Artem Lobov’s pressure striking proved to be too much for Teruto Ishihara tonight at UFC Fight Night 99, leading to a unanimous decision victory.
Round One:
Wild kick from Ishihara to start that misses and sends him off-balance. Lobov taking the center of the Octagon. a couple of kicks from the outside for Ishihara.
The Japanese fighter lands a solid leg kick. Now a body kick. Lobov’s punches coming up just a bit short so far. Now he finds his range though with a left hook.
Body punch for Ishihara as he darts in and out. Right hand lands for Lobov. Ishihara barrels forward into a takedown attempt, but Lobov sprawls to defend that.
Lobov starting to let his hands go now. Ishihara fires off a couple of kicks that help maintain distance. left hand misses for Ishihara and then tries for a left head kick behind it that also just misses the target.
Nice left hand for Lobov. Leg kick for Ishihara. Right hand for Lobov another leg kick in return from Ishihara.
Lobov lands a hard blow that staggers Ishihara for a moment. Lobov again connects and his opponent’s legs buckle again, but he seems ok afterwards.
Despite the momentum changing Ishihara is taunting his opponent as the round ends.
Round Two:
Leg kick for Ishihara and then upstairs with another one. missed punch from Lobov and then a hard kick upstairs from Ishihara that’s blocked.
Lobov throwing some serious heavy leather here. Ishihara still working kicks, but needs to watch he doesn’t leave his chin out to be hit if Lobov counters.
Uppercut for Lobov. Now a low leg kick. One in return from his opponent. Another uppercut and a body kick for Lobov. Solid leg kick for Ishihara.
Lobov with the leg kick now. Ishihara steps in with a straight punch down the pipe. Nice spinning back to the body from Lobov. He lands a solid uppercut.
Lobov with more offense which forces Ishihara to hit reverse gear and get out of danger. More good work for Lobov, but then he gets a little to overconfident in his boxing and Ishihara returns fire, landing the better blows toe-to-toe for a moment.
Leg kicks for Lobov. Left hook misses for Ishihara. Nice leg kicks and then a good hook from Lobov. He gets through with another right hook.
Overhand left and then a swarm of left and right hands from Lobov ends another good round for him. Ishihara struggling to make his mark in this fight.
Round Three:
Leg kick for Ishihara. One to the inside from Lobov. A couple more come back for Ishihara. Right hook misses for Lobov, but the left hook behind it does hit the mark.
Another reaching left hook lands for Lobov. Ishihara misses with an overhand. Ishihara tries to clinch up, but Lobov shrugs him off.
leg kicks for Lobov. Body kick for Ishihara. Very hard leg kick for Lobov. nice punch from him. Lobov looking confident, but then out of nowhere Ishihara connects with a punch that rocks Lobov and sends him rolling to the mat.
Ishihara follows Lobov to the mat, but it seems that his opponent is recoverring quickly and defends off his back.
Two minutes for Ishihara to work now as he moves into half guard. Lobov threatens with a leg kick, which gives him the space to stand back up.
Back to striking range and Ishihara just glances with a left hook. Body kick for Lobov. Ishihara tries for a takedown, but Lobov defends carefully and then backs away.
Lunging left hand for Lobov. Hammerfist punch for Lobov and then a left gets through. Lobov presses his opponent up against the cage. He gets a body lock and dumps ishihara to the mat.
Lobov able to get to full mount and starts to land punches in the final 10 seconds of the fight to make an emphatic statement as we head to the judges for a decision.
Decision:
No doubts about the winner here, Artem Lobov gets a well earned unanimous decision victory (30-27 x2, 29-28) and his teammate Connor McGregor joins him in the Octagon to celebrate.
