This type of fight happens every other card
UFC has to step in and make it some type of demerit for failed takedowns otherwise dudes can go for them over and over again, fail, and then cite that as control time. Its really lame but thats how shyt is scored and I'm not even one of those grappling equals bad nikkas but the absolute floor of this type of strategy should be Merab as yeah he aint doing a ton of damage but he is looking to at the least.
Actual control in grappling is maintaining and advancing advantageous position. Burying your face in another dude's crotch up against the cage for over half of every round cause and you everyone watching knows it's gonna get pieced up if you were forced into an exchange standing up isn't. Don't know why MMA judging is still equating blatant cage stalling with what guys like GSP used to do, even if the latter could often be boring they're obviously not the same in the slightest in terms of what constitutes winning a fight.