It wasn’t the most exciting performance, but former Bellator featherweight and lightweight champion Patricio Pitbull achieved his first UFC victory at UFC 318, defeating Dan Ige.
The opening round was fairly quiet, as the two seemed to be tactically waiting for the other to make a move. Pitbull managed to strike and score a pair of takedowns on Ige. Ige reversed the position for a bit, but Pitbull managed to get the fight back to the feet fairly quickly.
The second round continued with the low activity until Ige worked a combination a couple of minutes in. But with less than two minutes left, Pitbull connected on an uppercut that appeared to hurt Ige. Pitbull worked combinations on Ige, continuing to do damage, while Ige defended and landed an elbow. Pitbull landed a takedown before the round’s conclusion to cap the best round of his UFC run thus far.
Ige, however, came back in a big way, landing a head kick that wobbled Pitbull in the opening minute of the third round. Pitbull managed to guard himself well and grapple his way to recovery, albeit his nose was busted up bad. Ige landed on the inside again later in the round, but Pitbull threatened another takedown. In fact, he’d grab a hold of Ige with less than 90 seconds left; however, Ige somehow defended Pitbull’s attempts to grapple well. Pitbull would take Ige down in the bout’s final minute, with both men landing strikes to the horn.
All three judges scored the bout 29-28 for Pitbull.
Patricio Pitbull Earns Decision Over Dan Ige At UFC 318
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This was Pitbull’s second UFC appearance, following his disappointing first outing in a loss to Yair Rodriguez at UFC 314.
Ige entered with four wins in his last seven. Prior to tonight, he had most recently fought at UFC 314, scoring a finish of Sean Woodson.
