Ferguson outlasts Dos Anjos to extend win streak to nine
AMERICAN lightweight fighter Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson continued with his impressive winning streak in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), victorious for a ninth straight time after outlasting former champion Rafael Dos Anjos at “UFC Fight Night 98” yesterday in Mexico.
Undefeated in eight previous fights, Mr. Ferguson made sure to come out triumphant still by keeping his Brazilian opponent in check to hack out a unanimous decision win (48-47, 48-47 and 48-47)
While he struggled early in the opening round, Mr. Ferguson raised his game as the fight progressed, particularly in the second and third rounds where he was efficient in his striking that stymied the game plan of the former UFC lightweight champion.
The American would eventually throw more significant strikes, 187 to 113, and was more efficient at 47% to his opponent’s 41%.
Recognizing that he was behind in the scores, Mr. Dos Anjos tried to make up for lost time and rally back but Mr. Ferguson would not allow him to gain much headway and nipped every attempt in the bud.
The win padded currently third-ranked Ferguson’s record to 23-3 and, more importantly, made a good case for himself for a shot at the title held right now by Eddie “The Silent Assassin” Alvarez.
Mr. Dos Anjos (25-9), meanwhile, fell for the second straight time after losing his title to Mr. Alvarez in July.
Also a victor in UFC Fight Night 98 was Mexican Martin “El Toro” Bravo, beating Peruvian Claudio “El Niño” Puelles by way of a second-round technical knockout to claim the title at The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America 3.
Mr. Bravo ( 12- 0), fighting under Team Forrest Griffin, started aggressively, catching Mr. Puelles ( 8- 2) of Team Chuck Liddell with a body- head combination early that led to a flurry of exchange.
The Peruvian fighter managed to take down the Mexican but the latter made good use of the cage to extricate himself from it. The two then went at it with Mr. Puelles throwing body kicks but Mr. Bravo would counter with a left hook and solid three- punch combination as the opening round came to a close.
Mr. Puelles was the aggressor at the start of the second round but it would prove to be short-lived as Mr. Bravo would make his move. He set up the finish with a series of jabs and body shots, the last of which — a solid hit to the liver — instantly dropping Mr. Puelles from which he could not recover from, prompting the referee to wave off the fight at the 1:55 mark of the round.
In elation, Mr. Bravo immediately went out of the cage and jumped to the arms of his The Ultimate Fighter coach Griffin to celebrate the victory.
Other winners were lightweight Diego “The Nightmare” Sanchez over Marcin Held by unanimous decision (29-28, 2928 and 29-27); Ricardo “The Bully” Lamas (#4) over Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira (#8) in their 155-lb catchweight duel by submission in the second round ( guillotine choke); lightweight Beneil Dariush (#9) over Rashid Magomedov (#15) via unanimous decision ( 30- 27, 30- 27 and 29-28); and women’s strawweight Alexa Grasso over Heather Jo Clark by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27 and 29-28).
Next stop for the UFC is “UFC 205” on Nov. 13 (Manila time) featuring three title fights headlined by the lightweight championship encounter between holder Alvarez and challenger and featherweight champion Conor “The Notorious” McGregor at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Also staking their titles at UFC 205 are welterweight champion Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and women’s strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk versus Karolina Kowalkiewicz.
In the Philippines, Cignal TV, the country’s foremost direct- to- home (DTH) company, is the new home of the UFC after the two groups agreed to an extensive three-year deal that will see the UFC beamed on various platforms.