa turns to his side while Elekana is in a dominant position, and
Tafa rolls around all while Elekana wraps up the body triangle. Elekana briefly flirts with a rear-naked choke, and switches arms
to change to the other side and locks it up in a hurry. Tafa knows
that the submission is tight as a drum and that there is no way
out, and he quickly taps out to give “Son of Susie” the submission
victory. Just like the Micallef fight from before, it
only took one takedown to completely change the nature of this
fight and turn the tide to one man’s favor.

Light heavyweights wrap up the preliminary portion of the card, as
a pair of gunslinging 30-year-olds ply their trade against one
another. Elekana (8-2, 1-1 UFC) put the stink of his first stoppage
loss behind him by winning on the scorecards against Ibo Aslan in
July. Meanwhile, Brazilian finisher Christian (9-2, 0-0 UFC) has
never competed into the third round as a professional. Something
might have to give here, and referee Chris Tognoni will be the sole
arbiter of this bout. It is a bout that commences with a respectful
touching of gloves. It is a game of leg kicks right off the bat for the two strikers,
with the longer Christian getting Elekana’s attention with his
distant shots. Elekana chambers and fires a heavier one, and
Tognoni tells them to close their fists as they are leading with
outstretched fingers. Legs continue to get kicked on both sides,
but punches are at a premium thus far. Christian chops down the
lead leg with audible blows, and Elekana tosses his own back and
tries to check others. Christian splits the guard with a front
kick, and Tognoni calls time to force the fighters to close their
hands. Christian apologizes, but he gets right back to leading with
his fingers. The commentary team is chattering about how the
fighters basically ignored his instructions, and that it is a
timely complaint given the result of the recent heavyweight title
tilt. All the while, Christian is chipping away with his kicks that land
cleanly, and he has struck so hard the top of Elekana’s right shin
has swelled up massively. Elekana no-sells this and opens up with a
massive right hand, sending Christian flying across the cage. The
Brazilian hits his back and instinctively turns to his side and
then to his knees to shell up. Elekana beans him on the sides and
back of the head while Christian is moving, but what are rules
anymore and how are they never enforced? With Christian on his
knees in a daze, Elekana slides into back control, gets his hooks
in and attacks the rear-naked choke. The Brazilian frantically taps almost immediately, surrendering
many times on the floor while Tognoni is on the wrong side and does
not see them. Elekana does not feel the taps, and Tognoni still
does not register them, so Christian goes out. Tognoni checks on
the now-limp limb of the defeated Brazilian, and he waves the fight
off. Elekana dismounts his wrecked adversary who has
blood streaming down his face, and he walks off as Christian’s face
swells up like a balloon. The victorious Californian thanks Tognoni
personally, saying that he feels he performs better under his
care—this is a strange statement, because this is the first time
Tognoni has handled any of Elekana’s pro fights from a referee
standpoint.

Sherdog’s Devin Tejada has expressed quite a few words about the
state of the UFC’s light heavyweight division, namely that the
combatants are still able to not just succeed but flourish despite
being specialists in a field. In the era of the sport where
well-rounded athletes tend to claim belts more often than
single-skill experts, 205 pounds may be one of the exceptions. To
wit, Aslan (14-2, 2-1 UFC) has earned 14 wins, all 14 by knockout.
His losses are both by submission, and California’s Elekana (7-2,
0-1 UFC) would like nothing more than to add a third submission
defeat to his ledger. Before the fists fly, referee Jim Perdios
gets hold of the situation and starts the clock. The 205ers touch
gloves. Aslan takes the center of the cage and offers distance strikes
early, but he remains out of range. They hand-fight while in
alternate stances, with Aslan in orthodox to Elekana’s southpaw.
Elekana lands first with a front kick to the stomach, and he misses
a second that he uses to keep Aslan from reaching him with his
hands. Aslan slaps his foe back in the lead thigh with a kick. He
strikes the same leg on the inside, but it is one-and-done as he
has to dodge a straight right hand from his foe. Elekana just
misses a left hand down the pipe, and these two are approaching one
another with an abundance of caution. They do not engage much,
resulting in boos from the crowd. Elekana lands a front kick, Aslan
gets him back with a left, and they take turns attacking one
another. The fighters bounce around without fighting much, offering the
occasional single strike while the power is out of range on both
sides. Elekana gets off a few front kicks to disallow Aslan from
closing the distance, and he has his left hand coiled back ready to
strike. Instead of throwing a left, he pitches a head kick from
that side that is blocked in time. Elekana shoots for a single, and
he cannot keep hold of the limb as he releases it. Both men share a
laugh at the feeble takedown effort. Elekana stabs the midsection
with his toes extended for another kick, and this and his feinted
left hand has kept Aslan from throwing caution to the wind. Elekana
lands a body kick and guards against a high kick as the slow round
ends. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Elekana Chris Laporte scores the round: 10-9 Elekana Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Elekana

