Justin Willis earned a unanimous decision victory over James Mulheron tonight in a fight of heavyweight newcomers at UFC Fight Night 113.
Round One:
Willis with an early inside leg kick. Mulheron with one of his own and then a few punches behind it. Willis with a kick to the body. Mulheron goes back to the leg kick.
Willis to the inside of the leg again. Mulheron plants a punch to his opponent’s body. Left hand gets through for Willis. Body punch for Mulheron again.
Willis connecting with the straight left for the second time so far. Now a kick. Mulheron continuing to chip away at the bigger man’s body.
Mulheron steps into a left hand. Now to the body. Mulheron gets in close and Willis connects with a couple of hooks.
Willis suddenly shifts gears and goes for a takedown. He’s in half guard, but Mulheron moves over to the cage and uses that to stanbs back up.
Mulheron breaks the clinch and gets back to striking range. Both men exchange in close. Mulheron lands to the body – that’s definitely been the main focus of his punches so far.
Solid kick from Willis. Now he lands some heavy leather too as the round comes to a close.
Round Two:
Spinning back kick by Mulheron. Superman punch attempt from Willis. Mulheron trying to find his range with a right hand upstairs.
Solid two-piece combo from Willis. Mulheron misses the target with a couple of punches of his own. Front kick to the body for Mulheron. He just misses with an uppercut soon after.
Leg kick for Willis. Superman punch from Mulheron. Willis throws a punch and Mulheron just misses with a counter spinning backfist.
Another spinning backfist attempt from Mulheron doesn’t pay off and gives Willis an opportunity to move in and execute a takedown.
Willis from half-guard now and staying heavy on Mulheron to keep him grounded. Mulheron trying to get to the cage, but eats a few left hands. He can’t get out from under Willis and a few more punches land to further bloody his opponent’s face.
Round Three:
Leg kick for Willis. Uppercut to the body from Mulheron. Willis just breezes past Mulheron’s head with an uppercut.
The left hand flashes out from Willis. Mulheron misses with a hook and eats a counter punch. Punch to the chest from Willis. Mulheron with a spinning backfist, but so far that hasn’t been paying off for him.
Mulheron with a right hand as Willis backs up. He’s struggling to really find the target meaningfully though against the bigger man.
Willis presses Mulheron against the cage. Mulheron reverses the position. 90 seconds to go and not too much happening from here. Three body shots from Mulheron, but then Willis reverses and then lands a takedown.
Mulheron gets up to a knee and then stands. Willis remains clinched up though and looks to land a couple of knees. They continue to jockey for position against the cage in the final seconds of teh round, with Mulheron ripping an uppercut upstairs before the final horn sounds.
Decision:
A bit of a lackluster heavyweight fight then, but Willis had the better of the striking action and landed several takedowns to ensure his unanimous decision victory (30-27 x3).
