In a fairly even contest to open up the UFC 148 main card Mike Easton outworked Ivan Menjivar on the feet to earn a unanimous decision victory.
The first round was fought entirely on the feet and was fairly even. Easton took the center of the Octagon and looked the more energetic of the two, firing off combinations of punches and the occasional high kick, one of which sent Menjivar stumbling backwards slightly.
Meanwhile, Menjivar seemed happy to fight from the outside and was varying up his strikes with various spinning attacks and several high kicks of his own which were largely blocked.
So, even stuff in the first round, but while there wasn’t a whole lot between them in the second either, Easton was beginning to edge ahead. He was still the man pushing the pace which was perhaps the easiest way to split the two men at this stage. Menjivar was also toning down his unconventional strikes a bit in this round and was perhaps a little gun-shy.
The best strikes came from Easton overall, landing a nice flying knee and also some solid body shots in the closing stages.
Onto the final five minutes then and Menjivar wasn’t really showing the kind of urgency you would have expected, instead still working mainly on the back foot and attempting to counter.
That allowed Easton to continue to press forward and he landed a few more hard body shots and also secured the only takedown of the night, though it was short-lived.
Onto the judges scorecards and they see it clearly in Mike Easton’s favor, giving him the unanimous decision win (30-27 x2, 29-28).
Overall, not the most thrilling fight ever, but a solid win for Easton just the same against a well seasoned veteran, giving him his third victory in the UFC.
