Aaron Simpson marked his welterweight debut in the UFC with a comfortable win over Kenny Robertson at ‘UFC on Fuel TV 4’ this evening.
As you would expect from these two wrestlers, much of the opening round was spent grappling as they tried to gain an advantage from in the clinch.
First blood was claimed by Simpson who opened up a cut high on Robertson’s forehead as he pressed him up against the cage and traded short strikes, though it wasn’t clear exactly what caused the damage.
Simpson was also the first to secure a takedown, though Robertson got up quickly and fired off a hook on the way up that appeared to momentarily daze his opponent and left him with a cut near his eye.
In the rest of the round Simpson began to assert himself in the wrestling battle with a couple of takedowns.
Onto the second, and the momentum continued to swing in Simpson’s favor as he again got the better of the wrestling and had Robertson on the mat for a considerable portion of the five minute spell. Towards the end of the round he was also able to land some hurtful blows from top position and at this stage was showing no obvious signs of fatigue despite this being his first fight since moving down to 170lbs.
By the third round it was one-way traffic with Robertson now looking tired and Simpson outgrappling him with relative ease. At one stage he attempted an inverted triangle which Robertson escaped from, and in the final minute he really turned up the heat with a barrage of ground and pound strikes that started to take their toll and his opponent was perhaps lucky that the final bell sounded when it did.
No question who was the winner here, Simpson earns a uanimous decision verdict from the judges (30-27, 29-28 x2).
This was a nice way for Simpson to start off in his new division and from the looks of things 170lbs is going to be a good fit for him as the 37 year-old showed excellent cardio throughout this three-rounder despite indulging in a lot of strength-sapping grappling work.
