UFC Fight Night 86 results: Maryna Moroz gets decision vs. gritty Cristina Stanciu

Maryna Moroz

ZAGREB, Croatia – Cristina Stanciu wasn’t going to go quietly in her UFC debut, but ultimately Maryna Moroz was a little too much.

Stanciu (5-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) threatened Moroz (7-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) one way or another in each round, but Moroz did enough each frame to get a unanimous decision sweep of the judges’ scorecards to spoil Stanciu’s promotional debut.

The strawweight bout opened today’s UFC Fight Night 86 main card at Zagreb Arena in Zagreb, Croatia. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Stanciu took it to the favored Moroz right away in the fight, backing her up with a combination. After things settled down, Stanciu jumped guard for a guillotine choke, but Moroz stayed on her feet and was able to ultimately slip out. That gave Moroz the advantage in top position, and she rained down punches as Stanciu looked for a way to move out. Stanciu got up with two minutes left in the round – perhaps courtesy of an upkick that was perilously close to being illegal with Moroz still grounded.

Stanciu looked for a knee, but Moroz countered with a left hook and then landed an outside trip to get the fight back to the floor. With 45 seconds left, Moroz wrapped up a body lock after taking Stanciu’s back and punched hard when she wasn’t working for a choke. Moroz cranked Stanciu’s neck, but the UFC newcomer survived to see the second round.

Stanciu came out kicking in the second and landed a heavy right hand before just missing with a left uppercut. When Moroz slowed the pace down, Stanciu fired off a front kick two minutes in. Then it appeared Stanciu might have gotten a second wind. She had a good kneebar attempt, but Moroz rolled out of it and took Stanciu’s back again. Moroz tried elbows, but with 35 seconds left Stanciu got some space and kicked her way back to her feet.

Stanciu tried to work kicks to the body in the third, including a front kick. Moroz played it safe early in the final frame and ate plenty of leg kicks for it. Stanciu took Moroz down midway through the frame, but Moroz went after an armbar. Stanciu, though, was able to get a reverse triangle attempt from the top. But Moroz stayed pateint and worked out and kept the armbar. She couldn’t get a tap, but soon had the win courtesy of the judges.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 86 results include:

• Maryna Moroz def. Cristina Stanciu via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Zak Cummings def. Nicolas Dalby via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Alejandro Perez def. Ian Entwistle via verbal submission (punches) – Round 1, 4:04
• Mairbek Taisumov def. Damir Hadzovic via TKO (punch) – Round 1, 3:44
• Damian Stasiak def. Filip Pejic via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:16
• Lucas Martins def. Robert Whiteford via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
• Jared Cannonier def. Cyril Asker via knockout (punch, elbows) – Round 1, 2:40
• Bojan Velickovic def. Alessio Di Chirico via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

For more on UFC Fight Night 86, check out the UFC Events section of the site.