It was the second consecutive time that Hawaii’s Russell Doane found himself heading into a UFC bout as an underdog. The first, of course, was at UFC Fight Night 34 in Singapore, where a seemingly bad start to life as a UFC fighter looked to be on the cards when he was paired up with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champ, Leandro Issa.
But what happened, as they, was history. Doane topped Issa at his own game on the canvas, defying the bookmaker’s odds and starting his UFC career on a high note.
Now, on Saturday night in the main card opener of UFC 175, facing Marcus Brimage wasn’t a tall order of any sort but it was certainly a step-up for the Honolulu native. Brimage had previously went 3-0 in the octagon and was coming off the first setback of his UFC stint against Conor McGregor, which eventually prompted the 29-year-old to make a move down to Bantamweight.
The bout wasn’t pretty by a long shot but Doane established a solid start in the first frame with a takedown, where he spent the majority of the round tied onto Brimage’s back, salvaging for a Rear-Naked Choke submission maneuver at every chance he could get. After five minutes, he was easily up on the scorecards, 10-9.
Brimage came back strong in the second round though, winging punches from the get-go and staying out of Doane’s grappling prowess. He started his own barrage of leg kicks thereon in that stumbled Doane repetitively. Doane, meanwhile, was doing a decent job of avoiding Brimage’s powerful combinations in his own right, and was doing his part in taking the fight to the mat. Doane eventually got the fight where he wanted after a short scramble in the final minute but Brimage judiciously got back to his feet. Brimage might have won that round, evening the scorecards at that point.
An uphill start for both fighters as the third round commenced, with Doane securing an early Armbar attempt. Brimage, though, was having none of it. He pulled out of it and just moments later, scored consecutive leg trips which troubled his Hawaiian counterpart. Doane, for the large part, continued to pressure his opponent shooting for takedowns, but Brimage defended well and immediately backed away, wanting no part in the grappling game. Both combatants traded towards the final bell although in the end, two out of three judges saw it fit to award the final decision to Doane.
It was a questionable call as Brimage certainly had the better of the Hawaiian in the latter stages, but the judges might have scored it in favor of Doane because of his efforts in the earlier rounds.
With the victory in the bag, Doane improved to 2-0 inside the octagon and looks poised in securing another fight under the UFC flag by year’s end. He’s now 8-2 in his past ten outings.
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