Gamburyan improves to 2-0 at 135 with win over Jorgensen

So far so great for Manny Gamburyan at 135 pounds.

Fighting in his fourth weight class overall and his third inside the caged confines of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Gamburyan won his second men’s bantamweight bout in as many tries Wednesday night with a unanimous decision over Scott Jorgensen at San Diego’s Valley View Casino at UFC Fight Night.

Through three rounds of entertaining grappling exchanges and a share of stand-up excitement, Gamburyan won the takedown battle and also landed the more telling strikes.

“I planned to knock him out, but I couldn’t do it,” said Gamburyan in his postfight interview on Fox Sports 1. “Jorgensen’s a tough guy. He stepped up pretty good.”

Scores were 30-27 on all three judges’ score cards. The Glendale News-Press scored the bout the same.

Gamburyan (15-8, one no-contest, 6-6, one no-contest in UFC), who was cornered by Glendale High product Karen Darabedyan, Andy Dermendjian and George Bastrmajyan, improved to 2-0 at 135 pounds following a second-round submission of Cody Gibson in Gamburyan’s bantamweight debut in September.

Jorgensen (15-10, 4-6 in UFC), meanwhile, lost his fifth fight over his last six, as the 32-year-old was moving back up to 135, where he’s fought much of his career, after dropping down to 125.

“I was very tentative tonight. I was banged up coming in,” Jorgensen told the UFC after the fight. “My first fight back at 135 pounds and I’ve still got more in me. I was just a little unstable tonight. I’ve still got it and I look forward to showing it.”

The 34-year-old Gamburyan had been scheduled to face rising prospect Aljamain Sterling earlier in the year, but pulled out due to an injury. After Wednesday’s bout, he revealed he was injured this time around.

“Coming into this camp, I’m gonna be honest, I was kind of hurt, my hip, was, ow,” said Gamburyan, who’s been a mainstay training at Glendale Fighting Club, Team Hayastan in North Hollywood and Main Event Gym in Glendale. “I thought I was going to pull out again. I already pulled out with my elbow fractured. My hip was really, really bad, so thank you to my doctor for helping me.”

Both the second and third rounds were close, with Gamburyan’s stiffer shots and takedowns sealing points. The first round, however, saw Gamburyan land the biggest shot of the night when he floored Jorgensen and later had a good guillotine choke attempt.

“It was kind of slippery,” Gamburyan said. “I had the guillotine, it was pretty deep, but it was slippery. He’s a scrappy guy, he’s a veteran. So, I give it up to him, good fight.”

Gamburyan reached at the onset for a takedown that was easily stuffed by Jorgensen, who was content to stay on the outside. Gamburyan would land with a great left-right combo, though, to kick off an action-packed round.

Jorgensen then went for a takedown and picked Gamburyan up, but Gamburyan limited any slam by going for a guillotine.

Following a series of scrambles and solid grappling exchanges, Gamburyan ended up on top of a downed Jorgensen. Jorgensen made his way up to standing against the cage, but Gamburyan landed his best punches there until Jorgensen reversed him against the cage.

Jorgensen landed a knee that was low, however, putting a halt to the action.

Gamburyan then shot a double leg and scooped up Jorgensen for a slam, but Jorgensen escaped bottom and began pouring on some strikes, including a solid knee, but Gamburyan fired off a huge right that knocked Jorgensen down. Gamburyan swarmed and landed more shots. As Jorgensen scrambled, Gamburyan landed a German suplex and continued an onslaught.

The bout went back to standing with Gamburyan landing a nice counter right hand to the bloodied mouth of Jorgensen to accentuate a 10-9 round for the Armenian.

A left leg kick attempt by Gamburyan hit low on Jorgensen early in the second round to call another halt to the action.

Thereafter, Jorgensen continued to show off some good footwork, dancing in and out trying to put together combos, but Gamburyan aggressively charged forward. Following a brief single-leg takedown by Gamburyan, Jorgensen landed a good body kick. They grappled again off a Jorgensen takedown attempt that saw Gamburyan go for a guillotine attempt only to have Jorgensen reverse it and start in on strikes. Gamburyan broke the clinch with a good knee to the body and a follow-up right hand.

Gamburyan forced a clinch against the cage and slowly worked a takedown. Jorgensen worked back up though and landed a takedown of his own. Jorgensen went for Gamburyan’s back, but that was reversed. Gamburyan controlled position for much of the remainder of the round, which was a close one.

Over the first half of the third round, Gamburyan found some success with leg kicks and his big right hand, though Jorgensen was still a bit more active. Gamburyan went for a poorly executed takedown attempt, but was able to pop up and catch Jorgensen with a good left hook. Another long shot by Gamburyan was stuffed by Jorgensen.

Gamburyan led with a left and came with a nice right to the chin for a good, solid combo. He then pressed forward for another takedown and pushed Jorgensen to the cage. With the clock winding down, Gamburyan pressed hard and landed a barrage of lefts.

It was another close round, but Gamburyan consistently landed the more telling shots throughout.

“I go after each opponent the same – try to grind them out and finish,” Gamburyan said. “Scotty’s a veteran, tough, scrappy guy and I couldn’t finish him.”

With more than 20 combined fights inside the UFC and close to 50 overall, Gamburyan and Jorgensen clearly got together for a battle of veteran combatants. Alas, Gamburyan is the one who’s now moving back up.