Alonzo Menifield didn’t let the scorecards factor into the outcome this time.
In a rematch with Jimmy Crute, Menifield expertly used his defensive grappling to set up a guillotine choke and force Crute to tap out in the second round of their light heavyweight matchup at UFC 290 in Las Vegas on Saturday. The two previously fought at UFC 284, but that bout ended in an unsatisfying majority draw due to Menifield being penalized for a fence grab.
Watch Menifield’s submission finish below.
Alonzo Menifield snatched the neck and submitted Jimmy Crute #UFC290
(via @espnmma) pic.twitter.com/GMu1yUaQyS
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) July 9, 2023
Afterwards, a visibly disappointed Crute fell to his knees in the middle of the octagon and laid his gloves down in a seeming sign of retirement. However, Crute was not interviewed after the fight and it’s unclear if he actually plans to stop competing. Crute, 27, is on a three-fight winless streak and hasn’t had his hand raised since October 2020. He has missed a significant amount of time due to injury as well.
Menifield was the sharper fighter on Saturday as he out-grappled Crute until he saw the opening for the fight-ending choke. The official time of the stoppage was 1:55 into Round 2.
That’s four straight appearances without a loss now for Menifield, who also holds recent knockout wins over Misha Cirkunov and Askar Mozharov. His UFC record improves to 7-3-1.