Darwin Sagurit had not lost on Australian soil since 2014, totaling 10 bouts but that came to an end on Saturday night as Kairin Moses survived an early onslaught to win a split points decision and claim the Aftershock bantamweight title.
The bout headlined Aftershock 30 which took place at the Gladstone PCYC in Queensland’s North.
It was an action packed first round in the main event and took only 15-seconds before the heavy-handed Sagurit exploded looking for the home-run. Moses had particular success on the inside, including landing knees with the Thai clinch as he also landed a takedown when he caught a kick and kicked out the supporting leg. The best moments of the round went to Sagurit though as he clocked Moses with a right. Sagurit may have thought he had the fight within grasp as Moses turned momentarily before covering up when Sagurit flurried. Ending up with double underhooks, Sagurit secured a takedown and landed short but heavy elbows in side-control.
An eye-poke from Moses halted the contest early in the second round. When it restarted it was evident that Sagurit’s pace had slowed with Moses, who had the support of the local crowd, getting the better of the wild flurries. 36-year-old Sagurit pressed the fight against the cage where he looked for a takedown. Moses nicely switched but couldn’t keep Sagurit on the ground as the Australian Top Team product popped straight back up. Sagurit finished the takedown attempt and was able to get a big slam but had to go on the defensive straight away as Moses locked up a kimura from the bottom. Sagurit escaped though inside the guard was unable to make it count as the round came to an end without much action.
With arguably a round each going into the third round it was still all to fight for as the two fighters embraced in the centre of the cage to being the round.
Moses caught the leg again and got another takedown by taking out the supporting leg. He immediately pressured looking for ground-and-pound before landing a kick as his opponent hopped back to his feet. Both started throwing singular kicks and punches, rather than flurries that the crowd were entertained with earlier in the fight. The fight stalled when Sagurit went in for a takedown though it was only half completed and both fighters stayed inactive against the cage. With 90-seconds left Sagurit got a takedown though Moses returned back to his feet straight away. Sagurit dove in for a double-leg takedown which when he secured, allowed him to finish strongly with ground-and-pound.
The strong finish wouldn’t be enough on two of the judges scorecards with them awarding Moses the bout 29-28 and the other giving Sagurit the win 29-28. Big win for Moses who moves his professional record to 5-3, while Sagurit drops to 10-4.
In the other title fight on the night, Aaron Blackie looked to be on track to securing another win over Jesse Medina before he was ultimately stopped in the third round.
Blackie, fighting for the second time in a fortnight, dominated rounds one and two, getting the fight to the ground where he was able to stayed heavy and a step ahead of Medina. To his credit, despite being caught in a number of submission, Medina stayed calm and escaped, in particular a tight rear-naked choke submission in the second round. That may have been the different as Blackie came out visibly tired in the third round and was caught by pair of uppercuts that immediately turned the tide. Medina went all out and with Blackie standing but not responding, the referee had no choice but to end the contest.
One of the more active fighters on the Australian scene, Medina moves to 13-8 though was unable to bring home the Aftershock featherweight title after not missing the official weight limit the day before.
Results (Pro):
- Kairin Moses def. Darwin Sagurit vs. via Decision (Split) – Aftershock Bantamweight Title Fight
- Jesse Medina* def. Aaron Blackie via TKO (Punches), Rd 3, 0:41 – Aftershock Featherweight Title Fight
*Medina ineligible for title after missing weight
Results (Amateur):
- Trent Minor def. Luke Davis via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 0:50
- Kieran Teuma def. Nick Kirkman via TKO (Punches), Rd 3, 1:57
- Craig Bright def. Joshua Breslin via KO (Punch), Rd 1, 0:50
- Amir Naeme def. Coopar Smith via Decision (Split)
- Brody Ede def. Ben Atkinson via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 2:40
Results (Amateur C-Class):
- Luke Ianni def. Josh Bartolo via Submission (Head-Arm Choke), Rd 3, 2:31
- Jarrad Geyer def. Matt Gallagher via Decision (Unanimous)
- Omid Al Amiri def. Caleb Blazely via Decision (Unanimous)
Results (Other):
- Exhibition Boxing – Jyde Dwer def. Haris Agovic via Decision (Unanimous)
- Grappling bout – Stephan Thouiss def. Lindsay Ward via Submission (Guillotine Choke)
