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Surging flyweight Sergio Pettis put on a tough and tenacious display to stretch his current streak to four consecutive victories while securing a unanimous decision win over home crowd favourite Brandon Moreno in last night’s UFC Mexico main event.

UFC Mexico, also known as UFC Fight Night 114, took place on Saturday, August 5 at the Mexico City Arena in Mexico City and would heavily showcase the promotion’s array of Latin American talent. Despite criticisms about the strength of card beforehand, UFC Mexico would deliver on action, breaking the record for most first round finishes in a night with seven.

Despite his eventual dominance, “The Phenom” got off to a very shaky start as he threw a sloppy body kick which was turned into a successful takedown by Moreno. From there, Moreno would take his opponent’s back and look for a choke, and although the 23-year-old was unsuccessful, it restricted Pettis to handfighting for the entirety of the first round in a possible 10-8 for the Mexican prospect.

Settling down in the second frame, Pettis would start to find his rhythm on the feet, working a composed and sharp striking game, whilst threatening Moreno with a triangle choke when he did end up in his back. The Roufusport product had shown Moreno enough to keep it standing and would start to find a home for a straight right that he landed over and over as his opponent’s unorthodox movement failed him.

Pettis took over the fight in the third round and didn’t look back, opening a cut on the eye of Moreno with a shuddering head kick having found an opening with previous attempts. The superior striking of the 23-year-old became more apparent as he picked off “The Assassin Baby” time and again in the exchanges.

The trend would continue in the final two rounds although Moreno would score a quick takedown in the final round after being told the fight was even by his corner. Pettis weathered this easily enough, and after stopping any significant offense, he made his way back to his feet and returned to out-striking his opponent until the end of the fight.

Having won four straight fights in a shallow flyweight division, Pettis has surely put himself in the frame as a potential challenger to reigning champion Demetrious Johnson’s 125lb title. Meanwhile, Moreno fell to his first defeat since 2012, and his first inside the Octagon, after going 11 fights unbeaten prior to this bout.

Grasso struggles to scrappy decision win over Markos

In the evening’s co-main event, Mexican strawweight Alexa Grasso toiled on her way to a hard-fought split decision over Randa Markos in front of her expecting home fans. The bout was fought at catchweight due to Grasso missing the strawweight limit the previous day.

The 23-year-old got off to a quick start, lighting up Markos on the feet and being quicker to the punch in every exchange. However, her Canadian opponent was resurgent in the second round, taking the Mexican to the mat on several occasions and even raining down punches from full mount.

With it all hinging on the final round, Grasso stuck to the outside, picking Markos off from distance and avoiding any takedown attempts that came her way to narrowly take the round and the fight on the judges scorecards.

The victory is Grasso’s first since losing to Felice Herrig in February while Markos has now lost two of her last three fights.

Price keeps perfect record unblemished with TKO win over Jouban

Undefeated welterweight Niko Price continued his impressive start to his UFC career with an attention grabbing first round TKO win over seasoned veteran Alan Jouban.

Jouban started the fight by circling away from Price however the Florida native found his opening when he unleashed a head kick to Jouban which opened him up for a thunderous right hand. This floored Jouban which allowed Price to follow up with strikes until referee Gary Copeland stepped in to make the stoppage.

“The Hybrid” has now won all three of his UFC bouts since making his promotional debut back in December although the second win was overturned to a no contest following a positive drugs test for marijuana from Price. Jouban, meanwhile, has now lost two fights on the bounce.

Elsewhere on the card, former UFC light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans further slid towards retirement as he was beaten in a tedious split decision by middleweight division gatekeeper Sam Alvey.

Both men would attempt to play it safe, circling each other with fakes and feints for the entirety of the three rounds to the dismay of the crowd. “Smilin” Sam was the more aggressive of the two and his volume paid off with it being enough to convince the judges to hand him the decision and surely sends the 37-year-old “Suga”, whose without a win since 2013, closer to the exit door.

UFC Fight Night 114: Pettis vs. Moreno Results

Flyweight Main Event Bout: Sergio Pettis def. Brandon Moreno via Decision (Unanimous) (49-46, 48-46, 48-46)

Catchweight Bout: Alexa Grasso def. Randa Markos via Decision (Split) (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Welterweight Bout: Niko Price def. Alan Jouban via TKO (Punches) (1:44 – Round 1)

Featherweight Bout: Humberto Bandenay def. Martin Bravo via KO (Knee) (Round 1 – 0:26)

Middleweight Bout: Sam Alvey def. Rashad Evans via Decision (Split) (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Bantamweight Bout: Alejandro Perez def. Andre Soukhamthath via Decision (Split) (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Middleweight Bout: Jack Hermansson def. Brad Scott via TKO (Strikes) (Round 1 – 3:50)

Flyweight Bout: Dustin Ortiz def. Hector Sandoval via KO (Punches) (Round 1 – 0:15)

Bantamweight Bout: Rani Yahya def. Henry Briones via Submission (Kimura) (Round 1 – 2:01)

Bantamweight Bout: Jose Quinonez def. Diego Rivas via Decision (Unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Flyweight Bout: Joseph Morales def. Robert Sanchez via Submission (Rear-naked Choke) (Round 1 – 3:56)

Lightweight Bout: Jordan Rinaldi def. Alvaro Herrera via Submission (Von Flue Choke) (Round 1 – 2:01)