After a fist bump, the two pick up right where they left off with
shadowboxing and too many feints and fakes. The first actual strike
connects 33 seconds in when Aslan scores a short low kick, and
Elekana pays him back immediately with a front kick. They land
single punches, and then reset and bob around for a while without
fighting. Elekana probes out with a straight left hand, and it is a
single attack that does not merit follow-up attention. Aslan surges
forward behind fists, but Elekana dodges and counters with a right
hook. An Aslan kick brushes the cup, and Elekana talks to him about
it and gives him a front kick in the stomach to think about. Elekana lands at the end of a one-two, but Aslan ignores it and
lobs an overhand right at him that goes wide. Aslan tries to reach
his foe with overhand rights, but Elekana sees them coming and
slips to the side. There is the occasional potshot from either
side, but nothing significant that gets the other’s attention.
Elekana shoots for a single that fails almost as soon as he grabs
hold of the Turkish fighter’s leg, and front kicks from the
fighters brush the cup again. Aslan shakes his cup and they do not
stop, although given their lack of activity through nearly 10
minutes, it is tough to say they ever started. Aslan plods forward,
looping a head kick at his foe that is easily blocked, and Elekana
goes for a single that does not get completed because the round
ends. Scores may be all over the place in these two rounds given
the sheer lack of offense to tabulate. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Elekana Chris Laporte scores the round: 10-9 Elekana Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Elekana

After two rounds of frantic, frenetic combat with maybe a dozen
strikes landed from either fighter, they share an embrace. Aslan
leads off with multiple low and body kicks, one of which jams into
the groin cup. Elekana frowns, and after a few seconds of recovery
time, he gets back to business, where Aslan kicks him nearly in the
same spot. Elekana lands a body kick and wipes his feet, and he
snaps out a jab as both fighters start chatting. Elekana kicks his
foe, Aslan kicks him back, and the less-than-stellar action
continues. Elekana winds up with wider arcs to his blows, but they
only result in getting blocked sooner because they are seen coming.
The same goes for Aslan, who goes for a haymaker that is feet off
the mark. Elekana reaches him with a big left hook, and Aslan rolls
with it to take the brunt out of it. As Aslan moves in, Elekana tries to time a head kick, but Aslan
leans back to sway away from it. When Aslan commits to a punch,
Elekana counters him with a left on the eyebrow that splits it
open. Elekana plants a one-two on the same spot, wobbling Aslan
back, and he does not go for more. As Aslan is allowed time to get
his head right, he smiles. “The Last Ottoman” hurls a right hand
over the top, but Elekana dodges and gives him a left hand back to
think about. As Aslan slowly walks forward, the fans shower the two
with boos after almost 15 minutes of shadowboxing. In hopes of
going home slightly early, Elekana wings a big left hand, but Aslan
is out of the way. The two decided to slug it out with seconds to
go, but time expires before it heats up. At least it is over. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Elekana (30-27 Elekana) Chris Laporte scores the round: 10-9 Elekana (30-27 Elekana) Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Elekana (30-27 Elekana)

