Kiwi welterweight Blood Diamond has been edged in his sophomore Octagon outing against Orion Cosce at UFC 277 at Dallas, Texas.
The City Kickboxing product - who showed some clear progress - was on the wrong side of a unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the bout in Cosce's favour 29-28, after the American used his grappling prowess to grind his way to victory.
Despite the outcome, Diamond showcased some clear progress - winning the second round with some slick striking - but ultimately had no answer for the powerful wrestler in the decisive third round.
The defeat leaves the two-time King in the Ring champion winless through his opening two UFC appearances, after his first-round submission loss to Jeremiah Wells in February.
After two false scheduling starts due to injury, Blood Diamond and Cosce finally came to blows in the opening fight of the event.
In the first round, Blood Diamond deomonstrated his rapid improvement in the grappling department by initially repelling repeated takedown attempts by the All-American wrestling specialist, but Cosce was able to execute a slick hip toss in the dying seconds, which likely secured him the round.
After some sage advice from coach Eugene Bareman, Blood Diamond looked much more assured in the second, letting loose with his superior striking to take the upperhand over Cosce, who was consistently able to escape danger using his clinch.
In one unique moment, both fighters struck one another with spinning back fists, but the Kiwi clearly bagged the round, sending the contest to a decider in the third.
Cosce immediately reverted to his wrestling to start the final stanza, planting Diamond on his back with a lateral drop, then using his top control game to keep his hapless opponent pinned to the mat for the remainder of the bout.
Diamond did well to withstand repeated submission attempts while in some highly compromised positions, but ultimately couldn't prevent Cosce locking up a one-sided round to clinch his maiden UFC victory.
Blood Diamond's teammate, Kai Kara-France - who watched on from backstage - will be in action in the co-main event, when he tries to avenge his 2019 loss to Brandon Moreno with the interim flyweight title on the line.
Join Newshub for live updates of the UFC 277 main card from 2pm.
