By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

THE penultimate Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event for 2017 concluded yesterday with ex-lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos continuing his ascent at welterweight with a unanimous decision victory over former welterweight king “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler in Winnipeg, Canada.

Locked in right from the start, Mr. Dos Anjos left his imprint on the fight, not allowing Mr. Lawler to get much of his game going on his way to a 50-45, 50-45 and 50-45 UD win.

In the co-main event earlier in the day, meanwhile, Josh Emmett knocked out Ricardo “The Bully” Lamas in the opening round of their catchweight fight.

Mr. Dos Anjos got off to a strong start, bucking the early pressure that his opponent put at him with solid leg kicks and good clinch work. He went on to dictate the pace of the contest in the second round.

Mr. Lawler positioned himself better to start the third round but eventually was mastered by the Brazilian as he spent much of the tailend of the round on the receiving end of Mr. Dos Anjos’ ground-and-pound.

Sensing that he has the fight under control, Mr. Dos Anjos used rounds four and five taking the fight to Mr. Lawler, punctuated by a flashy flying knee to end the fourth round, leaving no doubt who won the fight.

Immediately after the battle, Mr. Dos Anjos (28-9) made his intentions known that he wants a shot at the division title currently held by Tyron Woodley.

“In my opinion, I just beat the toughest guy in the division. I think I deserve a title shot because of my history as a fighter,” Mr. Dos Anjos said.

With the loss, Mr. Lawler dropped to 28-12, losing two of his last three fights.

A FAST ONE
Meanwhile in the co-main event, Sacramento’s Mr. Emmett dealt a fast one on number three featherweight contender Mr. Lamas, knocking out the latter just 27 seconds in the opening round.

After a brief feeling-out period with the fighters testing the waters initially, Mr. Emmett, who weighed 2.5 pounds over the limit in featherweight in the weigh-in, unleashed a left hook that immediately sent Mr. Lamas to the mat and signaled the end of the fight.

The win was the second straight for Mr. Emmett (13-1) in the UFC while Mr. Lamas (18-6) slumped to his second loss in four fights.

In earlier fights, welterweight Santiago Porzinibbio beat Mike Perry by unanimous decision and light heavyweight Glover Teixeira TKO’d via punches Misha Cirkunov in the first round.

Next for the UFC is “UFC 219” on Dec. 31 (Manila time) in Las Vegas, Nevada, that will feature the women’s featherweight title clash between champion Cris Cyborg and challenger Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm.

In the Philippines, Cignal TV, the country’s foremost direct-to-home (DTH) company, is the home of the UFC after the two groups agreed to an extensive deal that will see the UFC beamed on various platforms.

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