Some might say that
Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight contender
Alonzo
Menifield has been operating incognito, with paltry attention
sent his way despite his occupying the No. 11 spot in the 205-pound
rankings. The American likes making his point with his punches and
shuns the spotlight when all eyes are on him. A current five-fight
undefeated streak in the UFC commands immediate notice, while a
combined 8-3-1 overall record in the organization only goes to show
he is ready for bigger and better challenges.
In his latest assignment, Menifield takes on
Carlos
Ulberg as part of the
UFC on ESPN 56 main card this Saturday at the Enterprise Center
in St. Louis. Ahead of his looming battle with Ulberg, a look at
some of the rivalries that have shaped his career thus far:
Menifield made the most of the second crack to lay hands on the
coveted UFC contract by taking on
Dashawn
Boatwright in June 2018 on
Dana White’s Contender Series. He won the contest via technical
knockout with ground-and-pound within eight seconds of the first
round and carried the steam into his promotional debut against
Vinicius
Moreira. With yet another first-round TKO victory over Moreira,
“Atomic” was operating at top gear, carrying a three-fight
first-round finish streak into his bout against Craig. Menifield
pressured Craig for the better portion of the first round, waiting
for the opportune moment to unleash his power. With little under
two minutes left on the clock in the opening frame, Craig launched
a round kick that grazed past Menifield and was partly blocked by
his guard. The American capitalized on a mistake when Craig tried
to launch another spinning attack and slipped to the canvas,
handing the finish to Menifield on a silver platter. Menifield
pounced with punches, forcing the stoppage at the 3:19 mark of the
first round.
Mozharov’s record underwent several changes leading up to the bout
against Menifield in what transpired to be one of the most bizarre
pre-fight dramas. The shifting record stoked Menifield’s ire and
the disrespectful behavior by his opponent inside the cage fed the
inferno of his rage. During the contest, Mozharov kept taunting his
foe by claiming that he could not feel his punches, labeling them
“soft.” To amplify his thirst for the finish, Menifield tried
visualizing Mozharov calling him a racial slur. He scored a
takedown against his rival, smothered him by pressing his forearm
into his face and unleashed merciless pounding from the crucifix
position that forced the bout to be stopped at 4:40 of the first
round. The way he perceives it, he turned “gangster” to demolish
Mozharov.
Menifield traveled to Crute’s home turf to open the main card of
UFC 284 in Perth, Australia. The bout was a back-and-forth
affair, with Crute controlling the grappling sequences and
Menifield got the better of the striking exchanges. In the third
round, Crute forced a takedown attempt, prompting Menifield to grab
the fence. Referee
Marc Goddard
paused the action and took a point for the blatant foul. This
resulted in the fight being scored a majority draw. Five months
later, the stage was set for the rematch at
UFC 290. This time, “Atomic” was patient in his approach,
landing the bigger shots while avoiding getting taken down to the
ground. In the second round, Crute put his weight behind a
double-leg, only for Menifield to pop right back to his feet. He
clamped onto the neck, twisting the Australian to the canvas, where
Menifield drew out the tap with a guillotine choke at the 1:55 mark
of the second round.