XFC 42 Recap: Mohammad Alavi stops Jackson Small to capture featherweight title

Henry Perez trained Mohammad Alavi came to Jackson Small’s hometown and went home with his title; capturing the featherweight title at XFC 42.

The bout headlined the card which took place at the Mansfield Tavern in Brisbane’s south on Saturday night.

Iranian born Alavi, who was celebrating his birthday on the same night, came out aggressive. He landed a jumping knee to the mid-section within the opening seconds before dropping Small with a huge right. Small did extremely well to recover from that shot but Alavi stayed on the front foot, swarming Small and got the TKO victory inside the first-round.

Alavi is now 4-0 as a pro as he captures his first domestic title at a time of 1:42.

In his post-fight interview, Alavi declared that he is ready for anyone in Australia.

“I am ready for everyone. I feel I am the best in Australia. I have the best team behind me,” he commented.

Also on the card, Aaron Tau, who earned himself an MMA scholarship under UFC fighter Dan Hooker, picked up another victory with a second-round stoppage over Jack Lambe. Tau fought a smart fight as he looked patient in the first round, picking his shots and defended the takedown attempts from Lambe. Midway through the second-round, Tau, nicely doubled up the jab before a big right hand momentarily dropped Lambe. Tau immediately capitalised, throwing a barrage of punches and knees inside the clinch to force a referee stoppage.

In the only other pro fight on the card, Matt Lee-Manwar and Taela Kelly put on one of the fights of the night. The bout went the distance where Lee-Manwar walked away with the unanimous decision victory.

Fight Card (Pro):

• Mohammad Alavi def. Jackson Small via TKO (Strikes), Rd 1, 1:42 – XFC featherweight title
• Aaron Tau def. Jack Lambe via TKO (Strikes), Rd 2, 3:06
• Matt Lee-Manwar def. Taela Kelly via Decision (Unanimous)

Fight Card (Amateur):

• Loni Filimoehala def. Jamie Sporne via Decision (Unanimous) – XFC amateur super-lightweight title
• Bruno Playfair def. Viktor Lyall via Decision (Unanimous) – XFC amateur welterweight title
• Tim Schultz def. Connor Birch via TKO (Strikes), Rd 2, 1:49 – XFC amateur lightweight title
• Dane Alchin def. Clayton Pemberton via KO (Strikes), Rd 2, 0:22 – XFC amateur heavyweight title
• Christian Merino def. Nicholas Smith via Decision (Unanimous)
• Trevor Sinclair def. Michael Urbanski via TKO (Knee Injury), Rd 3, 3:00
• Alex Hong def. Quinlan Kelly via Submission (Triangle Choke), Rd 1, 1:13
• Paul Abdul-Rahman def. Luke Zilic via TKO (Strikes), Rd 3, 1:27
• Isaac Berndt def. Nathan Peckett via TKO (Strikes), Rd 1
• Alex young def. Jordan Payne via TKO (Strikes), Rd 2

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