UFC 285 results: Mateusz Gamrot battles to split decision win over Jalin Turner in back-and-forth fight

Mateusz Gamrot only had 10 days to prepare but it was still enough for him to eke out a split decision win over Jalin Turner at UFC 285.

While he struggled at times with his opponent’s size, Gamrot consistently found a way inside to land several takedowns, which led to a lot of control time on top. Turner struggled to break free of Gamrot’s grip, which obviously cost him when it came time to score the fight.

Two judges gave Gamrot the nod with scores of 30-27 and 29-28 with the third official giving a 29-28 score to Turner. That was still enough for Gamrot to get the win as he bounces back after dropping a decision to Beneil Dariush in his last performance.

“I take this short notice, my performance was not good but I am a warrior,” Gamrot said following the win. “Jalin, thank you for the fight, it was a tough opponent. Next fight, I would like top five [opponent].”

Using his size and reach advantage, Turner was controlling the center of the octagon and keeping Gamrot on the end of his strikes as the action got started. It was short lived success, however, with Gamrot eventually diving inside to snatch a well-timed takedown but Turner defended well until working his way free to reset on the feet.

Gamrot continued to apply pressure with his wrestling as Turner fought to stay off the canvas.

It was evident that Turner’s length was giving Gamrot some headaches, although the former two-division KSW champion started to chip away his foundation with a series of calf kicks. When Gamrot finally rushed forward to look for another takedown, Turner cracked him with a hard shot.

With Gamrot rattled momentarily, Turner looked to turn up the heat with a barrage of strikes. Gamrot was able to weather the storm until he finally got the legs to put Turner down again.

On top, Gamrot was able to trap Turner in the crucifix position where he began peppering away with short punches and elbows.

It was a grueling battle throughout but Gamrot once again turned to his wrestling to try and negate Turner’s striking advantage on the feet. Gamrot continued to fight for takedowns with Turner defending to try and stay standing.

That was ultimately the difference because Gamrot kept getting Turner down and “The Tarantula” couldn’t do much except try and break free without producing any real strikes to turn the tables.

Now 5-2 in the UFC, Gamrot continues to make waves in the lightweight division while taking out another highly touted opponent in Turner. Given his willingness to take this fight on very short notice, Gamrot might end up being rewarded with a higher-ranked opponent in his return later this year