Julian Erosa earned a split decision win over Steven Peterson tonight at UFC Fight Night 200 and a blood-soaked battle that will be a strong candidate for ‘fight of the night’ honors.
Round One:
Body kick and a punch behind it from Erosa. Body punch from Peterson and tries to catch a kick, then opts to go into the clinch against the cage instead.
Overhand from Peterson and tries to land the takedown, but fails and then they break apart.
Body kick for Erosa. He lands a hook too. Push kick from Peterson to maintain distance. he lands a low kick. Erosa punches to the body.
Calf kick for Erosa now. Inside kick for Peterson. Clipping right hook for Erosa. Low kick for Peterson.
Inside leg kick and a right hand from Peterson. Erosa with a brief flurry to the head. Hook kick from Erosa doesn’t really connect.
Punch from Peterson. He lands again and tries a spinning backfist that misses. Inside low kick now. Erosa tries to walk him down and is greeted by a push kick.
Erosa chasing Peterson down and lands a straight right. Low kick for Peterson. Punches to the body from Erosa and then looks to go upstairs.
Clubbing right hand from Peterson. Leg kick from Erosa. Jab and a spinning backfist from Peterson.
Right hand for Peterson and another punch lands nicely, but then Erosa regroups and comes firing back with big punches of his own to end the round, and Peterson is already bleeding from the nose and has a small cut below his left eye.
Round Two:
Right hook for Erosa. Peterson lands nicely too with a right hand. Body kick for Peterson and Erosa fires back.
Front kick to the body from Erosa and Peterson counters with punches. Right hand for Peterson and right hook from Erosa in return.
Body kick from Peterson. Erosa drives into a takedown, but Peterson shrugs it off and lands a punch for good measure.
Nice right hand for Peterson as he starts to dial in his range and punish Erosa for his low hands at times.
Peterson loads up on another right. Now Erosa’s utilizing a little more head movement. However he does eat another punch now.
Jab for Peterson. Now a big overhand and Erosa is wobbled. Peterson backs him up to the cage and starts landing again. Erosa trying to fire back but is still on unsteady legs and somewhat flailing, but remains upright.
Peterson still looking for a finish here when suddenly Erosa blasts him with a spinning backfist and it’s his turn to be rocked. Erosa follows up with punches but he’s still trying to recover from the shots he took so he’s not throwing with the kind of power he was earlier.
Peterson marching forward and lands. Erosa starting to find his second wind and throws some clean punches. Erosa lunges forward straight into a punch. Erosa with a final flurry of punches before the horn sounds.
Round Three:
Straight back to slugging it out they go with kicks and punches. Erosa pressuring and lands. He loads up on another punch but misses and staggers to the mat. he wasn’t caught though, just unbalanced.
Erosa swoops in for a takedown and lands it, but Peterson is immediately on a guillotine attempt. He’s pouring blood from his nose and mouth which is making both men slippier and Erosa is able to break free.
The fight goes back to the feet now. Both land a hard punch apiece. Right hook from Erosa. Kick from Erosa, but Peterson counters with a solid punch. One-two for Peterson. Erosa marches forward winging hard punches.
Leg kick from Peterson knocks Erosa off-balance to the mat for a moment. They clinch up and quickly break free with Peterson landing a body kick and Erosa landing a big right hand.
Body kick from Erosa. Body punch from Peterson. Push kick and punches from Erosa. Erosa roars at him but then gets caught by a big punch. He tries to fire back, then roars at him again. Peterson lunges forward, but Erosa catches him off-guard with a takedown.
Peterson trying for the guillotine but Erosa easily slips out this time. They scramble and he ends up in full guard. Not long to go now and the fight is suddenly back on the feet. Spinning capoeira style head kick attempted by Erosa that doesn’t pay off.
One final attack from Erosa, but he can’t find the finish and we’re headed to the scorecards.
Decision:
What a wild and bloody brawl this turned out to be then with both men leaving it all in the cage, and in the end it’s Erosa who does just enough to eek out a split decision victory (29-28 x2, 28-29)
