Mauricio Ruffy got the better of James Llontop tonight at UFC 309 to win by unanimous decision, but it wasn’t as easy as he might have hoped.
Round One:
Body punch for Ruffy after a slow opening minute. Ruffy slides out of range as Llontop presses forward with punches.
Another body punch for Ruffy. Low kick from Llontop. Jab for Llontop. Low kick for Ruffy. Huge punch misses from Furry.
Calf kick for Ruffy. Llontop feels out with his jab and then misses on a power punch. Jab for Ruffy. Body punch for Llontop.
Body kick for Llontop. In close Llontop lands a nice punch. Low kick from Ruffy lands well. Body kick for Llontop.
Front kick to the body from Llontop. Right hand gets through from Ruffy. Now a left hook. Another right hurts Llontop, but he stays upright and keeps fighting.
Ruffy with a tornado kick attempt that misses and almost allows Llontop to find an opening to attack. Spinning back kick to the body from Ruffy late in the round.
Round Two:
Calf kick for Ruffy. He lands another. Missed high kick from Llontop. Llontop applying pressure here. Ruffy suddenly loads up on a big hook while looking away and it lands hard, dropping Llontop to the canvas.
Llontop toughs it out and manages to battle back to his feet. Right hand lands for Ruffy. Left hand for Llontop and then one to the body.
Wheel kick from Ruffy. Jab for him. High kick misses from Llontop. Body kick for Llontop. Now a leg kick. Ruffy can’t land cleanly on a left hook.
Thumping right hand from Ruffy knocks Llontop back for a moment. That left side of Llontop’s face was already swollen and that won’t have helped as he starts bleeding more significantly.
Llontop is tough though and keeps fighting on, trying to bring the battle to his opponent. Jab for Llontop. Low kick from Ruffy.
Round Three:
Jab for Ruffy. Overhand attempt from Llontop. He lands a body kick. Llontop into the clinch now looking for a potential takedown. Ruffy reverses the position but Llontop marches forward and gets out of it.
A couple of body shots fromm Llontop. He lands a punch upstairs now. Lots of pressure from Llontop here. He clinches up again against the cage and lands a couple of knees to the body.
Llontop goes for an elbow but Ruffy lands a counter immmediately afterwards as they go to striking range.
Body punch from Llontop. Kick to the thigh from him. Now a jab. Hard left hand for Ruffy. Now a right. Back to the jab. Leg kick and body kick from Llontop.
Single-leg attempt from Llontop fails but he clinches up anyway. Back to striking range. Llontop throwing kicks and punches as he continues to push the pace.
Llontop clinches up against the cage. A few strikes for him and then Ruffy gets away. Low kick for Ruffy. Llontop pressing forward again.
Low kick for Llontop and then misses a low kick. Heavy right hand for Ruffy. They trade punches in close late in the round. We’re headed to the scorecards.
Decision:
Ruffy won the first two rounds here, including dropping his opponent early in the 2nd round, but despite some big moments he just couldn’t find a way to finish the gutsy Llontop, who then rallied in the third round with constant pressure to win that five minute spell. Ruffy still gets the unanimous decision win though (29-28 x3)
