John Hathaway has long established he'll use his size and reach advantage to grind his way to victories over fellow lightweights.
His bout with John Maguire on Saturday at UFC on Fuel TV 5 in Nottingham, England, was no exception.
The 6-foot-1 fighter from Brighton picked his spots and cruised to a victory over his fellow Englishman. It was his third straight win in seventh in his past eight fights, all of which has gone the distance. All three judges scored the bout 30-27 in favor of Hathaway.
Round one was mostly spent standing, with Maguire unable to find his range and Hathaway mostly content to counter. Hathaway controlled round two from start to finish, scoring and early takedown and controlling from the top. Round three looked more like round one, as Hathaway, who sensed he had the fight in the bag, didn't take many chances. Maguire scored a takedown with about 90 seconds left, but Maguire, a submission specialist, couldn't take advantage of his position.
Maguire dropped to 18-4 and had a seven-fight win streak snapped.