Carlos Felipe got the better of his UFC On ESPN 16 battle of the heavyweights against Yorgan de Castro tonight, earning himself a unanimous decision vicory.
Round One:
Felipe with a big swing and a miss from the overhand. Glancing leg kick from De Castro. Now to the inside of the leg.
Again De Castro lands with the inside leg kick. Felipe threatens with a punch. Inside leg kick for de Castro again. Overhand attempt from Felipe. Castro blasts forward with punches, but not making a clean connection.
Inside leg kick for Felipe now. Jab for him as de Castro comes forward. Overhand misses, but lands a body punch afterwards.
Leg kick for de Castro. Punching exchange. Inside leg kick for Felipe and a leg kick. Now a solid punch upstairs. Felipe settling into the fight here.
Outside leg kick for de Castro. Now a front kick upstairs threatens Felipe. Heavy leg kick for de Castro. Power punch from Felipe upstairs.
Inside and outside leg kicks from Felipe. Now a winging right hand. Again the hard outside leg kick from de Castro. Body punch from Felipe. Now a solid one-two.
Felipe continually marching forward here and lets the one-two go again. De Castro looking like he wants to counter in the final seconds of the round, but Felipe takes a breather and doesn’t engage.
Round Two:
Right hand for Felipe. Inside leg kick from de Castro. Now a nice two-piece combo for him as he picks up the pace. Hard punch from Felipe and then blasts to the body.
Felipe into the clinch against the cage. De Castro reverses the position and tries for a takedown, but he can’t get it done. Felipe with an elbow strike and De Castro backs off.
De Castro throwing heavy leather now. One-two for Felipe. Solid body punch. Leg kick for De Castro. He throws off hooks, but Felipe clinches up. De Castro reverses, but nothing doing so they get separated by the ref.
De Castro lands, but Felipe shakes his head mockingly. Jab from De Castro. Felipe marching him down and lands a kick.
Chopping right hand from De Castro. Solid body punches from Felipe. left hand gets through for him as he goes into the clinch against the cage.
De Castro moves around and lets his hands go. Felipe unimpressed. Felipe back to marching him down. De Castro with a leg kick. Felipe throws a flurry and then clinches again against the cage. The ref splits them because Felipe grabbed the cage.
Uppercut from De Castro. Felipe with a short flurry. The round ends with both men having a few words with each other in the center of the cage.
Round Three
Exchange of big hooks to start the third round. They continue to just slug it out with hooks. Felipe with more volume here and getting the better of it, then moves into the clinch.
Quick break from the ref. Two right hands get through for de Castro. He continues to move forward trying to be the aggressor and then attempts to get a takedown against the cage. He’s not getting it, but he does land some knees to the thigh.
Again the ref splits them apart. De Castro opts to just wade straight back into the clinch. Light body punches and knees to the leg from him. Not impressing the ref though and he separates them again.
Nonetheless, De Castro moves to the clinch again straight away. Against the cage Felipe tries to work an elbow strike. Body punches from De Castro, but the ref splits them anyway.
Guess what? De Castro goes into the clinch yet again, but this time eats a jumping knee in the process from Felipe. He still gets the clinch though, but is moved apart soon after.
De Castro just has no interest in striking anymore and clinches again. The ref splits them. Felipe points in front of him, wanting De Castro to stand and trade, but instead his obviously tired opponent opts to back up and rides out the remaining seconds of the fight on the back foot.
Decision:
Felipe was constantly pushing the pace in this fight and showed some solid boxing skills and toughness en-route to a unanimous decision victory (30-27 x2, 29-28).
