IT was a losing return for Filipino mixed martial arts fighter Jenel “The Demolition Man” Lausa to Australia yesterday as he was dealt a unanimous decision loss by American Eric “Showtime” Shelton at “UFC Fight Night 121” in Sydney.
While he was victorious in his debut UFC outing Down Under last year in Melbourne, things did not go Mr. Lausa’s way this time around with Mr. Shelton proving to be a hard nut to crack, securing the UD victory and his first in the UFC, 30-27, 30-26 and 30-25.
Mr. Lausa started strong, connecting with a solid head kick early and securing a takedown thereafter.
But as the fight progressed, Mr. Shelton, a standout in the Ultimate Fighter series, would take control and outwork the Filipino.
He took down Lausa in the second round and dominated thereafter with heavy blows.
The ground-pounding by Mr. Shelton continued in the third and final round even as Mr. Lausa seemed to tire out as the fight wound up.
When the smoke cleared, it was Mr. Shelton’s hand that was raised as the winner.
The win improved Mr. Shelton to 11-4, stopping a two-fight losing streak.
Mr. Lausa, meanwhile, dropped to 7-4, 1-2 in the UFC.
With his second consecutive loss in the UFC, DojoDrifter.com and Tiebreaker Times’ Mike Miguel said the work continues for Mr. Lausa, especially on the ground where he seems to be having a hard time against top talent in the UFC.
“We know that Jenel has the power to knock his opponents out. This is why his past two opponents chose to outwork the physically gifted Lausa on the mats and not risk getting knocked out,” observed Mr. Miguel.
“In this fight, Lausa was taken down by Shelton on multiple occasions and was forced to defend himself on the ground. Moving forward, Jenel has to continue working on his takedown defense and his ground work in order to complement his bread-and-butter strength as a fighter,” he added.
UFC Fight Night 121 was headlined by the heavyweight clash between former champion Fabricio Werdum (#2) and Marcin Tybura (#8). The two were still to fight as of this writing.
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. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