It is time for two light heavyweight sluggers to do just that in
the cage until one falls down. Guskov (16-3, 2-1 UFC) will take his
surprising momentum and attempt to move another step forward in the
wide-open 205-pound category, and he meets ex-LFA talent and late
replacement Elekana (7-1, 0-0 UFC) in that next test. Referee Mike
Beltran and his glorious mustache will need to watch out for errant
blows, and he clocks the heavy hitters in as they clap hands.
Guskov starts the match with a pair of low kicks, and he gets away
with a third as he stalks the newcomer around the cage. Elekana
goes to the body and head with kicks, and he suddenly shoots for a
takedown to surprise Guskov. In the ensuing scramble, Elekana gets
hold of Guskov’s back, sliding both hooks in and threatening with a
rear-naked choke. Guskov hand-fights to defend the initial choke,
and Elekana uses his long arms to wrap around and smack Guskov in
the face. The fighter known as “Son of Susie” wraps up the body
triangle around the waist, and he has Guskov totally shocked as he
searches for another choke that does not materialize. Fans voice
their disapproval as little more comes from the control, until
Elekana nails Guskov with a pair of 12-6 elbows on the side of the
dome. Elekana remains on the back when Guskov sits up, and he cuts
Guskov on the eyebrow with one of his glancing wraparound strikes.
Guskov turns to the side and briefly breaks the leg grip, but
Elekana recovers it and gets the hooks back in. Guskov gets to his
knees in hopes of tossing Elekana off of him, and he rips a hook
off his torso so he can spin around. Elekana is unable to hold
Guskov in the dominant position, and Guskov turns around and makes
Elekana pay for his actions in the previous four minutes. The
powerful punches slide around the guard and hurt Elekana, opening
up a rear-naked choke of his own. Guskov takes the back and wraps
it up, but time expires before he can finish the job. There is a
bit of an awkward moment as Guskov holds the choke after the bell,
but nothing comes of it. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Elekana Scottie Smith scores the round: 10-9 Guskov Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Elekana

On the replay, Elekana is shown as having tapped, but it took place
after the bell so it did not count. The fans are not thrilled,
thinking a stoppage was missed. The fighters get to it, back on the
feet to start off the second round, and Guskov wants to get out of
her soon. He walks Elekana down and slugs him in the face with
power punches, only to get clipped with a right hook that sneaks
around his guard. A right hand from Elekana further surprises
Guskov, who marches forward after it only to get caught with a
one-two. Elekana dodges to evade what comes his way, and Guskov
feints and fakes to draw repeated reactions out of him. Elekana
scores a single left hand, and Guskov lays into him with three
heavy punches. Guskov backs his foe up to the fence with a right
hand, and Elekana counters him over the top. Elekana grins, under
fire from the man from Uzbekistan, as he prepares to let counters
fly as soon as Guskov drops his hands. Guskov stays in front of his
man, splitting the guard with powerful punches, but it is the body
shots that hurt Elekana. Guskov senses his opening and strings
together a ferocious combo of head and body shots that lead him to
a knee in the face. Elekana drops to a knee to defend from getting
kneed in the head again, and Guskov tries to wail away on him with
standing-to-ground punches. Guskov backs off, and Elekana elects to
sit in the same position instead of standing. Guskov, seeing there is little resistance coming his direction,
strides forward and wraps a power guillotine around Elekana’s
throat. With Guskov’s full weight bearing down, it takes no more
than a couple seconds for Elekana to surrender from the
submission , as he is spent and about to go out. We
have our first finish of the night, with the knockout artist Guskov
picking up a submission victory.

Billy Elekana

Fight History

Fighter Skills Radar

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Striking Profile

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Grappling Profile

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Conclusions Summary