Written by Alistair Hendrie
Sunderland lightweight Ross Pearson gave his career the boost it needed as he stopped Gray Maynard in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Bangor co-main event.
“The Real Deal,” hampered by injuries and without a win since April 2013, finally produced the goods with clinical striking and ground-and-pound to seal the sixteenth victory of his career.
There was more good news for English fighters as middleweight Tom Watson outscored Sam Alvey, while American Ryan Bader exposed Ovince St. Preux’s deficiencies in their five-round light-heavyweight main event.
Watson’s success was crucial, but Pearson’s win turned around what was becoming a disastrous year. First, in March, a meniscus tear forced him out of a rematch with Melvin Guillard – their first fight ended a no-contest when Pearson, as is his luck, was cut in round one.
Then, three months later, he was on the wrong end of a horrible decision against Diego Sanchez. Dana White, the UFC president, stated the promotion would treat it as a win for Pearson. Clearly, Ross was up against it with Maynard, a warhorse boasting 15 previous showcases in the UFC.
In a cagey opening, Maynard completed two double-leg takedowns yet his opponent responded with a blurring array of kicks to both head and body.
And while both fighters are known for their clout on the feet, it was Pearson who struck in round two, rocking Maynard back onto his heels with a short, shovelling left. There was no turning back.
Spurred on by adversity, Pearson took out his frustration on his rival’s unguarded chin, finishing him against the cage with jackhammer lefts on the ground. Usually a calm character, the Englishman jogged over to his trainers and roared into the Cross Insurance Center’s high, gaping ceiling.
With that, Pearson has potentially unlocked exactly what he wanted: fights against top 10 lightweight contenders. His only problem is that the 155lb scene is jam-packed with diverse athletes – natural born killers skilled in every facet of the game. Brazilian striker Edson Barboza and New Jersey’s teak-tough Jim Miller are both available and waiting.
Where to next for Maynard? Remember his gruelling trilogy with Frankie Edgar? Remember the beating he took from Nate Diaz last November? It’s easy to look at the narrative of a career coming to an end, but Maynard has re-located to Power MMA in Arizona and remains motivated. He can come back from this.
One man who is already bouncing back is Watson. After taking Cage Rage and BAMMA by storm on the European circuit, his UFC career started with a whimper as he slipped to 1-3 in his first four contests. Lose to Alvey, fighting out of Team Quest, and he could have been done with the promotion.
Waston displayed his intentions from the opening bell: target the lead leg with kicks, switching from the shin to the calf to the ankle. His striking was fluid and varied as he dominated with jabs, head kicks and front kicks.
Still, in his UFC debut Alvey wouldn’t go down easily. Roaring into the decider, the 28-year-old found the target with a shower of wide, left-right attacks, but Watson adjusted to trade bombs and see out the unanimous decision.
In the less competitive main event, Bader put on a wrestling showcase for a unanimous decision over St Preux, the Haitian-American. Entering the UFC off the back of his Ultimate Fighter: Season 8 victory, “Darth” Bader was always celebrated for his single-leg attacks, patient ground-and-pound and pressure against the fence. He showed all of that in a dominant first round.
However, St. Preux, a long and wiry 6 foot 3, connected in the next session with single punches. His big stumbling block was the takedowns of Bader though, especially in round three when the American landed two double-leg corkscrew slams.
Indeed, Bader grabbed ten takedowns – a personal best in the UFC – while St. Preux became lazy and offered little offence for the next two rounds.
There are few who can hang with Bader in the clinch or on the ground, but the likes of Alexander Gustafsson and Daniel Cormier, both leading contenders, have too much on the feet for the Arizona man. Jon Jones, the dominant champion, has too much for everyone at the moment regardless.
Further down the card, resurgent middleweight Tim Boetsch and UFC debutant Alan Jouban had their arms raised after coming from behind.
Boetsch, 33, seemed an inferior athlete to Brad Tavares until “The Barbarian” cracked him with an equilibrium-jarring uppercut during round two. Tavares folded to the canvas and shipped a savage left that put paid to his efforts.
Joining the UFC’s 170lb’ers from Resurrection Fighting Alliance, Jouban was dropped early by Seth Baczynski, suffered hard ground-and-pound, but mixed up his strikes and grasped a stoppage with a fatal left before round one was finished.
Meanwhile Thiago Tavares, moving down a class to featherweight, was able to rag-doll Robbie Peralta in a round, switching from full guard to back mount before clamping on a rear naked choke.
And elsewhere, heavyweight Shawn Jordan picked up his sixteenth career win cheque by dismantling Jack May with strikes from back mount in round three.
