Tony Ferguson defeated Danny Castillo by split decision tonight at UFC 177 in Sacremento, with his more aggressive approach on the feet and active submission game being viewed more favorably than Castillo’s wrestling by the judges.
Round One:
Ferguson with a leg kick to start as he takes the center of the Octagon. Another leg kick. He comes forward with a flurry of punches that comes up short and Castillo attempts to take him down, but is shrugged off.
Another kick from Ferguson. He shrugs off Castillo again and lands more hard kicks, with one connecting to the body too. Very aggressive start from him so far.
Castillo with a flurry of his own that’s mostly blocked. Ferguson kicks and punches. Castillo with punches of his own from range.
Ferguson loads up on another big kick, but slips this time and quickly stands back up. Castillo letting his hands go more now, but Ferguson still looking more dangerous in that regard.
Ferguson drops to his back with a d’arce choke as Castillo ducks in. He spends a lot of time in this position, but Castillo seems ok and eventually breaks free with a minute remaining and is now on top in his opponents guard. Castillo seems to be recouperating rather than looking to land much ground and pound.
Round two:
Center of the Octagon again for Ferfuson as he goe sback to landing kicks. Castillo with some solid punches and then gets caught with one in return.
Ferguson moving forward with purpose and a couple of hard kicks almost knock Castillo off-balance. Nice right hand from Castillo.
Good punches from Castillo and then he’s clipped by a kick from Ferguson that results in him slipping, but he quickly regains his balance.
Castillo attempts a takedown, Ferguson rolls for a leg and Castillo still manages to end up on top. This is where Castillo wanted the fight all along, but now that he’s here he’s not doing a whole lot with it.
Perhaps he’s worried about Ferguson’s activity from the bottom and crafty submissions, but he’s being overly cautious with his own offense and not doing a whole lot to impress the judges other than hold the position for a significant portion of the round.
Round Three:
Ferguson looking for rangey punches, but Castillo responds with a takedown attempt that doesn’t work out. Back to the leg kicks from Ferguson.
Suddenly he rolls for a knee bar, but misses. Castillo gets on top and Ferguson working hard for a kimura attempt. There’s a scramble and Ferguson gets up to his feet then back down again. Castillo staying glued to him as Ferguson stands again and gets dumped back down. The same process is repeated one more time.
Castillo on top and Ferguson trying to throw up a triangle attempt, but it’s easily brushed aside. Castillo in half-guard, but still showing very little offense.
Nothing much happening, but then with about 30 seconds left Castillo gets full mount, but only briefly. He tries to take Ferguson’s back and then with just seconds remaining he locks up an arm triangle attempt and it looks good, but there’s just not enough time left to finish it.
Decision:
On to the judges scorecards then and it goes down to a split decision verdict with two judges apparently favoring Ferguson’s offense more than Castillo’s spells of control on the mat, awarding him the win (29-28 x2, 28-29).
