Live from the Mexico City Arena in Mexico City, Tony Ferguson put on an inspired performance at UFC Fight Night 98 when he convincingly defeated Rafael Dos Anjos to strengthen his claim as one of the top contenders in the Lightweight division.
Ferguson (22-3), who became the first Lightweight to win nine fights in a row, used his unconventional movement and striking to pick apart Dos Anjos (25-9) throughout the five rounds and when it came down to the judges, they awarded “El Cucuy” the unanimous decision victory (48-47 x3).
He didn’t have it all his own way though as “RDA” had the better of the first round, landing heavy leg kicks and counters, forcing Ferguson to weather the storm as he tried to figure out the Brazilian’s timing. A stiff left counter snapped Ferguson’s head back and his chin withstood the test after a shot that would have put many away. Dos Anjos seemed to be in the driver’s seat moving into the second round.
Ferguson would push the pace in the second round and would find the range with his jab leading to him successfully winning the striking on the feet throughout round two. Well-timed counters and an accidental eye poke completely swung the momentum to Ferguson as he settled in to the fight and began to hit Dos Anjos at will throughout.
Dos Anjos was able to battle back in round three and found success countering the reckless and freewheeling style of Ferguson who marched forward regardless. The Brazilian found success with shots to the body and a crushing spinning back fist to narrowly take the third round with a much better spell in the last 90 seconds.
RDA, who was beaten up and bloody at the end of the round, continued to wilt under the relentless pressure of Ferguson in the final two rounds and could offer nothing in return to the fluid movement and relentless combinations thrown by “El Cucuy”. With the much talked about altitude not seeming to affect the pressure game of Ferguson, he stunned RDA with a brutal knee strike, one of the best strikes of the fight, and continued to pick him apart over the final two rounds.
With the judges awarding Ferguson the unanimous decision victory, the 32-year-old had put on his most impressive performance inside the Octagon yet and although he said little other than thanking the Mexican fans, you know that he will have a close eye on next week’s Lightweight title fight in New York at UFC 205 between Eddie Alvarez and Conor McGregor.
In the night’s co-main event, Marcin Held (22-5) had his UFC debut spoiled by tough veteran Diego Sanchez (27-9) who rolled back the years with a vintage performance which utilised his superior gas tank to take the unanimous decision victory (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
The hype surrounding the young Polish fighter coming into this Lightweight bout seemed justified after a good first round where he forced a showtime submission escape from Sanchez. Caught in a front face lock, the TUF Season 1 contestant wall-climbed the cage with his feet, before flipping his weight to the other side releasing his neck and allowing him to toss Held to the floor.
DIEGO SANCHEZ WITH THE… SHOWTIME CHOKE ESCAPE. #UFCMexico
— MiddleEasy (@MiddleEasy) 6 November 2016
From there, the next two rounds mostly took place on the mat with Held on the bottom attempting all sorts of submissions including his trademark leg locks. However, “Nightmare” was far too experienced to be caught out in those situations and instead worked a grinding wrestling game to leave the ex-Bellator fighter exhausted.
Sanchez easily dominated from those positions and took the unanimous decision victory which will push back retirement talk and leave Held to go back to the drawing board before he next enters the octagon.
Karma made an appearance further down the card as Ricardo Lamas (17-5) overcame the size disadvantage caused by Charles Oliveira’s (21-7 1NC) missed weight cut and secured a nasty looking guillotine choke to take out the Brazilian in the second round.
The Catchweight bout was necessitated by Oliveira weighing in at a ridiculous 9lbs over the Featherweight limit and the weight difference seemed to play a factor in the first round. The Brazilian used his weight advantage on the ground to control their position and work for submissions leaving Lamas fighting off chokes and having to hang on for the bell as Oliveira locked in the submission with seconds of the round left.
Lamas would turn the tides in the second round, recovering from a takedown attempt to find himself on top and transitioning nicely to a guillotine choke. Oliveira could not find an escape and was forced to tap to the submission for the second time in a row after his previous guillotine choke loss to Anthony Pettis.
Lamas would dedicate the win to his mother who is currently battling cancer in an emotional post-fight speech.
In “The Ultimate Fighter Latin America 3 Finale”, Martin Bravo (11-0) defeated Claudio Puelles (7-2) with a devastating liver shot in the second round to be crowned the Lightweight winner of this season.
Bravo, who normally fights at Featherweight, outclassed the young 20-year-old Peruvian and the end came in Round two when after spells of pressure for the Mexican fighter, a combination followed up by a brutal liver shot was enough to crumple Puelles and no doubt leave a big smile on Bas Rutten’s face somewhere.
Also on the main card, Beneil Dariush (14-2) took Rashid Magomedov (19-2) the distance to secure the unanimous decision victory in a slow paced grind as both men showed signs of exhaustion from the altitude in the later rounds of this Lightweight contest.
Most of this fight took place in a clinch against the fence as Dariush used short strikes and knees to keep Magomedov’s back against the fence. The Russian could only try and score shots on the inside but could do very little to counter the control of Dariush who took all three rounds and will now look to fight a bigger name in the Lightweight division.
Rounding out the main card was Mexican prospect Alexa Grasso (9-0) who put a beating on Heather Jo Clark (7-6) for all three rounds of her debut in their Strawweight bout.
Grasso’s talent was clear for all to see as her boxing outclassed Jo Clark and left her complaining of vision issues at the end of the first round. The 23-year-old talent continued to punish the tough Clark, breaking her nose and leaving her bloody before scoring a big takedown in the third round to put an exclamation point on her performance and win by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
The Strawweight division will no doubt be on notice after such a dominant and impressive octagon debut.
